Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE to join forces with commercial companies

A firm "No" on advertisements, but free access to programmes for third parties

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The Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) has decided to embark on close cooperation with commercial companies.
      Negotiations have been held at least with the commercial TV channel MTV3, the internet service provider Elisa, and many other companies, discussing collective purchasing of sports programmes, high definition television broadcasts, and internet services, among other topics.
     
YLE is also willing to let commercial companies - for example potential mobile television companies - have free access to those programmes for which the broadcaster has a copyright. The condition is that no advertisements may be placed into these programmes.
      Even YLE’s substantial audio archives will soon be available free of charge to all citizens and establishments.
      According to YLE Managing Director Mikael Jungner, the aim of the planned cooperation is to achieve a win-win situation: citizens get access to more programmes, companies increase their supply, and YLE’s programmes get more viewers.
      Jungner notes further that citizens have already paid for YLE’s TV contents once in the form of licence fees, which is why the company is not interested in making more money out of the same programmes.
     
”In the future, we will be more pointedly a content producer, while distribution can be handled by other participants”, commented Jungner to Helsingin Sanomat, speaking in his office at YLE’s headquarters in Helsinki’s Pasila.
      ”If the Finnish media is not cooperating, Finnish culture and the media themselves could get unlucky as a result", he added.
      However, YLE is not about to abandon its own channels. Jungner wants more funding to the tune of EUR 30 million, while announcing that the company does not want to make money through advertising.
     
Jungner’s term at YLE has been a continuous passion play: walk-outs, sudden collapses of licence fee revenue, problems with its digitalisation project, annoyed audiences, a tightened working pace, and layoffs of employees.
      At present, a parliamentary committee that was set up in February is considering the future funding of YLE. The working party is to present its proposal by the end of the current year.
      The current budget of Finland’s national broadcaster approximately EUR 370 million.
     
The CEO already has plans for the use of the requested supplementary funding. The first target would be the Internet. Jungner wants YLE to become the supplier of regional internet services for senior citizens in particular.
      Another major goal would be the production of domestic drama, with the third objective being the recording of Finnish culture and the Finnish way of life.
      Mikael Jungner joined YLE from the beginning of 2005 and took over as CEO on May 1st, 2005.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Financing YLE operations through digital TV smart card gets support (14.12.2007)
  Sharp decline in number of TV licences after switch to digital TV (6.11.2007)
  Radio Extrem spared, TV channel Extra to be axed in YLE cost-cutting operation (28.11.2007)
  Digital television era comes in tonight (31.8.2007)
  Decreased willingness to pay TV licence fees blamed on poor public image of Finnish Broadcasting Company (8.9.2005)

Links:
  Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE)

Helsingin Sanomat