Crowdfunding: A Possible Complementary Funding Model for European Public Service Broadcasting

This communication reviews and analyses the current situation of the public service model for the main European broadcasters, which are having problems to resist in an increasingly competitive environment. Apart from this, they also have to deal with meeting the demands of the current context, characterised by the development of new technologies as well as the requirements of fragmented audiences, among multiple platforms. As a result, many of them are suffering from financial problems and have lost viewers, thus justifying their public funding is becoming more and more difficult. Taking into account the recommendations of the different European broadcasters, based on the implication and commitment from public counterparts, this paper proposes the use of crowdfunding as an alternative to more traditional ways of funding.