Public Service Broadcasting and its future in the evolving landscape discussed at the Monte-Carlo TV Festival
Opening the Business Content program of the 64th Monte-Carlo TV Festival, the panel "Public Service Broadcasting: Its Future in the Evolving Landscape" gathered. international industry experts to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing public broadcasters in a rapidly changing media environment. With funding under constant scrutiny and competition from commercial and streaming platforms intensifying, the panel explored how public service media can maintain its vital role in delivering unbiased news, educational content, and innovative programming.
Moderator Graham Benson, Chairman of GCB International Media Consultants, opened the discussion by emphasizing the importance of public service broadcasting (PSB) in today’s media landscape and the role of the Business Content strand of the Monte-Carlo TV Festival: "This is the only TV International forum on the globe where we can sit here and discuss essential issues and subjects like public service broadcasting. Everywhere else they are concentrating on very much peripheral issues, or it's about marketing and how you get your content on... This is an essentially important issue in every country."
Jinhyun Park, Producer & Director at Korea’s EBS, highlighted the challenges PSBs face in retaining audiences: "These days, people in Korea are not watching public broadcasting services, but they just watch Netflix or YouTube. So it is a very important mission for us to maintain our crucial role in society and also justifying our budget conditions... We are making content and redesigning content for younger generations. And also we use YouTube or other platforms to deliver our contents worldwide."
Vance Van Petten, Adjunct Professor at Dodge Film School, Chapman University, stressed PBS’s role in serving underserved communities in the U.S.: "PBS is a national service, but composed of over 300 stations that service these very small communities, desperately in need of programming for the kids at a very young age, as well as a true, good news service."
The panelists acknowledged the growing political and financial pressures on public broadcasters. Matthew Deaner, CEO of Screen Producers Australia, discussed the challenges faced by Australia’s ABC and SBS: "A lot of pressure... When it is done well, it is critical, and it relies very heavily on the community backing it, probably the political layer understanding it for what it is, and standing up probably to what has been an onslaught for commercial media who would like to take the shears to public broadcasting."
Toma de Matteis, Managing Director of Fiction at France.tv Studio, described similar pressures in France: "The private broadcasters are, of course, putting critics against the public broadcasters, pretending it's not essential... The independence that we claim is under attack."
Van Petten highlighted the precarious funding situation for PBS in the U.S.: "Public financing for American PBS is only about 16%. Now, that sounds very small. The problem is, in rural areas, it's up to 50%, and that's what's crucial... If they take this away, it's hurting the very, very crucial people that need it the most."
The rise of global streaming platforms has forced PSBs to rethink their strategies. Deaner noted the difficulty in competing with deep-pocketed streamers: "Netflix might launch four or five shows in Australia... The ABC and SBS might be launching across the year 60 shows. So they're never going to have the same capacity to cut through into the audience's thinking."
De Matteis argued for greater collaboration among public broadcasters worldwide: "The public services around the world don't work enough together in order to put money together... We're all in some little islands looking at each other, but we don't spend enough time to build content together."
Park pointed out the budgetary constraints limiting international co-productions for Korean broadcasters: "We don't have a sufficient budget... Nowadays, Korean broadcasters and also government want us to make alliances with other organizations, but it is still developing."
The panel agreed that producers play a crucial role in securing the future of public service media. Van Petten emphasized their ability to find alternative funding: "We're going to have to find funding from somewhere besides the government, and it is the creative producers that are always the bedrock of trying to find funding and making resources that don't exist." De Matteis highlighted the economic impact of PSB investment: "France Télévisions spends over 400 million every year to make fiction or documentaries... The entire system relies on that. The existence of France Télévisions allows other billions to exist around it."
The discussion turned to the vital role of PSB in providing independent news amid growing disinformation. Van Petten expressed concern over political attacks on PBS in the U.S.: "They're attacking us from all angles. They're actually attacking our education institutions... People have to stand up, speak out, and make it be known we're not going to agree to it."
Deaner noted Australia’s relatively stable position but warned of complacency: "We have to be watchful because there's often the canary in the coal mine moments that are happening in different parts of the world."
Benson closed the session by reinforcing the need for advocacy and collaboration: "Public service broadcasting does have a future, and a very healthy future, as long as we, as both consumers and producers, go through our utmost to defend it and promote it... We can make things, we can tailor things, public service broadcasters and producers can work with them, with lower budgets, and the quality can still be there."
The panel underscored that while challenges persist—funding cuts, political interference, and streaming competition—public service broadcasting remains indispensable. Its survival depends on strong partnerships, innovative storytelling, and unwavering public support.
Jinhyun Park, Producer & Director at Korea’s EBS, highlighted the challenges PSBs face in retaining audiences: "These days, people in Korea are not watching public broadcasting services, but they just watch Netflix or YouTube. So it is a very important mission for us to maintain our crucial role in society and also justifying our budget conditions... We are making content and redesigning content for younger generations. And also we use YouTube or other platforms to deliver our contents worldwide."
Vance Van Petten, Adjunct Professor at Dodge Film School, Chapman University, stressed PBS’s role in serving underserved communities in the U.S.: "PBS is a national service, but composed of over 300 stations that service these very small communities, desperately in need of programming for the kids at a very young age, as well as a true, good news service."
The panelists acknowledged the growing political and financial pressures on public broadcasters. Matthew Deaner, CEO of Screen Producers Australia, discussed the challenges faced by Australia’s ABC and SBS: "A lot of pressure... When it is done well, it is critical, and it relies very heavily on the community backing it, probably the political layer understanding it for what it is, and standing up probably to what has been an onslaught for commercial media who would like to take the shears to public broadcasting."
Toma de Matteis, Managing Director of Fiction at France.tv Studio, described similar pressures in France: "The private broadcasters are, of course, putting critics against the public broadcasters, pretending it's not essential... The independence that we claim is under attack."
Van Petten highlighted the precarious funding situation for PBS in the U.S.: "Public financing for American PBS is only about 16%. Now, that sounds very small. The problem is, in rural areas, it's up to 50%, and that's what's crucial... If they take this away, it's hurting the very, very crucial people that need it the most."
The rise of global streaming platforms has forced PSBs to rethink their strategies. Deaner noted the difficulty in competing with deep-pocketed streamers: "Netflix might launch four or five shows in Australia... The ABC and SBS might be launching across the year 60 shows. So they're never going to have the same capacity to cut through into the audience's thinking."
De Matteis argued for greater collaboration among public broadcasters worldwide: "The public services around the world don't work enough together in order to put money together... We're all in some little islands looking at each other, but we don't spend enough time to build content together."
Park pointed out the budgetary constraints limiting international co-productions for Korean broadcasters: "We don't have a sufficient budget... Nowadays, Korean broadcasters and also government want us to make alliances with other organizations, but it is still developing."
The panel agreed that producers play a crucial role in securing the future of public service media. Van Petten emphasized their ability to find alternative funding: "We're going to have to find funding from somewhere besides the government, and it is the creative producers that are always the bedrock of trying to find funding and making resources that don't exist." De Matteis highlighted the economic impact of PSB investment: "France Télévisions spends over 400 million every year to make fiction or documentaries... The entire system relies on that. The existence of France Télévisions allows other billions to exist around it."
The discussion turned to the vital role of PSB in providing independent news amid growing disinformation. Van Petten expressed concern over political attacks on PBS in the U.S.: "They're attacking us from all angles. They're actually attacking our education institutions... People have to stand up, speak out, and make it be known we're not going to agree to it."
Deaner noted Australia’s relatively stable position but warned of complacency: "We have to be watchful because there's often the canary in the coal mine moments that are happening in different parts of the world."
Benson closed the session by reinforcing the need for advocacy and collaboration: "Public service broadcasting does have a future, and a very healthy future, as long as we, as both consumers and producers, go through our utmost to defend it and promote it... We can make things, we can tailor things, public service broadcasters and producers can work with them, with lower budgets, and the quality can still be there."
The panel underscored that while challenges persist—funding cuts, political interference, and streaming competition—public service broadcasting remains indispensable. Its survival depends on strong partnerships, innovative storytelling, and unwavering public support.
