Satellite Television

Abstract

The era of satellite television in Europe was slow to get off the ground, to the frustration of some who advocated greater choice for viewers and the relief of others who feared that an explosion in television air-time would lead to a drastic decline in the quality of programmes. Throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, as television satellite projects gradually gathered momentum in Europe, legislators and special interest groups looked to the US as a guide to the way that European television might develop. The huge quantity, and often dubious quality, of channels available in the US through a mixture of cable, satellite and Hertzian wave broadcasting sparked a lively debate back on the old continent, with cliché phrases such as ‘wall-to-wall Dallas’ — evoking the spectre of 24-hour American soap in European living rooms — coming to dominate dinner party conversation from Maida Vale to Malta.