Market Structure and Innovation Policies in Denmark

Abstract

The Danish media system is a hybrid one where strong public service broadcasters and private print and broadcast media co-exist. This chapter, first, analyzes the market structure, measuring the degree of market concentration in newspapers, television, and radio and mapping state intervention. The analysis shows that all these media markets are highly concentrated: the four dominant television and radio broadcasters account for 80–90 % of total viewing/listening, the four dominant newspaper publishers for around 75 % of total circulation. The extent of state intervention also is high in Denmark, where the state owns the dominant television and radio actors and subsidizes the newspapers directly as well as indirectly. Second, the chapter outlines the policies in place for supporting innovation in the news media industry, focusing in particular on Act no. 1604 of 2013, which introduced subsidies for digital publishers and an earmarked pool to stimulate media innovation. However, the fact that not the entire innovation pool has actually been allotted to media innovation questions how appropriate the criteria for eligibility are. Third, the chapter makes recommendations for future revision of the media subsidy and innovation policy framework.