Europa TV

{{short description|Former pan-European television network (1985–1986)}}

{{Infobox television channel

| name = Europa TV

| logo = Europa TV logo.png

| logo_size =

| logo_alt =

| image =

| launch_date = {{Start date and age|1985|10|05|df=y}}

| closed_date = {{End date and age|1986|11|29|df=y}}

| language = {{hlist|English|Dutch|German|Portuguese}}

| picture_format = 4:3 PAL

| owner = Consortium (ARD, RTÉ, RAI, NOS and RTP)

| country = {{hlist|West Germany|Ireland|Italy|Netherlands|Portugal}}

| area = Europe

| tv_stations = {{hlist|ARD|RTÉ|RAI|NOS|RTP}}

| tv_transmitters = ECS-1 satellite; cable; terrestrial network (Portugal)

}}

Europa TV was a consortium of five European public service broadcasters from West Germany (ARD), Ireland (RTÉ), Italy (RAI), the Netherlands (NOS) and Portugal (RTP).{{Cite web |date=27 November 1986 |title=STATEMENT BY MR CARLO RIPA DI MEANA ON EUROPA-TV |url=http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-86-581_en.htm |website=European Commission}}{{Cite journal|url=http://www.cjc-online.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/1126/1035|doi = 10.22230/cjc.1999v24n4a1126|title = Viewers into Europeans?: How the European Union Tried to Europeanize the Audiovisual Sector, and Why it Failed|year = 1999|last1 = Theiler|first1 = Tobias|journal = Canadian Journal of Communication|volume = 24|issue = 4| pages=1–30 | hdl=10197/11973 |hdl-access = free}}{{Cite web |last1=Smeets |first1=Charley |last2=Stapper |first2=Marloes |date=2018-08-29 |title=Europa TV: The early experiment of a European channel |url=https://blog.euscreen.eu/2018/08/europa-tv-the-early-experiment-of-a-european-channel/ |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=EUscreen |language=en-GB}}{{Cite journal |last=Papathanassopoulos |first=Stylianos |date=1990 |title=Towards European Television: The Case of Europa-TV |url=https://www.academia.edu/1052301 |journal=Media Information Australia |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=57–63 |doi=10.1177/1329878X9005600115 |s2cid=155441979 |issn=0312-9616}}{{Cite web |last=Sandoz |first=Marie |date=October 2018 |title=Europa TV, 1985: Les essais précoces d'une télévision européenne |url=https://wp.unil.ch/tvelargie/2018/10/tv-europa-1985-les-essais-precoces-dune-television-europeenne/ |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=Au-delà du service public |language=fr-FR}}{{Cite web |last=Agterberg |first=Bas |date=2018-11-21 |title=Europa TV: the European Broadcasting Dream |url=https://blog.euscreen.eu/2018/11/europa-tv-the-european-broadcasting-dream/ |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=EUscreen |language=en-GB}}

History

=Development=

Europa TV aspired to be pan-European not only with regard to its geographical reach but also its programming content. It came after the Eurikon experiment in 1982,{{Cite book |last1=Baisn |first1=Olivier |url=https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00665816/file/Producing_European_News.pdf |title=Producing "European" News - Case of the Pan-European News Channel Euronews |last2=Marchetti |first2=Dominique |publisher=University of Delhi |year=2010 |pages=4}} that consisted on the production of an experimental television service which over a period of five weeks,{{Cite web |date=2014-03-13 |title=Europa TV |url=http://www.telenostalgie.de/tv/px/europa.html |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=telenostalgie.de - Fernsehen von gestern …|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313001223/http://www.telenostalgie.de/tv/px/europa.html |archive-date=2014-03-13 }} was distributed in closed-circuit format.

The channel was financed through contributions from the Dutch government, the European Commission, the participating broadcast organizations and through advertising revenues within its initial three-year budget was 30 million ECUs. Europa TV studios were located in Hilversum in the Netherlands, and {{ill|Klaas Jan Hindriks|nl}} was appointed as general manager.

=Operation=

Europa TV started its transmissions on 5 October 1985Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211208/YsgnwoaVW2Y Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20210221143206/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsgnwoaVW2Y Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite AV media| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsgnwoaVW2Y| title = Last transmission EUROPA-TV (29 november 1986) | website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}} and initially only available in the Netherlands,{{Cite web |last=Union (EBU) |first=European Broadcasting |date=2012-07-11 |title=Tributes flow following the loss of former EBU Vice-President |url=https://www.ebu.ch/news/2012/07/tributes-flow-following-the-loss |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=www.ebu.ch |language=en}} which expanded its reach to 4.5 million households across Europe via ESA and Eutelsat's ECS-1 satellite. This included access to 1.5 million households in Portugal where it was transmitted terrestrially on RTP2 (in other countries the signal was also distributed by cable).{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny64BS1rMGE|title=Europa TV • RTP2 • 05/05/1986|via=www.youtube.com}}{{Cite web |title=Time travel - RTP Virtual Museum |url=https://museu.rtp.pt/index.php/en/history |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=museu.rtp.pt |language=en}}

To overcome language barriers, Europa TV transmitted on several sound channels within facilities for simultaneous translation (in English, Dutch, German and Portuguese) enabled audiences to receive the channel in their native tongue. In addition, subtitling in different languages was provided through teletext.

All of the co-operating broadcasters sent in their programmes to Europa TV, but some were produced especially for the channel. These included weather forecasts (covering EEC countries such as Norway, Sweden and Finland but excluding East Germany), current affairs (ex: Worldwatch) and music programmes (ex: Countdown, presented by Adam Curry).

=Closure=

On 29 November 1986, it was forced to cease operations having already exhausted its initial three-year budget.{{Cite web |date=1986 |title=EUROPA TV FALLS VICTIM TO DEBT, INSUFFICIENT ADS |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-11-29-ca-16059-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times}}{{Cite book |last=Collins |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kSB0rip4f74C&dq=%22Europa+TV%22+consortium+-wiki&pg=PA114 |title=From Satellite to Single Market: New Communication Technology and European Public Service Television |date=2005-08-10 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-68128-0 |pages=114 |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=1987 |title=Echec d'Europa TV - Sénat |url=https://www.senat.fr/questions/base/1987/qSEQ870405873.html |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=www.senat.fr}}

Preservation

The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision started ongoing preservation efforts of Europa TV broadcasts on 29 August 2018, recovering recordings from about 300 VHS tapes from their archives, 400 Betamax tapes from RTP and documents from RTÉ, RAI and Klaas Jan Hindriks.{{Cite web |title=Saskia Cluistra awarded Media Studies Grant from FIAT/IFTA |url=https://www.eur.nl/en/eshcc/news/saskia-cluistra-awarded-media-studies-grant-fiatifta |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication |language=en}}