MUMBAI: Maintaining competitiveness and universality will be the key issue for public service broadcasters as terrestrial broadcasting loses its audience share and media influence to emerging media.

This was the message that Min Eun-Kyung, executive director of international relations for KBS-Korea, had for delegates to the annual Public Broadcasting International which opened in Maputo, Mozambique, on Thursday.

“Amidst the countless number of channels, platforms and content, keeping the identity of public service broadcasting will become increasingly challenging,” Min has been quoted as saying in a report put out on the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) website.

“The digital revolution will create room for critical voices about the function and role of public service broadcasting,” Min added.

Min said that public service broadcasting was an essential societal institution in the service of cultural diversity and media pluralism. “We must make every possible effort to remind our viewers of the value of public service broadcasting and every possible effort to keep our function and identity in the future,” she explained.

Finance is another key issue for public service broadcasters, according to Min. She said that having a stable financial structure is necessary to make progress in the multimedia environment, remain competitive, and to gain independence from political and commercial influences.

“More importantly, a stable financial system is the only way to fulfill public service broadcasting missions in a highly competitive digital media environment,” she added.

“Expanding services to multiple platforms is a high-cost business and without a desirable financing model, newly launched media services would have to charge a fee.”