France
Public TV and radio stations go on strike, PresidePosted Apr 2 2008
About a dozen state TV and radio stations went on a 24-hour strike Feb. 13, the biggest strike in the industry since 1974, Reuters reports.
Radio stations dropped their news programs and played music, and TV stations ran a banner on the bottom.
The strike was in response to President Nicolas Sarkozy's announced plan to ban advertisements from the public broadcasting industry. Broadcast unions were unsure that the plan would deliver enough income.
The annual loss is estimated to be 1.2 billion euros or $1.75 billion, according to the Agence France-Presse. Sarkozy's proposed making up the loss with a tax on private channels and new technology, such as the Internet and mobile phones.
Sarkozy announced Feb. 17 that a commission will be created to evaluate current and future proposals. The commission will be composed of members of parliament and will report its findings by the end of May.