Opportunities for Cooperation between Estonia and ... - Valitsus

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APPENDIX 15 BROADCASTING Estonian-Finnish cooperation in radio and television broadcasting started already 73 years ago. The first foreign correspondent’s report for the Estonian Broadcasting Company was transmitted live from Helsinki on 28 February 1935. In April the same year (25–24 April 1935), a joint radio and television broadcasting conference was held. The first Finnish-language programmes were broadcast from the Estonian Radio (Eesti Raadio) on 14 March 1947 and the Tallinn Television (Tallinna Televisioonistuudio) on 3 October 1956. In the totalitarian climate of the Soviet era, the Communist Party found it important for Estonia to start regular TV programmes in Finnish before the Finnish Broadcasting Company could starts broadcasting its own regular TV programmes in Estonian. For decades, Finnish television served as window to the western world for many Estonians. Aside from news, we should not underrate the importance of entertainment, culture, scientific and children’s programmes that for two generations shaped the outlook of Estonian viewers and contributed to the their knowledge of languages. The repeated attempts of the Communist Party to ban watching Finnish TV or at least restrict it failed to have the desired effect. Examples of early Estonian-Finnish cooperation in broadcasting include quiz shows (Naapurivisa) and music programmes (Iltatähti). In the 1990s, cooperation between the Estonian Broadcasting Company ETV (Eesti Televisioon) and its Finnish equivalent YLE took off on a completely new course. Subsequent coproductions include documentaries and films (e.g. a portrait of the composer Arvo Pärt Siis sai õhtu ja sai hommik), drama (e.g. Palav rakkaus about Aino Kallas and Eino Leino) and music programmes (e.g. Tormise ring and Mozarti Reekviem). More recently, the two companies co-produced a widely acclaimed music programme Saaremaa valss (2004–2007). Up until 2004, Finnish television channels enjoyed a fairly large audience in Estonia. According to surveys, over 150,000 of the Estonian population watched Finnish channels at least 15 minutes per week. Of the viewer groups, the most involved were Estonians with an academic degree who followed Finnish TV three times more actively than the rest. 64
In 2005, the number of those watching Finnish TV in Estonia started to fall. The single most important reason for this was probably Estonia’s own commercial TV channels – programme choice, films and shows had attained as high a standard and became as popular as their Finnish counterparts while offering the additional advantage of being broadcast in Estonian. Finland’s transition to digital transmissions in September 2007 placed Estonia in a completely new situation in terms of the reception of the digital signal from Finland. Today, Estonia is out of range for the digital transmissions from Finnish television. If the range were to be extended, additional costs would be incurred in the form of royalties. Because of copyright regulations, the talks with Estonian cable operators on re-transmitting Finnish TV programmes in the cable network have been put on hold. No MTV3 programmes have been available on the Estonian cable network since the beginning of 2008 and the Channel 4 went off the network in April. According to a survey made in March when the YLE1 and YLE2 channels were still available on cable, these channels had 42,000 viewers of whom over 10,000 had a higher university degree. Compared with earlier times, the situation in Estonia has also changed in a broader sense. Interest in Finland is clearly declining - something that is not only due to the phasing out of Finnish TV channels. The former Finnish window has been replaced by satellite and cable television with their programme offerings, the Internet, freedom of travel and new personal contacts with the rest of the world. Fewer and fewer young people entering the labour market speak Finnish. Most of the people studying Finnish in Estonia do so because of their work while interest in the language itself and Finnish culture is waning. Nowadays, the Estonian media is relatively passive towards its northern neighbours. When reporting on developments in Finland, the media often errs in facts and interpretation, and there is a superficiality manifesting itself in the absence of proper context. In Finland, there are gaps in the knowledge of Estonian conditions even among people who would be expected to be familiar with its neighbouring country simply because of their job description, for example, business persons and journalists. By familiarity with the affairs of a neighbouring country we do not only mean awareness of what is going on but also deeper understanding of Estonian society, its geography, history, etc., or an objective picture of the Russian minority and of crime in Estonia. Considering the close interaction, knowledge of Estonia in Finland is scant. The opportunities available for ordinary Finns and decision-makers to update their Estonian facts and learn 65
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Opportunities for Cooperation betwe
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Publisher PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE
Page 8 and 9:
CULTURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Page 10 and 11:
paper providing a comprehensive pre
Page 12 and 13:
10 of creative work, commercializat
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• The potential for starting a co
Page 16 and 17: Tourism • A joint marketing strat
Page 18 and 19: ESTONIA AND FINLAND IN 2030: VISION
Page 20 and 21: One of the biggest surprises during
Page 22 and 23: Currently, Finland invests 3.5% of
Page 24 and 25: • Continual monitoring of global
Page 26 and 27: One of the core duties of innovatio
Page 28 and 29: for Estonia and Finland to pool the
Page 30 and 31: APPENDIX 3 EDUCATION Globalization
Page 32 and 33: Nordic universities operate joint c
Page 34 and 35: APPENDIX 4 ENERGY Today, long-term
Page 36 and 37: shale, there is potential for makin
Page 38 and 39: APPENDIX 5 GULF OF FINLAND AND THE
Page 40 and 41: The European Union has initiated a
Page 42 and 43: APPENDIX 6 TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATI
Page 44 and 45: On continental Europe, rail transpo
Page 46 and 47: Recommendations: • A joint Estoni
Page 48 and 49: Estonia and Finland have dispatched
Page 50 and 51: APPENDIX 8 DEFENCE After Estonia re
Page 52 and 53: APPENDIX 9 INFORMATION AND COMMUNIC
Page 54 and 55: to the governments of the two count
Page 56 and 57: longer supports the viability of su
Page 58 and 59: standing at 17%, will rise to aroun
Page 60 and 61: societies. Tourism must therefore b
Page 62 and 63: Venues and accommodation are always
Page 64 and 65: APPENDIX 14 AUDIOVISUAL AREA It is
Page 68 and 69: about developments through the pres
Page 70 and 71: APPENDIX 16 HELSINKI-TALLINN EUROPE
Page 72 and 73: LITERATURE 1. Aaltonen, Mika - Noor
Page 74 and 75: 24. Raunio, Mika: Aivovuodosta aivo
Page 77: SNELLMANINKATU 1, HELSINKI PO BOX 2
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