Broadcasting Act 2009

Definitions.

2.— In this Act—

“Act of 1926” means Wireless Telegraphy Act 1926 ;

“Act of 1972” means Wireless Telegraphy Act 1972 ;

“Act of 1988” means Broadcasting and Wireless Telegraphy Act 1988 ;

“Act of 1998” means Referendum Act 1998 ;

“Act of 2001” means Broadcasting Act 2001 ;

“Authority” means Broadcasting Authority of Ireland;

“BCC” means Broadcasting Complaints Commission;

“ BCI ” means Broadcasting Commission of Ireland;

“ broadcast ” means the transmission, relaying or distribution by electronic communications network of communications, sounds, signs, visual images or signals, intended for direct reception by the general public whether such communications, sounds, signs, visual images or signals are actually received or not;

“ broadcaster ” means a person who supplies a compilation of programme material for the purpose of its being transmitted, relayed or distributed as a broadcasting service (whether that person transmits, relays or distributes that material as such a service or not);

“ broadcasting code ” means a code prepared under section 42 ;

“ broadcasting contract ” means a contract entered into under section 63 , 64 , 68 or 70 ;

“broadcasting contractor” means a person holding a broadcasting contract;

“broadcasting rules” means rules prepared under section 43 ;

broadcasting service” means a service which comprises a compilation of programme material of any description and which is transmitted, relayed or distributed by means of an electronic communications network, directly or indirectly for simultaneous or near-simultaneous reception by the general public, whether that material is actually received or not, and where the programmes are provided in a pre-scheduled and linear order, but does not include:

(a) a service provided in a non-linear manner where each user of the service chooses a programme from a catalogue of programmes, or

(b) other audio and audiovisual services provided by way of the Internet;

“ children ” means persons under the age of 18 years;

“ Communications Regulator ” means Commission for Communications Regulation;

“ communications media ” means—

(a) the provision of a broadcasting service,

(b) the provision of a broadcasting services platform, or

(c) the publication of newspapers or periodicals consisting substantially of news and comment on current affairs;

“community broadcaster” means a person holding a contract under sections 64 , 68 (1)(b) or 72 ;

“ community of interest ” means a group of persons with a shared interest, association or bond;

“Compliance Committee” means the committee of the Authority established to undertake the functions set out in section 28 ;

“ content provision contract ” has the meaning assigned to it in section 71 ;

“ Contract Awards Committee ” means the committee of the Authority established to undertake the functions set out in section 27 ;

“ corporation ” means RTÉ or TG4 or both, as the case may be;

“Council Directive” means Council Directive 89/552/EEC of 3 October 1989 1 on the co-ordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities as amended by Directive 97/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 1997 2 and by Directive 2007/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2007 3 ;

“ director general ” means a person appointed as the director general of a corporation under section 89 (1);

“ electronic communications network ” means transmission systems including, where applicable—

(a) switching equipment,

(b) routing equipment, or

(c) other resources,

which permit the conveyance of signals by wire, by radio, by optical or by other electromagnetic means, and such conveyance includes the use of—

(i) satellite networks,

(ii) electricity cable systems, to the extent that they are used for the purposes of transmitting signals,

(iii) fixed terrestrial networks (both circuit-switched and packet-switched, including the Internet),

(iv) mobile terrestrial networks,

(v) networks used for either or both sound and television broadcasting, and

(vi) cable television and internet protocol television networks,

irrespective of the type of information conveyed;

“EEA Agreement” has the meaning assigned to it in the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993 ;

“electronic programme guide” has the meaning assigned to it by section 74 ;

“electronic programme guide contract” has the meaning assigned to it by section 74 ;

“ employment ” includes—

(a) full-time employment,

(b) part-time paid employment, where such employment is ongoing in the year of appointment or which arises in subsequent years,

(c) temporary paid employment, being for a period of 16 weeks or more in the year of appointment or in subsequent years, or

(d) being retained under contract, directly or indirectly, in any capacity as an adviser, consultant or lobbyist, or for the provision of services, by or in any business related to the functions of the public body concerned;

“establishment day” means the day appointed by the Minister under section 5 to be the establishment day for the purposes of Part 2 , sections 49 , 157 and Part 12 ;

“excepted person” means a person who is under the jurisdiction of another Member State and, for the purposes of this definition, the Council Directive applies for the purpose of determining the state under the jurisdiction of which the person falls;

“exploitation of commercial opportunities object” means an activity undertaken by a corporation in pursuance of paragraph (j) of section 114 (1) or paragraph (i) of section 118 (1);

“ free-to-air service ” means a broadcasting service for the reception of which no charge is made by the person providing the service;

“ holder ” means—

(a) in relation to a contract entered into under this Act, the person with whom the Authority has entered into the contract,

(b) in relation to a licence granted under this Act or any other enactment, the person to whom the licence has been granted;

“holding company” has the same meaning as in the Companies Act 1963 ;

“interests” includes—

(a) employment by or on behalf of—

(i) any business related to the functions of the public body concerned,

(ii) any organisation representative of any business related to the functions of the public body concerned,

(b) ownership of any business related to the functions of the public body concerned,

(c) shares in, bonds or debentures of, or other like investments in any business related to the functions of the public body concerned, where the aggregate of such holdings exceeds €13,000,

(d) a directorship or shadow directorship (within the meaning of the Companies Acts) in any business related to the functions of the public body concerned, held currently or during the previous two years, or

(e) gifts of travel, holidays, transport or other benefits (in excess of €650), including benefits from any beneficial interest in or connected with any business related to the functions of the public body concerned, during the previous two years which were received by the person concerned or by his or her spouse;

“ Joint Oireachtas Committee ” means a Joint Committee of the Houses of the Oireachtas to which those Houses have assigned the role of examining matters relating to broadcasting;

“ local community ” means the community of a town or other urban or rural area;

“ media literacy ” means to bring about a better public understanding of:

(a) the nature and characteristics of material published by means of broadcast and related electronic media,

(b) the processes by which such material is selected, or made available, for publication by broadcast and related electronic media,

(c) the processes by which individuals and communities can create and publish audio or audio-visual material by means of broadcast and related electronic media, and

(d) the available systems by which access to material published by means of broadcast and related electronic media is or can be regulated;

“ Member State ” includes a state that is a contracting state to the EEA Agreement;

“ Minister ” means Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources;

“ MMD system ” means a multipoint microwave distribution system used for the transmission of broadcasting services on a point to multipoint basis;

“ multiplex ” has the meaning assigned to it by section 129 ;

“ multiplex contractor ” means the holder of a contract entered into under section 131 ;

“ multiplex licence ” has the meaning assigned to it by section 129 ;

“ national emergency ” means an emergency declared under section 10 of the Act of 1926;

“ ownership ” includes any proprietary interest in any business related to the functions of the public body concerned, whether that interest is freehold, leasehold or beneficial, and applies where the interest—

(a) is held solely by the person concerned or shared with one or more persons, and

(b) has a value of €5,000 or more;

“ programme material ” means audio-visual material or audio material and includes advertisements and material which, when transmitted, will constitute a direct offer to the public for the sale or supply to them of goods or other property (whether real or personal) or services;

“ provide a broadcasting service ” means to supply a compilation of programme material for the purpose of its being transmitted, relayed or distributed as a broadcasting service;

“ public service broadcaster ” means RTÉ, TG4, the Houses of the Oireachtas Channel and the Irish Film Channel;

“ public service broadcasting licence ” means a licence issued under section 121 ;

“ public service objects ” shall mean an activity undertaken by a corporation in pursuance of paragraphs (a) to (i) of section 114 (1) or paragraphs (a) to (h) of section 118 (1);

“Raidió Teilifís Éireann” means the authority established under section 3 of the Broadcasting Authority Act 1960 ;

“ RTÉ ” means Raidió Teilifís Éireann;

“ sectoral ” means pertaining to the provision of broadcasting and broadcasting related services;

“ sound broadcasting service ” means a broadcasting service which transmits, relays or distributes, by wireless telegraphy, communications, sounds, signs or signals intended for direct reception by the general public whether such communications, sounds, signs or signals are actually received or not;

“ statutory committee ” means the Contract Awards Committee or the Compliance Committee or both, as the case may be;

“ subscription or pay-per-view basis ”, in relation to the making available of a broadcasting service, means any basis for making a charge on a person in respect of the reception by him or her of a broadcasting service, and includes the basis of making such a charge by reference to the number of items of programme material viewed by him or her;

“subsidiary” has the same meaning as in the Companies Act 1963 ;

“superannuation benefits” means pensions, gratuities or other allowances payable on resignation, retirement or death;

“Teilifís na Gaeilge” means the body established by section 44 of the Act of 2001;

“ TG4 ” means Teilifís na Gaeilge;

“television programme service” means a service which comprises a compilation of audio-visual programme material of any description and is transmitted, distributed or relayed by means of wireless telegraphy directly or indirectly for reception by the general public;

“television programme service contract” and “television programme service contractor” have the same meaning as they have in section 70 ;

“ television licence fees ” means a fee paid on a licence granted under section 143 in respect of a television set (within the meaning of section 140 );

“terrestrial means”, in relation to the transmission of a broadcasting service, means any means of transmitting such a service by wireless telegraphy, other than by means of a MMD system or a satellite device and “digital terrestrial means” shall be read accordingly;

“ transmission” includes, in the case of a MMD system, distribution and “ transmit” and “re-transmit” shall be read accordingly;

“ website ” means a website maintained on the Internet;

“ wireless telegraphy ” has the same meaning as in the Act of 1926.

1OJ No. L. 298/23, 17.10.1989

2OJ No. L. 202/60, 30.07.1997

3OJ No. L. 332, 18.12.2007