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As a young democracy, Spain had huge expectations for media pluralism after the end of Franco's dictatorship in 1975. However, structural and historical forces have imposed a more prosaic evolution, where the regulation of media concentration has had more to do with media groups' interests than societal goals. At first, Spain's media ownership regulations laid down important limitations on media ownership, but as technology developed, these constraints were progressively relaxed through a large set of complex legal amendments in non-specific legislative acts. However, the absence of cross-media ownership rules is crucial to the understanding of the Spanish media system's dynamics and players. Spanish media have evolved from small newspaper companies to big multimedia groups. Fierce competition in an increasingly fragmented scenario is the result. This absence has led to the creation of five or six multimedia groups in Spain, which have made structural pluralism possible at a national level.

Abstract
This article tries to examine the latest European Commission (EC) policy developments in the media sector through the new concept of soft regulation. Much criticized for its media policy approaches, the EC seems to try to rebuild media freedom and media pluralism protection foundations at the EU level with several new initiatives based on soft regulation. This article analyses these soft-regulatory media policy actions to answer the following questions: Have soft-regulatory measures been a good option to improve media pluralism policy at the EU level? Are there better mechanisms that EU can employ to assist Member States in promoting media pluralism? The aim of the research is to see whether these new EC debates and softregulatory initiatives have made a real change in the traditional way that EC has been dealing with audio-visual matters or whether it is only repeating old answers to old questions.

Abstract
Can a uniform policy for media pluralism be adopted across the 28 Member States of the European Union through the involvement of independent regulatory authorities? According to the authors, the chances remain remote due to political and stakeholder opposition grounded in diverse structural, cultural, political, and economic interests. Based on a review of key documents from diverse sources, and case studies in Hungary and Italy, it appears that the goal of an EU-wide collaborative network of financially and politically independent audiovisual regulatory authorities, with common standards, faces significant challenges. However, the authors see hope in the increased debate on the topic, and suggest that some movement in that direction may yet be possible.

Abstract
Can a uniform policy for media pluralism be adopted across the 28 Member States of the European Union through the involvement of independent regulatory authorities? According to the authors, the chances remain remote due to political and stakeholder opposition grounded in diverse structural, cultural, political, and economic interests. Based on a review of key documents from diverse sources, and case studies in Hungary and Italy, it appears that the goal of an EU-wide collaborative network of financially and politically independent audiovisual regulatory authorities, with common standards, faces significant challenges. However, the authors see hope in the increased debate on the topic, and suggest that some movement in that direction may yet be possible.

Frente a la crítica tradicional que señala a la televisión pública centrada en las audiencias como una televisión más cercana a los modelos comerciales que al servicio público, la literatura contemporánea sitúa, precisamente, en la participación de las audiencias una de las claves de la televisión pública en la era de la digitalización y la convergencia (Castro 2012; Doyle 2010; Kjus 2009; Bardoel 2007). El artículo se centra en el estudio de la participación en las televisiones públicas autonómicas, en particular en dos cuestiones: 1. Si la variedad de cauces de participación existentes en las producciones crossmedia –programa de televisión que cuenta con web propia, foros de expresión de opinión y cuentas sociales en Twitter y Facebook– aumentan la participación efectiva de las audiencias; y 2. Si esta participación puede encuadrarse en el cumplimiento de las obligaciones de servicio público de televisión, especialmente, de las de proximidad. Metodología: Se parte de un análisis descriptivo de la literatura sobre participación de las audiencias y de las formas de participación promovidas por las políticas europeas, estatales y autonómicas. A partir de los resultados obtenidos, se estudia el caso de "la noche de…" un programa de ETB 2. Resultados: Se comprueba que la atención creciente a la participación del público, tanto en la literatura europea y española como en la regulación existente, no tiene un reflejo proporcional en la realidad de la gestión de las televisiones públicas, en particular en las televisiones públicas autonómicas.

The protection of pluralism in a cross-media scenario is a major concern for regulatory authorities in all democratic countries. This paper presents the outcome of in-depth interviews with members of six independent audiovisual regulatory authorities. They were questioned about the assessment of measures being taken to protect external pluralism in their respective countries, and about the problems and shortcomings they encounter during their implementation. In spite of the difficulties that arise when trying to compare different national realities and to gather qualitative data from legal bodies, this paper draws several conclusions on current policy trends for the protection of pluralism. ; This paper is part of the research project "Pluralism and communication groups in Spain: audience concentration", funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (National RD&I Plan 2009-2011). The first part of the study analyses to what extent and in which way several European countries and the U.S. have set limits on audience reach/concentration as a communication policy instrument aimed at protecting pluralism in a cross-media scenario.

This IRIS Special focuses on the independence of regulatory authorities and bodies in the broadcasting and audiovisual media sector in Europe. These entities have proliferated according to the different legal traditions of the respective countries they belong to. They do not, therefore, conform one, single model. Nonetheless, they reflect a common approach of sorts with regard to the institutional set-up of regulatory governance. The independence of these entities is particularly important because it contributes to the broader objective of media independence, which is in itself an essential component of democracy. The creation, status and functioning of these regulatory authorities and bodies were shaped pursuant to the constitutional requirements and/or administrative practices of the countries that established them. As a result, each has distinct characteristics and levels of independence that differ according to where they are located. But when is an authority to be considered independent? The measurement of an entity's independence requires careful analysis of the legal texts setting it up, but also of the practices that are rooted in reality and reflect the sensitivities of the societies in question. This IRIS Special aims to enlighten the reader on the definition of the independence of a regulatory authority or body, on the criteria used to assess its independence, and on the legal framework embodying this independence at the European level, as well as provide analysis of the status and functioning of regulatory authorities and bodies in a selection of nine European countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Spain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, and Slovenia. This sample reflects the different levels of independence that can be found across Europe. © European Audiovisual Observatory (Council of Europe), Strasbourg, September 2019