Allocating free broadcast time

The allocation of broadcast time to political parties contesting an election is a sensitive one, which needs to be carefully considered and implemented.
Because the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), as the national broadcaster, is the largest broadcaster with the greatest reach, all political parties want to have their campaign messages aired by it in free-to-air party political broadcasts.
Election Watch asked the NBC to supply the IPPR with its policy on free air time, but the broadcaster did not respond to the request. In the past, it has been reported that the national broadcaster follows this formula: 60 per cent of airtime allocated for election coverage is divided amongst political parties on a proportional basis, thus by the number of seats they hold in the National Assembly. The remaining 40 per cent is equally shared amongst political parties with representation in Parliament.
Campaign events will receive news coverage regardless of whether a political party is represented in Parliament or not.
In South Africa, all political parties receive a minimum allocation of broadcast time, based on the number of candidates contesting and the party's past performance in elections. The last point brings the number of seats a party holds in Parliament and provincial legislatures into play.
Also, if it chooses, South Africa's Independent Broadcasting Authority may call for the allocation of broadcast time based on public opinion polls.
In Britain, before elections the allocation of broadcast time is reviewed by a committee of broadcasters and political parties. Airtime is then allocated based on the number of candidates a political party fields in the elections – meaning, parties fielding 50 or more candidates are allocated one free broadcast. The two main parties contesting the election receive equal airtime while the third main party receives less, and so on.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) allocates free broadcast time to the governing and official opposition parties contesting elections in the different states of the country, taking into consideration the demonstrated support of these parties. The ABC also establishes an Election Coverage Review Committee, which monitors the election coverage to make sure the broadcaster provides fair and balanced coverage to all political parties contesting an election.
Also, before each election, the ABC issues a detailed election coverage guide to all political parties which outlines the allocation of broadcast time on radio and television.

How others do it

Many countries have allocated direct access broadcasting time on the basis of equality between the different political parties or candidates. Even so, there may be certain differences in the way that these systems work. Sometimes, for example, there may be a qualification criterion or threshold of support that must be met before equality applies (the following adapted from - www.aceproject.org)
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France
The formula for allocating direct access broadcast time in the French presidential elections is one of equality for all candidates, who usually number about 14. If no clear winner emerges there is a second round run-off between the two leading candidates, and again air-time is allocated equally between them.

Denmark
Denmark allocates equal time to all political parties in parliamentary elections, so long as they satisfy certain basic criteria: they must have been registered with the Ministry of the Interior, which requires that they will have collected signatures equivalent to one in 175 of the votes cast at the last election.

Norway
In Norway, time is allocated equally, but again certain criteria must be met. Parties must have been represented in one of the last two parliaments, have a national organisation and be fielding candidates in a majority of districts. Smaller parties that do not meet this threshold nevertheless are allowed some broadcasts.

Italy
The state broadcaster, RAI gives equal time to all competing parties in an election. However, private commercial broadcasters have no such obligation.

Armenia
Armenia gives equal access to each party, but the amount was limited to five minutes for each candidate or party. This avoided the problem of information overload but perhaps created another problem. Was this really enough information for the voter?

Japan
Japan has a system of equal access but with a minimum qualification threshold. In order to receive equal broadcasting time a party must field at least 12 candidates. In the Upper House, however, all candidates receive five and a half minutes of free broadcasting time.

Netherlands
The Netherlands, like Japan, has a system that is a sort of modified equality. In principle all parties have equal broadcasting time. However, the regulatory body, the Media Commissariat, may allocate extra time to parties running candidates in all electoral districts.