189 Quality Taste or Tasting Quality? Excellence in Public Service Media from an Audience Perspective Irene Costera Meijer This chapter reports on a study in the Netherlands that compares television quality from an audience point of view with professional perspectives on quality television. While holding on to the concept of ‘quality’ as a normative standard for public service media, the study questions the discrepancy between a common definition of quality television as a particular reputation, a range of genres or a distinguishing sign of ‘good taste’ on the one hand, and on the other the decline in shares and ratings for quality programming, even among the traditional ‘quality audience’ (comprised of the political and cultural elite). The chapter’s objective is to explain this gap. 1 These findings are pertinent to growing concerns about what constitutes quality in public service media [PSM]. The first part of the chapter is devoted to analysis of the ‘crisis of qual- ity programming in public service media. The second part seeks answers by approaching the issues discussed from the perspective of audiences. The quality question in PSM In professional media circles, the question of quality is commonly framed in conservative terms: quality television is something to be conserved. BBC star reporter and anchor, Jeremy Paxman (2007), compared it with an endangered species: “There is a fight going on for the survival of quality television right across this industry”. He suggested that putting the taste and preferences of audi- ences in the driver’s seat would be the doom of quality programming. Likewise Michael Kustow, the first Arts Commissioning Editor for Channel 4, pleaded: “A television channel, and its arts and cultural programmes exist to lead tastes and elevate appetites, not simply to reflect the reduced ones of a society of shoppers” (Independent, 5 September 2007). Both of these experts consider the increasing pressure to reach large audiences as the major threat to quality television. Even audience research its self has come under suspicion as a culpable agent of de- cline, as Paxman’s motto illustrates: “Let’s spend less time measuring audiences and more time enlightening them” (Guardian, August 24 2007).