Inaugurated by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), a systematic assessment of a new service with regards to its public value is part of the governance system in public service media. The concept was applied throughout Europe over the past decade, in combination with the ex ante test. The procedure exists in 14 European media systems and just under 90 services have been reviewed. This chapter critically analyses the conceptual understanding of public value and addresses how public broadcasters define the key term in practice. Four case studies illustrate the variability of the concept. In particular, the issues of a decreasing value and the effect of a proposed service to previously approved services are difficult to address. Based on a systematic inventory of the institutional responsibilities, public broadcasters and decision-makers are at the centre due to their negotiations of pros and cons of launching a new service, particularly in cases where the public value has been considered insufficient compared to its market impact.