[cma-l] Bad news on the DDR and local television

[Chris Booth]

Dear Peter,

I, and I suspect many others involved in lobbying Ofcom local television for the last few years, cannot share your sense of rosy optimism about the likelihood of the development of a national network of community television channels commencing soon.  As things stand, exactly the opposite will happen.  Ofcom have made it clear that they favour the wholesale sell-off of spectrum to the highest bidder, despite the widespread rejection of this idea in the last public consultation on the DDR.  Over the summer Ofcom held an seminar in London in which they made it clear (as did the Times article) that they will come back with exactly the same, previously rejected proposal in the next DDR public consultation.  Ofcom's argument is that one cannot interfere in a free market and that technical innovation, which they equate with social innovation and social worth, will necessarily emerge from giving over spectrum to the highest bidder.  Dave Rushton, Marilyn Hyndman, the CMA and others have amassed plenty of information over the years about the importance of local television which they have presented to various Ofcom forums, to no avail.  I believe that no representative from Ofcom has yet even visited Northern Visions in Belfast to view the important work it does.  You can present all the valid arguments you want for a course of action, but if those in power are in the unshakeable grip of an ideology that doesn't acknowledge the validity of any arguments other than its own, you won't get anywhere.  

Nor should one expect the government or MPs to support local television as things stand.  On November 15th the all-party House of Commons Culture Media and Sport Committee published its report on Public Service Content.  Item 117 on Page 40 of the Report states:

"We note the enthusiasm of some witnesses for the potential for local television and the view that the Government needs to take action to support the provision of local content.  However, whilst we do see some value in local content, we are not convinced of the need to intervene to support local television, particularly by giving away spectrum for broadcasting on digital terrestrial television.  If providers want to offer local television services, we believe that more targeted delivery platforms, such as broadband, are more appropriate."

If Ofcom and the Committee get their way the entire digital spectrum will be sold off to the highest bidder and after that no one is going to give away spectrum for local television services when they are paying such a high price in the first place.  Spectrum is regarded as a scare commodity by Ofcom and the various industries that want to get their hands on it, so it will be keenly bid for.  Once it is sold off, the chances for non commercial, socially or publicly oriented uses for such spectrum will be gone for ever.  The only chance for bringing about a change in this thinking is massive public support for local television, or at the very least rejection of Ofcom's proposal to auction off all spectrum to the highest bidder.  When you write "The case for community media, properly put, simply cannot be rejected", that may be so but that doesn't mean it will be acted on or answered; it will simply be ignored and sidestepped in the pursuit of market freedom, technical innovation and other supposedly more worthy aims.  To think that this matter will simply be resolved by the rational arguments is a dangerous illusion.  I would urge you, other CMA members and anyone else you know who wants local digital terrestrial television to lobby for it, not passively expect it to happen because it is clearly the most socially responsible use of spectrum and you have a touching faith that those in power will do the right thing.

Regards,

Chris Booth.  

-- 
I am using the free version of SPAMfighter for private users.
It has removed 351 spam emails to date.
Paying users do not have this message in their emails.
Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.commedia.org.uk/pipermail/cma-l/attachments/20071202/316443df/attachment.html>