[CMA TV] Ofcom seeks public service debate

[Michelle McGuire]

Ofcom seeks public service debate


Mark Sweney
Thursday January 18, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk

Ofcom is to next week launch a consultation document on the future  
delivery of public service content for the digital age.

The regulator's chief executive, Ed Richards, speaking at the Oxford  
Media Convention, said that, as delivery channels for public service  
content change, there is a need for a new entity with a "centre of  
gravity firmly in new media".

It could be attached to an existing organisation, or it might be a  
new, independent body. Mr Richards theorised that it could aggregate  
news from public service broadcasters and would be focused on serving  
the public as users, creators and contributors - not just as consumers.

He identified the need to look at the idea of the Public Service  
Broadcaster as a whole because the traditional model of content  
creation and distribution had been disrupted so dramatically in the  
past few years.

"Every change, such as digital uptake and the rise of PVRs, has  
outstripped the predictions made three years ago. Both BBC 1 and  
ITV1, in particular, have seen faster declines than predicted or  
expected."

The incentive for the likes of ITV to provide public service content  
was looked set to diminish in the future. As a result he identified  
2012 - the final year of digital switchover and the "last settled  
year" of the current licence fee settlement - as a key date to target  
for a new system of public service broadcasting to come into play.

Working backwards from that date, he said that Ofcom would have to  
start its review of the role of the Public Service Broadcaster next  
year.
This would see a report published in 2009 and the findings go before  
government in 2010. He added that he did not expect the government to  
make "further direct intervention" in the period to 2012. In terms of  
future investment in original production, he dismissed the view held  
by James Murdoch that the market would provide significant investment  
in high-quality content.

"This flies in the face of evidence to date," said Mr Richards. "Non- 
PSPs invest less than £100m per year." He added that the likes of ITV  
and Five may "continue to have an incentive to invest ... but that  
may be less than in the current environment and narrower in scope".  
While Channel 4 brings a "plurality and diversity to all our  
benefits". He pointed to genres such as news and children's  
programming as having a difficult commercial rationale - for example,  
many people pick up news from sources such as online.

Source: Media Guardian
http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,1993496,00.html

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Michelle McGuire
Editor, Airflash Magazine

Community Media Association
http://www.commedia.org.uk

"Access to the media for people and communities"