Ofcom Plans New Public Service Channel To Rival BBC
Media super-regulator Ofcom has today published controversial proposals for the launch of an entirely new public service broadcaster to be run by commercial operators as a rival to the BBC in the digital age.
The radical suggestion has been put forward as part of a wide-ranging set of proposals designed to protect the future of public service broadcasting as Britain prepares to switch off the ageing analogue television signal in 2012.
The Government’s media regulator is suggesting the creation of a new organisation similar to Channel 4 that would use a variety of new technologies and distribution systems to meet audience needs in the increasingly competitive digital age.
Existing commercial broadcasters ITV, Channel 4 and Five would be able to bid for the right to set up and run the new channel, but the BBC would be excluded in an attempt to prevent the Corporation from dominating the market for public service broadcasting.
It is being proposed that the new Public Service Publisher would be funded by a combination of tax revenues, an enhanced licence fee and a tax on the turnover of UK broadcasters. This would give it annual revenues of about £300 million following the switch to digital in 2012.
Ofcom rejected the highly publicised notion of an ‘Arts Council of the Air’, which would see the creation of a pool of funds that commercial broadcasters could use to provide public service programming such as religion and arts shows. It claimed this concept would lead to “excessive bureaucracy”.
In the second phase of a wide-ranging report on the state of public service broadcasting, Ofcom also ruled out changes to the BBC’s £2 billion licence fee that would have seen the Corporation carry advertising or move to subscription model of funding.
The regulator said that the BBC must remain “properly funded” if it is to survive as Britain prepares to go digital. It claims the public will support the BBC’s existing model of funding for another 12 years, but suggests that a full-scale review of the exact cost and use of the licence fee should be carried out in 2011.
The 100-page report, which will influence Government thinking on public service obligations, dismissed calls for the “top slicing” of the BBC licence fee, a mechanism that would have allowed Channel 4 to seek a portion of the BBC’s annual income. However, Ofcom recognises that Channel 4 may find it difficult to maintain it income from advertising in the face of increasing competition from multi-channel broadcasters. In the event of this happening it suggests that some of the BBC’s “income-generating assets” could be transferred from the corporation to Channel 4.
Earlier this week it was suggested that Channel 4 is considering plans to take control of the BBC’s flagship youth station Radio One as part of a plan to safeguard its financial future. Channel 4 has made no secret of its intention to develop its existing business and Radio One would fit perfectly the television broadcaster’s youth audience (see Channel 4 Could Get Slice Of BBC Licence Fee).
Ofcom: 020 7981 3040 www.ofcom.org.uk
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