Switchover ‘Completely Unnecessary’ Says Elstein
David Elstein, former chief executive of Five and current chief executive of Hallmark, has lashed out at the Government’s plan for digital switchover, branding the exercise “almost completely unnecessary” and claiming it is designed purely to “reinvent spectrum scarcity.”
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours programme, Elstein said: “Digital switchover for me an amazing proposition. It is almost completely unnecessary, certainly within the timescale that [the Government] are trying to do it.
“99% of the population that wants to get digital television can do today just by installing a no-subscription satellite dish, and you get 400 channels compared with Freeview’s 30.
Elstein claimed that digital switchover is of most benefit to the BBC, rather than to consumers in general. “It’s being done to largely protect their audience share in the future,” he said. “What we’re essentially doing with digital terrestrial television is reinventing spectrum scarcity. The old terrestrial broadcasters are rapidly losing market share and this is bad, particularly in the case of the BBC, where if their share drops then the licence fee becomes endangered.”
The high profile TV boss, who is also chairman of the Commercial Radio Companies Association, claimed that the BBC has pushed for digital switchover since the 1990s, with the prospect of a “huge sale of spectrum” as a result also pleasing politicians.
Elstein warned, however, that statistics on the amount of change caused by digital switchover were misleading. “Not 9 million, but 25 million homes will be affected by this,” he said. “Virtually every home that has digital still uses analogue television, and its not just their TVs but their video recorders as well. 87% of homes have video recorders, so the total bill for the consumer is going to be between £8 and £10 billion to deliver virtually no positive outcome.”
Elstein is not the first to criticise switchover. Earlier this week several MPs in ITV’s Border region challenged culture secretary Tessa Jowell over the plans, claiming there is “complete uncertainty” over the Government’s ability to assist those who cannot afford new equipment required for the change.
Speaking to Broadcast, Liberal Democrat MP for Berwick upon Tweed, Alan Beith explained: “So far [the Government] have only given us the vaguest indicators of help available. They have no idea whether it’s a voucher or someone coming around” (see Switchover Plan Slammed By Border MPs).
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