Broadcasters Welcome BBC Green Paper Proposals
The nation’s broadcasters have welcomed Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell’s proposals for the BBC, outlined yesterday to include the creation of a new BBC Trust to replace the current board of governors, while the licence fee continues to provide funding for another ten years (see Governors Axed As BBC Charter Renewed For 10 Years).
A spokesman for Channel 4 welcomed the proposals, and the Government’s support for a “strong and independent BBC as the cornerstone of public service broadcasting in the UK.”
Channel 4 also welcomed the emphasis placed by Jowell on the maintenance of competition and was pleased to see the Government look again at the possibility of help for Channel 4 with the transitional costs of switchover. “We look forward to working with the Government to take this proposal forward,” the spokesman said.
Elsewhere, ITV has also expressed support for the Government’s proposals, stating that it has long been an advocate of independent regulation of the BBC, and for the Governors’ conflicting role as regulatory and management board to end.
A statement from ITV said: “We are pleased that the Government has accepted these concerns. The BBC Trust is an interesting proposal and we look forward to working through the details. The test will be whether it creates a genuinely independent regulator or simply reconstitutes the BBC governors under a new name.”
ITV added: “We are particularly pleased to see Government put the issue of public funding of public service broadcasting beyond the BBC at the centre of its agenda and look forward to participating in the continuing debate on this crucial issue.”
The radio industry has also been supportive of Tessa Jowell’s proposals, with Paul Brown, chief executive of the Commercial Radio Companies Association stating: “We welcome the proposal to establish the BBC Trust, if its operation is both transparent and truly independent of the new executive board. The Trust must focus on serving licence fee payers, rather than defending and championing the BBC management.”
He added: “Commercial radio has felt the impact of the flexibility which the BBC has had to launch new services and change existing services, and we are also encouraged that the Green Paper acknowledges this should not happen in the future.”
BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk Channel Four: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com CRCA: 0207 306 2603 www.crca.co.uk ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com
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