The Government’s plans to relax the media ownership regulations to allow major newspaper groups to buy Channel Five could face defeat in the House of Lords, according to influential Labour peer, David Puttnam.
In an interview with the
Financial Times, Lord Puttnam warned the Government that up to 60 Labour peers could rebel against the proposals for Channel Five unless an “imaginative concession” is made.
Puttnam, whose Joint Scrutiny Committee has been critical of the Communications Bill, accused the Government of being “somewhat naive” over the impact of its proposals, which would allow large newspaper groups such as Rupert Murdoch’s News International to own Channel Five.
Many fear that the move would lead to too much concentration of power in commercial broadcasting and Puttnam has warned that peers, anxious that Murdoch’s power should not go unchecked, would vote against the proposals unless the Government can “find a way through this tangle.”
He urged the Government to support his plans to protect Channel Five, telling the FT: “My preference is for a compromise based on the notion of what I call the ratchet: a situation whereby Channel Five, once it reaches say 10% of the analogue audience share commits to a number of serious public service obligations.”
Government has previously been unwilling to compromise on the issue of foreign ownership, despite strong calls from Puttnam and his Parliamentary committee. However, reports suggest that a compromise could be on the cards as the Government does not want to see the Bill bounced between the Commons and the Lords, if peers inflict a defeat.
It is understood that the Bill has just cleared the Commons and is set to receive a second reading in the House of Lords later this month. A vote by peers is expected a report stage in April and if all goes according to plan the Bill is scheduled to become law later this year.
Recent research conducted by Taylor Nelson Sofres suggests that more than half of the British population is opposed to Government plans to allow foreign ownership of UK media assets, with just 23% expressing support for the proposals put forward in the Communications Bill.
