Commercial news providers should receive a share of the BBC licence fee once the digital switchover is complete, according to a new report from the Social Markets Foundation.
The ‘What’s the news? News Broadcasting in the Digital Age’ report suggests that 5% of the BBC licence fee should be used to fund commercial television news programmes, once the move from analogue to digital television is complete. It also calls for the introduction of a £120 million fund to support a ‘news licence’ for alternative public service news.
Ann Rossiter, deputy director of the Social Market Foundation and writer of the report, suggests that commercial producers, like ITV and Channel 4, should be allowed to bid for the proposed ‘news licence’ to support their primetime news production.
Rossiter proposes the ‘news licence’ as a better alternative to the ‘Public Service Publisher’ currently put forward by media watchdog Ofcom, arguing that it is less likely to subsidise programmes that would have been produced by the market anyway.
Primetime programmes are expensive to make, resulting in a fear that production will cost too much for commercial providers on digital television when competing against an unlimited number of stations. The report argues that a ‘news licence’ will protect a varied provision of news at peak times following the switchover.
There is strong public support for television news, with a survey by the Independent Television Commission, finding that 70% of respondents cited the medium as the most popular and trusted source of information.
Channel 4 has already voiced fears of the cost of surviving in a digital only television environment, calling on Ofcom to provide partial funding to ensure its continued existence in the increasingly competitive industry (see Channel 4 Outlines Public Funding Proposals To Ofcom).
The digital switchover is also forecast to affect UK TV advertising revenue, as traditional commercial channels become constrained by the success of their digital counterparts, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The research also identifies the impact the new BBC digital channels will have on advertising revenues, with the BBC’s success predicted to affect traditional and multi-channel viewing in equal measure (see Multi-Channel TV Predicted To Lead Adspend).
Research published in November 2004 by Freeview, has predicted other financial problems attributed with the switchover. The report warns that the cost to consumers of converting Britain to digital TV is likely to be in the region of £1 billion, a third more than previously estimated (see ‘Digital Britain’ Will Incur £1bn Bill).
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