Broadcasters Critical Of PSP Proposals
Ofcom’s plans for a new online public service publisher, or PSP, have been met with mixed reactions from the various broadcasters, with some saying the regulator should instead focus on the existing services.
At January’s Oxford Media Convention, Ed Richards, the regulator’s chief executive, outlined that there was a clear case for a new, new media provider of public service broadcast content in the UK (see Ofcom Set To Pave The Way For New Media Entity).
Following this, Ofcom published its discussion document on the new PSP (see Ofcom Publishes PSP Discussion Document), and yesterday it revealed the responses to the proposal.
ITV has said there is a risk it could end up serving “relatively niche interest content to an even more niche audience”.
Five joined ITV in criticising Ofcom’s PSP proposals, but Channel 4 gave the proposal a more positive response.
The PSP was originally proposed with an annual budget of £300 million, but this has now been costed down to between £50 million and £100 million a year.
In its response to the Ofcom consultation, ITV said it welcomed the worthy intentions behind the PSP, but added it had questions about its purpose and structure.
“It is hard enough for a free-to-air, network broadcaster to guarantee reach and impact with a new programme title let alone doing so with specialist niche content amidst the plethora of material available via the web,” the broadcaster said.
ITV also questioned whether the revised budget would be able to deliver the “quality of impact that would be required”.
“The priority should be to address the areas of existing provision where pressure is likely to be felt most acutely before turning to the use of public funding to introduce a new form of supply into the market that may not be able to deliver the same level of investment or impact,” ITV said.
Five criticised the PSP idea, saying it risked “becoming characterised as a solution in search of a problem”, while the “underlying issues [about provision of public service content] that gave rise to the idea of the PSP in the first place go unaddressed”.
The broadcaster added that it also did not see how the PSP would “counter a decline in regional programming, current affairs or children’s programming”.
Channel 4 said it was strongly supportive of the PSP, which it added could “help deliver greater public value in new ways and on new platforms”.
The broadcaster said that it believed the PSP should act as a form of “venture capital fund” to provide sustainable funding models to support UK-originated public service content in new media where the market is failing.
Channel 4 said Ofcom should not rule out working with existing broadcasters on the PSP, particularly itself.
“We believe that a close relationship between Channel 4 and the PSP would provide the most effective catalyst to support the provision and distribution of UK-originated public service content and would provide the greatest value for money,” the broadcaster said.
The BBC said there appeared to be question marks over whether a PSP acting as a commissioner of content would be the most efficient way of addressing a public service content shortfall.
It also said it would be best if Ofcom presented a “dispassionate” analysis of the PSP “rather than risk being positioned as the champion of a single solution”.
Ofcom said it would now assess the issues raised by respondents as part of its next statutory review of public service broadcasting, which will begin in the autumn.
Ofcom: 020 7981 3040 www.ofcom.org.uk