ITC Chairman Defends Watershed As A Method Of Regulation

Sir Robin Biggam, chairman of the Independent Television Commission (ITC), talked about the changes in broadcasting which have taken place over the last decade and their implications for the ITC as a regulatory body, at a Royal Television Society Dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London last week.

Although he acknowledged that the watchdog has taken a ‘lighter touch’ approach to media regulation in the light of various broadcasting advancements, and has to rely more on broadcasters adhering to published codes, he defended the old institution that is the 9 o’clock watershed: “The nine o’clock watershed may well appear to the technically sophisticated to be an outdated concept in an age when far stronger material can be available on video or the Internet. But viewers still regard it as an important and integral part of television infrastructure. The watershed meets the fundamental objective of content regulation, the protection of children.”

There have been various recent developments in the area of broadcasting regulation. For example, yesterday the Radio Authority announced that its Promises of Performance were to be replaced by Formats (see Newsline), which it saw as a sign of a lighter touch approach. Earlier in the year, ITV demanded that the BBC be regulated independently from commercial networks by the ITC (see Newsline), and at the beginning of December the IPA called for a single economic regulatory body for television (see Newsline).

Sir Robin called for the overlap between existing regulators to be reconsidered: “The current system of a tightly regulated commercial sector and a self-regulated BBC needs a critical review – it is certainly difficult to see the markedly different systems surviving into the digital era when there will be much greater pressure on all free to air broadcasters as they fight to hold share of a reducing market. The complexity of the BSC [Broadcasting Standards Commission] position – which can adjudicate on all content complaints – both radio and television – but has no regulatory power will also need to be considered and resolved.”

Last year, the Government published a Green Paper called Regulating Communications which prompted responses from various media bodies (see Newsline).

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