ITV Welcomes Loosened PSB Requirements
ITV has welcomed Ofcom’s Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) review, published yesterday, allowing the commercial broadcaster to cut its non-news regional output.
Overall, ITV agrees with the government media watchdog’s diagnosis that the rapid transition to digital demands a modernisation of the public broadcast commitments imposed on commercial public service broadcasters.
ITV has long been arguing that its current PSB commitments would become increasingly unreasonable in the face of growing competition from multi-channel broadcasters. The network, which is no longer the cash cow its once was, currently spends around £475 million on analogue licence fees and public service programming.
Resulting from Ofcom’s decisions, ITV believes that the proposals for regional broadcasting and production for ITVi, together with commitments made by ITV, will help the channel maintain and strengthen its commitment to the UK regions, rather than diminish it.
The proposals will see ITV, for the first time, commit to the majority of UK network commissions being made outside London, guaranteeing ITV network spending outside London in excess of £250 million per annum.
Despite ITV cutting its regional output, resulting in a reduction in non-news regional programmes broadcast in daytime and late at night, Ofcom has made clear that ITV’s regional news obligations will remain in place. ITV1 broadcasts more than 5,000 hours per year of regional news across 15 regions and 27 sub-regions.
Commenting on the completion of the PSB review, Charles Allen chief executive of ITV said: “ITV welcomes the publication today of the final Ofcom report which completes the PSB review. ITV has actively engaged in every stage in the process. We are particularly pleased that ITV’s contribution to public service broadcasting in the UK has been acknowledged and endorsed by Ofcom.”
Ofcom’s PSB review will give ITV more opportunity to play a more focussed and effective public service broadcasting role in the run up to the digital switchover, scheduled for 2012.
ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com Ofcom: 020 7981 3040 www.ofcom.org.uk
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