The Government’s recently published draft Communications Bill does not do enough to ensure the survival of a healthy commercial broadcasting sector, according to ITV’s director of channels, David Liddiment.
Speaking at the Westminster Media Forum yesterday, Liddiment criticised the Government’s decision to leave the BBC partially outside the remit of new super-regulator Ofcom, saying that the BBC’s board of governors could not be relied upon to regulate the corporation, with its “massive budget” and “increasing commercial interests.”
Liddiment said that the draft Communications Bill had fallen short of producing a level playing field for terrestrial broadcasters and called on the Government to ensure that there is not one set of rules for the UK’s commercial public service broadcasters and another for the BBC.
He said: “Whilst ITV’s regional and original production quotas will be set by Ofcom, the BBC will propose its own targets. We have already seen what this means for public service programming in and near peak time on BBC1.”
Liddiment, who will leave ITV at the end of this year (see Liddiment Quits ITV Director Of Channels Role), has been an outspoken critic of the BBC’s increasingly ratings-orientated approach to programming. Last December he said that he was “not about to surrender ITV1’s position as Britain’s most popular channel” (see Liddiment Defends Risk Taking). However, since then BBC1 has beaten its commercial competitor to become the UK’s most watched channel across all hours (see BBC Claims Ratings Victory Over ITV).
According to Liddiment, the BBC’s success is partially due to creative challenges provided by ITV and Channel 4, which, he said, have “shamed” the corporation into pumping millions of pounds into peak-time programming (see BBC To Increase Programming Investment).
ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.co.uk
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