NewsLine Column: Ofcom’s Role In Limiting The Damage Of BBC3
Last week the BBC finally got the go-ahead to launch its new digital youth-entertainment channel, BBC3. The commercial sector has welcomed the stringent conditions that will be imposed on the channel and is calling for them to be enforced by proposed single communications regulator, Ofcom. Ian Twinn, ISBA’s director of public affairs, explains…
It was no great surprise for advertisers, commercial broadcasters or media commentators when BBC3, the new BBC digital channel for youth audiences, was given clearance for take-off last week by Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
Although delayed by some 12 months, BBC3 was always going to be given the go-ahead sooner or later. Behind the vigorous protestations by ISBA and the commercial broadcasters about the impact that the channel could have on the overall digital TV marketplace lay a sense of inevitability. The BBC is one of the most powerful institutions in the country today, and has been determined to launch the channel because of the strategic importance of increasing its own offerings in the crowded mutli-channel market serving 16-34 year olds. Even had its latest application been rejected, the BBC would have been given further chances to present its case again, and again until its proposals suited.
Despite being given the go-ahead, ISBA has been encouraged by the detail of Tessa Jowell’s decision, which attaches twelve key conditions to the Government’s approval for BBC3. Broadly, the conditions focus on ensuring that, in the words of the Secretary of State, “BBC3 should be a distinctive public service channel that is not competing with what is already out there in a vigorous market place.” Specifically, the conditions range from “[ensuring] commitment to factual programming including 15 hours covering science, religion/ethics and business” to “[ensuring] 90% of programme hours for the service are allocated to programmes made in the EU/EEA, for first showing in the UK.”
It is true that the range of conditions give the Government unprecedented levels of control over a BBC service and that as long as BBC3 is held firmly to the twelve conditions, they would limit the damage that it will do to the commercial sector. Whilst it is encouraging to see recognition of commercial realities in the Government’s decision, it will be judged by how rigorously the conditions are implemented and enforced.
The Secretary of State suggested that there should be a thorough review in two years time to assess the impact BBC3 has had. ISBA welcomes this, but questions the Government’s role as judge and jury. For the sake of objectiveness and fairness and for the sake of being seen to be objective and fair, the enforcement of the twelve conditions and all relevant reviews should be carried out, not by the Government itself, but by Ofcom, the proposed single communications regulator.
Surely, given the extraordinary conditions put in place to ensure that BBC3 adds to the overall broadcast ecology, rather than takes away from it, BBC3’s product should be overseen and reviewed by the single regulator, independent of Government and independent of the BBC’s Board of Governors, whose remit is – precisely – to take an holistic view of media regulation and to ensure the health of the overall UK media ecology.
It is time for regulation of the BBC to be put onto a level playing field with the rest of UK media and to assess the impact of its activities in this context. If that step is taken for BBC3, then it is a step in the right direction.
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