Ofcom Calls For Independent BBC Regulator

Ofcom has called for the BBC to be overseen by an independent body, expanding on the current plan for a BBC Trust representing the interests of licence fee payers, in its response to the Government’s green paper on charter renewal.

Ofcom’s submission calls on the Government to secure the future of public service broadcasting (PSB) from the “broadest range of suppliers”, not just the BBC, while ensuring that the Corporation remains the “cornerstone” of the system, “strong, independent, properly funded and focused on providing public service programming and content.”

Ofcom also states that the Government should ensure other broadcasters can “prosper through the transition to digital,” with each able to compete for audiences through innovation.

The regulator claims that, should the BBC become the UK’s sole PSB provider, there is a risk that audiences could become conditioned by the “commercial majority” rather than the “public service minority” and that “producers, writers, editors and other talent would be heavily conditioned by the needs of the commercial sector alone,” leaving the BBC vulnerable to a declining market share and the loss of viewer, industry and political support.

Ofcom recommends that the Government explore potential sources of funding, and new models of accountability, that would be needed to finance public service programming and content beyond that provided by the BBC. The watchdog states that these could include Government funding, allocated to pilot new forms of content, funded from an enhanced BBC licence fee model.

The submission also proposes the Government bring forward its review of public service funding, ensuring that it is completed by 2010, two years before the completion of digital switchover. Lastly Ofcom states that more detailed work on the Public Service Publisher model is needed, as well as on the review of prospects for Channel 4.

Ofcom’s response to the Government green paper also called for gaps in current competition law to be plugged, recognising that large players, including the BBC, are currently able to distort competition, with an “adverse affect” on the development of the commercial sector.

Ofcom believes that, to secure a level playing field, all organisations in the media sector should be overseen by an independent competition authority, able to respond quickly to market distortion or abuse.

Ofcom: 020 7981 3040 www.ofcom.org.uk