Ofcom: ITV regional news is no longer sustainable
Ofcom warned today that the costs of the Channel 3 licences to provide ITV regional news will outweigh the benefits by 2012.
In response to a Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) consultation on delivering national and regional news, the media regulator said ITV’s regional network licence could be in deficit by as much as £64 million by 2012.
If regional news on Channel 3 is to be maintained post digital switchover, Ofcom’s report says new funding will be required by the way of an independent news consortia, which would be funded by competitive tender.
The proposed consortia, which could be made up of existing television news providers, newspaper groups or other news gathering agencies, would be chosen against a range of public criteria, including the ability to meet the overall standards of current Channel 3 regional productions, according to the regulator.
ITV companies will no longer be required to fulfill their regional PSB quota if an independent news group delivers regional news across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland post 2012, something which will be a welcome outcome for the commercial broadcaster.
Lord Carter’s Digital Britain report, which first suggested the idea of an independent news consortia as a way of maintaining regional news output, said it could potentially be funded with £130 million of the BBC’s licence fee money.
However, the BBC continues to argue against the idea of top-slicing as a means of supporting other broadcasters. Speaking at the recent MGEITF, the BBC’s chief operating officer Caroline Thomson said: “Top-slicing risks destroying the BBC in the long term. Once it starts it will not stop.”
The exact size and shape of a consortia has yet to be decided, but pilot schemes are expected to take place in Scotland and Wales from next year.
Last week, ITN, which is keen to take a leading role in heading up the consortia, called for a single contract to cover the whole of England.
Ofcom said an “independent news consortia could be an effective means of achieving a valued choice of news, alongside the BBC, while providing a potential platform for the future development of more local services, including local TV, and using other media”.
The report also shows that if the spectrum is freed up after digital switchover, it would create further opportunities for new local TV services. Ofcom plans to consult on the potential uses of the spectrum in the lead up to 2012.