Ofcom Set To Pave The Way For New Media Entity

There is a clear case for a new provider of public service broadcast content in the UK, which would have its centre of gravity firmly in new media and with a remit designed for new forms of content provision, according to the chief executive of Ofcom.

Speaking at last week’s Oxford Media Convention, Ed Richards announced that the communications regulator would publish a discussion document on a new public service publisher, or PSP, this week.

The new entity could be attached to an existing Public Service Broadcaster or emerge as an entirely new institution. Ofcom remains “open-minded” about the possibility of a new media organisation but Richards also admitted there was a good argument for attaching the PSP to an already established industry player.

“The delivery channels for public service content are going to change and if the public service content is going to be made available to future generations, this means using the tools, the technology, the form and the culture of digital media,” said Richards. “This does not mean a series of alternative distribution models for the same linear content. It means new types of content that have characteristics that make them go far beyond conventional, traditional broadcasting.”

The head of the regulator outlined the body’s vision for the future of the UK media landscape, claiming that user participation was key in that it was a defining quality that separates successful networked content from traditional broadcast media.

“Rather than abandoning the concept of public service as the model changes, the shift to participative, interactive media offers us the opportunity to revitalise our idea of public service for new and active citizens and consumers, as well as building upon the passive viewing, which will of course remain attractive and valued,” he said.

The PSP could be a bold approach to public service content delivery in the digital environment, which could specialise in original, innovative, participative media. It would be a commissioner but also potentially an aggregator of public service content, which would recognise consumers as users, creators, contributors and viewers. It might have a remit based on enduring public purposes and characteristics, but delivered in very new ways.

“The world has changed very radically since Ofcom was created, and it will continue to change very fast in the next few years. So I believe that we need a new digital media vision, one which will guide us into the future.

“As in the past, creating that remit will require imagination, innovation and boldness, as well as analysis and rigour. A new digital media settlement will not just emerge from the ashes of the old. It will take hard thinking and recollection, timely intervention and the courage to let the market take its course where that is the right approach, but also the courage to reinvent the valuable role of the public realm. We need to be inspired by the legacy of British broadcasting in the last century, but we cannot afford to be trapped or constrained by its history or its convention.”

Richards believes that these are genuinely exciting times, which are full of opportunity, and that 2007 will be a crucial year in the development of the future of the media in Britain. Wireless services are set to flourish and more spectrum will be released, especially for mobile services, with an enormous range of companies interested in the new broadcast space.

The landscape is evolving and there is fundamental change in the environment for broadcasters and telecommunications companies, with a few basic principals at the heart of this change. The demand for greater control is key, as is the demand for greater mobility and more participation.

There are exciting changes to come, but with that comes disruption to the established sense of how businesses can earn profits in the communications sector, striving to reinvent themselves for a new landscape. The means of achieving public purpose will be disrupted as the existing levels for achieving those public purposes are eroded by technological and market developments.

“It is here that we need the vigilance and the review that allows us to ensure we keep the citizen interest and the consumer interest instep and in balance,” said Richards. “The traditional approach that has been effective for a national linear broadcasting model is simply not designed for a multi-platform world of global information.”

Content regulation is the key – it needs to evolve to address legitimate areas of public interest, while also reflecting the different shades of expectation. Ofcom believes that the time is right for a wider public debate on the way to go forward. “We need to recognise that tomorrow’s digital media vision will sit in a global context,” he said.

“Any public intervention needs to be transparent and accountable but it also needs to be bounded‌ in the level of funding and by mechanisms that place limits on scope and expansion. The market impact assessments and the public value test of new BBC services are a good start in that direction.

“Digital vision will need to have original production and creativity at its heart, stretching those that deliver it with ambitious purposes and objectives, including innovation, quality and engagement.”

Plurality and diversity are vital. The right way to give this new meaning is by ensuring that an approach which is accessible to all, plural in character, diverse in content and responsible to the audience’s needs of this century not the last.

Ofcom has also commissioned an independent financial review of Channel 4 to provide a thorough assessment of its future financial challenges and the likely impact on its ability to deliver its public service remit. This will be a tough and rigorous review to asses the true sustainability of the channel’s contribution to plurality in public service broadcasting, according to Richards, and will be published in late March.

Three questions have emerged: to what extent, if at all, would C4’s unique blend of public service and commercial broadcasting become unprofitable in the future, with the company’s core public service channel having generated substantial returns, but with an increasingly competitive market and a declining advertising industry. If the core channel’s funding model is threatened, to what extent would its digital offshoots fill the gap, and are there new investments that C4 could make to help fill any remaining funding gap?

“Our goal now must be to ensure that the UK and its people do as well in the digital 21st century as they did in the analogue 20th century.”

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