Rules For “Third Broadcasting Revolution” Set To Be Unveiled
The framework for the “third broadcasting revolution” will be set out today when culture secretary Chris Smith unveils the long-awaited Communications White Paper. Details of the paper, which will pave the way for the next Communications Act to become law in 2002/3, are expected to be released at 3.30pm today.
The paper will update current legislation to take account of the changing nature of the media and telecommunications industries. The various strands of new and old media will be united under the new guidelines and the main emphasis of the paper will be a relaxation and modernisation of current burdensome legislation, allowing for greater flexibility. Some of the main areas of concern are laid out below:
Regulation: The “alphabet soup” of watchdogs regulating accuracy, taste and decency within the various media industries looks set to be abandoned. Thus the Independent Television Commission, Radio Authority, Broadcasting Standards Commission and Oftel are expected to be replaced by a single “super regulator”. Currently dubbed Ofcom, it will be given powers to police all media and telecoms industries and is expected to also include regulation of the BBC under its jurisdiction. This will effectively halt or dilute the self-regulatory powers of the Corporation, which have been a thorn in the side of commercial broadcasters in recent years, who have lobbied for the necessity of a level playing field amongst public service broadcasting and commercial operators.
Television Ownership: The limit on the amount of audience share one TV company can control is currently 15%. This is expected to be relaxed, with no upper limit set but with the expectation that ITV’s share will settle at 25% by the time the law comes into effect. Such a relaxation will inevitably lead to the formation of a single ITV company by around 2004. The two London licences – Carlton and London Weekend Television – cannot currently have common ownership and restrictions prevent any one ITV group owning more than two of the four “golden” licences – Meridian, Carlton, Central and LWT. These rules look set to be relaxed under the new guidleines. Some restriction on the amount of advertising controlled by television companies is expected to remain, however.
Radio Ownership: Radio is currently regulated by a points system, which means that the largest commercial group represents less than 10% of all radio listening. This is expected to be replaced by a share of voice limit, probably 25%. Prohibition on the ownership of more than one national licence, and “in area” rules which prevents one company from holding more than three licences in the same area also look set to be relaxed. This is expected to make way for a raft of consolidation and acquisition within the radio industry. This has already started to happen, with DMGT taking a 29% stake in GWR earlier in the year (see GWR Acquires DMG Radio Group), and last week SMG took a 14.9% stake in Scottish Radio Holdings (see SMG Acquires 14.9% Stake In Scottish Radio Holdings). Analysts are predicting further such alliances in the coming months, and European partnerships may be allowed to emerge.
Cross Media Ownership: A national newspaper group with more than 20% of the market is at present prohibited from owning TV or radio licences. A relaxation of this rule to replace it with a share of voice limit will effectively allow BSkyB to expand into radio ownership. Regional newspapers with over 20% of the local market are also prevented from controlling the ITV and radio licences within the region. This looks set to be relaxed, allowing for example, Trinity Mirror, to form radio alliances. However, by the time the regulation takes effect it will be too late for regional groups to take control of ITV licences.
Department of Culture, Media & Sport: 020 7211 6272