Donald Emslie, chief executive of SMG Television, has called on the Government to reduce the annual £300 million fee that ITV currently pays for its analogue television licence.
Speaking at the annual TV From The Nations And Regions Conference, Emslie, who is also chair of the ITV council, said: “The ITV system was only set up to create competition within a monopoly situation. The competition is now outside of this system and I would suggest that this means the system needs to change.”
“If the Government doesn’t do something about ITV’s £300 million super tax then ITV’s investment in programmes will inevitably have to diminish – and this in a world where the expansion of digital, multi-channel television is segmenting audiences.”
Granada chairman, Charles Allen, also made the same request to the Government earlier in the year, arguing that the BBC should lose 10% of its licence fee to fund public service programming on commercial channels (see Granada Chairman Calls For Slice Of BBC Licence Fee). This prompted Channel 4’s director of programming, Tim Gardam, to call on the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to give C4 a slice of the licence fee as well (see Channel 4 Calls For Slice Of BBC Licence Fee).
Emslie also urged the Government and ITV to “rationalise” the network and take costs out of the system so it can more effectively compete with the other broadcasters. He said: “ITV’s role as the pre-eminent regional broadcaster is threatened by the economic circumstance of being a commercial broadcaster in an increasingly competitive world – and at the same time the BBC is investing more in regional programmes.”
“The one thing I can guarantee is that the status quo is not an option – change is vital if we are to ensure the future of this valuable ingredient in the diversity of UK broadcasting.”
Earlier this year the BBC’s director general, Greg Dyke, called for Government intervention to prevent the collapse of ITV as a public service broadcaster. He said that Ofcom and the Treasury need to recognise that ITV is no longer the “cash cow” that it once was and cannot afford to be paying more than £300 million a year for its analogue licence.
