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MUMBAI: UK media watchdog Ofcom has launched its planned
consultation to consider the option of an online public service
publisher (PSP).
If given the go ahead, the service would compete with the
online operations of Channel 4 and the BBC. The idea was muted
by the regulator back in 2004.
Ofcom notes that although public service content will be
provided by the market, it may well not be enough either in
terms of quantity or diversity – a market shortfall is
likely to arise. This may have adverse implications for the
level of UK-originated production, and for plurality in the
public service system – the BBC is likely to play a material
role in the digital media world of the future, but for a public
service culture to flourish, effective competition for quality
is needed.
Ofcom states, " We are open-minded about the best solution
for the future of public service content – we will not
report again on the how to maintain and strengthen the quality
of Public Sservice Broadcasting (PSB) until the next PSB Review,
which must be completed no later than 2009/10.
"The primary purpose of this paper is to take the debate
forward within the UK’s creative industries and policy
environment. We continue to believe that there is a real opportunity
for a new PSP to make a significant contribution to the public
service system, and to create a lasting legacy for the future.
" We welcome the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s
interest in the PSP concept in its inquiry into public service
media content."
Ofcom has given 23 March 2007 as the last date for obtaining
feedback. It is actively seeking responses on:
- The appropriate nature of intervention in the digital media
age, and the balance between TV and non-TV forms of public
service content distribution
- The potential role of the PSP and its creative remit
- The operating model – in particular, the approach
to rights management
- The scale of funding required. Ofcom notes that the future
of PSB in UK television is central to its remit. Its first
statutory review of PSB was completed in 2005 and set out
recommendations for maintaining and strengthening the quality
of PSB against a backdrop of rapid change in broadcasting.
The television market has continued to evolve at speed since
the review, as a result of which it published Digital PSB
in July 2006.
Digital PSB highlighted a number of market developments affecting
the future of public service broadcasting. One of these is
that the rapid take-up of digital television is reducing the
viewing share of the traditional public service broadcasters,
and hence the value of the analogue spectrum
Viewers – especially younger audiences – are increasingly
watching content on internet and mobile platforms, and are
starting to move away from traditional TV. Changes in spectrum
policy will affect the way in which public service aims need
to be financed in the future.
In Ofcom's view, these changes mean that the delivery of
PSB in a fully digital television world needs to be rethought.
While the core public purposes endure, the means of delivery
and institutional framework may have to change. As a result,
the challenge is to define the appropriate model for PSB for
the future, not for the world as it is today – or as
it has been in the past. The challenge is as much an opportunity
for public service broadcasting as it is a threat to it.
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