Public Service Broadcasting: Short-Term Crisis, Long-Term Future?

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Public Service Broadcasting: Short-Term Crisis, Long-Term Future? HOUSE OF LORDS Select Committee on Communications 2nd Report of Session 2008–09 Public service broadcasting: short-term crisis, long-term future? Report with Evidence Ordered to be printed 18 March and published 8 April 2009 Published by the Authority of the House of Lords London : The Stationery Office Limited £price HL Paper 61 The Select Committee on Communications The Select Committee on Communications was appointed by the House of Lords with the orders of reference “to consider communications”. Current Membership Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury Baroness Eccles of Moulton Lord Fowler (Chairman) Lord Hastings of Scarisbrick Baroness Howe of Idlicote Lord Inglewood Lord King of Bridgwater Lord Macdonald of Tradeston Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Bishop of Manchester Lord Maxton Baroness Scott of Needham Market Lord Corbett of Castle Vale was a member of the Committee until 24 March 2009. Publications The report and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee are available on the intranet at: http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/communications.cfm General Information General information about the House of Lords and its Committees, including guidance to witnesses, details of current inquiries and forthcoming meetings is on the internet at: http://www.parliament.uk/about_lords/about_lords.cfm Contact details All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Select Committee on Communications, Committee Office, House of Lords, London SW1A 0PW The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 8662. The Committee’s email address is [email protected] CONTENTS Paragraph Page Chapter 1: What is public service broadcasting? 1 5 Introduction 1 5 Definitions 2 5 Chapter 2: What is the crisis in commercial sector public service broadcasting? 14 8 Does it matter? 19 9 Chapter 3: Current position of the commercial public service broadcasters 27 11 Five 27 11 ITV 28 11 Channel 4 31 12 The Position of the BBC 38 13 Chapter 4: What are the options? 41 14 Institutional reorganisation 42 14 Partnership between Channel Four and BBC Worldwide 55 16 Other partnerships 57 16 Merger proposals by commercial companies 58 16 Contestable funding 61 17 Chapter 5: How should a public service fund be financed? 67 18 Chapter 6: The longer term 71 19 Chapter 7: Summary of main conclusions and recommendations 76 20 Appendix 1: Select Committee on Communications 21 Appendix 2: List of Witnesses 26 Appendix 3: Extract from the Communications Act 2003 27 Appendix 4: Ofcom’s public service purposes and characteristics 30 Oral Evidence BBC Oral evidence, 14 January 2009 1 Channel 4 Oral evidence, 21 January 2009 16 ITV plc Oral evidence, 29 January 2009 34 Supplementary written evidence, Mr Michael Grade, ITV plc 43 Five Oral evidence, 29 January 2009 44 Supplementary written evidence, Ms Dawn Airey, Five 52 BSkyB Oral evidence, 4 February 2009 53 Ofcom Oral evidence, 4 February 2009 64 Lord Birt and Lord Burns Oral evidence, 11 February 2009 77 Lord Carter of Barnes, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, and Department for Culture, Media and Sport Oral evidence, 11 February 2009 85 Supplementary written evidence, Lord Carter of Barnes 95 Written Evidence stv Group plc 97 UTV 99 NOTE: References in the text of the report are as follows: (Q) refers to a question in oral evidence (p) refers to a page of written evidence Public Service Broadcasting: short- term crisis, long-term future? CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING? Introduction 1. This report responds to the current crisis in public service broadcasting, particularly in the advertiser-funded television sector.1 It is the product of a short inquiry consisting of five sessions in which evidence was taken from ITV, Channel Four, Five and BSkyB as well as from the BBC and Ofcom. Evidence was also taken from the Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting, Lord Carter of Barnes; Lord Birt; and Lord Burns.2 Definitions 2. There is a plethora of definitions and descriptions of public service broadcasting. Lord Reith, the BBC’s first Director General, said that the responsibility of public service broadcasting was to “carry into the greatest number of homes everything that was best in every department of human knowledge, endeavour and achievement; and to avoid whatever was or might be hurtful”.3 In 2000, the Independent Television Commission4 defined it as “all things to all people at least some of the time … with a strong emphasis on extending public knowledge, tastes and interests”. 3. In 2003, the concept of public service broadcasting was enshrined in the Communications Act5, which defined the public service remit for Channels 3 and 56 as “the provision of a range of high quality and diverse programming”. This remains its only appearance in legislation. 4. Ofcom, which oversees public service broadcasting, measures delivery of programming by the broadcasters7 against four objectives, or “public service purposes”: (i) informing our understanding of the world; (ii) stimulating knowledge and learning; (iii) reflecting UK cultural identity; and (iv) 8 representing diversity and alternative viewpoints. 1 Some of the issues involved have also been covered as part of previous inquiries by this Committee (Communications Committee, First Report (2007–08): The Ownership of the News (HL 122)), and its predecessor (BBC Charter Review Committee, First Report (2005–06): The Review of the BBC’s Royal Charter (HL 50)). Our specialist adviser for this inquiry was Professor Richard Collins, Professor of Media Studies at the Open University. Although this was a short inquiry, Professor Collins devoted much time to it and we benefited greatly from his expertise. 2 Lord Birt was BBC Director General from 1992 to 2000. Lord Burns advised the Government in 2005 on renewal of the BBC’s Royal Charter. 3 Reith, J., Into the Wind, 1949. 4 The Independent Television Commission was one of Ofcom’s predecessors. 5 An extract from the Communications Act, covering the public service remit for television, is at Appendix 3. 6 Channel 4’s mandate is both broader and more specific but still allows much latitude; see Appendix 3. 7 BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, S4C, Teletext. 8 For a fuller description of Ofcom’s public service purposes, see Appendix 4. 6 PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING 5. Significantly, according to Ed Richards, Ofcom’s Chief Executive, the setting out of these objectives, which was intended not to be unduly restrictive, resulted in his being “personally taken to task by the director of programmes at ITV … because we were too precise, this was too much detail and we were trying to tell people what public service broadcasting was” (Q 345). 6. Ofcom’s public service purposes are similar to those defined in the BBC’s Royal Charter, which came into effect in 2007. But neither Ofcom’s nor the BBC’s set of objectives is sufficiently discriminating to distinguish between those programmes and services that merit public finance and special regulatory treatment and those that do not. Few programmes screened by any UK broadcaster would not satisfy at least one of the objectives. 7. The claimed advantage of this lack of precision is that it provides flexibility, which encourages innovation and the production of popular programmes. According to Andy Duncan, Chief Executive of Channel 4, Big Brother was, at its inception, an example of Channel 4’s distinctive “innovative” public service programming (Q 83). 8. Lord Birt, Director General of the BBC from 1992 to 2000, said that public service broadcasting “is a programme tradition [with] the citizen rather than the consumer in mind”. He did not attempt a new definition but added: “If you are in the system, you truly know the difference” (Q 391). In other words, it is about how something is done as well as what is done. 9. An alternative approach has been put by Lord Burns (amongst others9), who said that the “critical” issue is the “provision of certain types of content … that the marketplace will not provide” (Q 389). Ed Richards argued that the concept of public service broadcasting is increasingly becoming an “anachronism”, and should properly be replaced by the concept of public service content.10 10. Such an alternative approach is not problem free. The market has changed fundamentally. With the increase in the number of television channels and the growth of the internet, specialist channels have developed. Such channels do not have the big audiences of the traditional public service broadcasters and are not always universally available and free.11 A move to public service content would not do away with the need to establish how much content is sufficient and to review regularly12 whether this was being provided by the market. 11. Nevertheless the interpretation of public service broadcasting as content that the market does not sufficiently provide is gaining increasing support. It implies a focus on defining the core elements of public service provision that should, as a matter of public policy, continue to be supported. Such elements might include, for example, national and regional news, current affairs programmes, the arts, children’s programming, programmes dealing with 13 religion and other beliefs and UK content. 9 See Culture, Media and Sport Committee, First Report (2007–08): Public service content (HC 36) 10 Speech to the Oxford Media Convention, January 2009. According to Lord Birt, “the old concept of broadcasting will increasingly cease to apply” (Q 388). 11 “Free” is understood to mean funded either by the licence fee or advertising. 12 As Graham McWilliam, BSkyB’s Group Director of Corporate Affairs, pointed out, this market is “very dynamic” (Q 279). Under the Communications Act 2003, Ofcom is required, at least once every five years, to review PSB.
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