ITV as a public service broadcaster
114. Commercial broadcasters already have an important
role in delivering public service television. The Communications
Act requires Ofcom to carry out a review of the extent to which
the BBC, Channels 3, 4 and 5, and S4C have provided programmes
and services which, taken together, fulfil the purposes of public
service television broadcasting in the UK. The review will not
extend to radio, but will cover new media services to the extent
that they are linked to television, such as interactivity and
television-related online content. This is as close as Ofcom can
get to influencing some internet content, it having no statutory,
not to mention practical,[110]
powers in this area.[111]
As broadband develops, this black hole in policy will have to
be tackled.
115. The review is also required to provide recommendations
on maintaining and strengthening the quality of PSB television
in the future, taking into account the costs of provision and
the sources of income available to the public service broadcasters.
As well as providing input into the Government's review of the
BBC Royal Charter, Ofcom's review will also inform the eventual
re-licensing of Channel 3 franchises. We note with raised eyebrows
Lord Currie's reluctance to identify elements of ITV's current
schedule which qualify as public service broadcasting.[112]
In this regard, we await with great interest the outcome of
the Ofcom review.
116. National news bulletins, with scheduling maintained
at what Lord Currie called a "sensible" time, (whatever
that may mean), fulfil a vital role in informing a democratic
society.[113] Our
predecessor Committee was sufficiently concerned to recommend
that the ITC reject an application by ITV to abolish its News
at Ten bulletin.[114]
Unfortunately, the ITC acceded to ITV's request, with the result
that the late evening bulletin was moved to 11pm, outside the
longstanding definition of peak time, 6pm to 10.30pm. It was scant
consolation, although meeting the letter of the statutory requirement
to provide a bulletin in peak time, that ITV scheduled its main
bulletin for 6.30pm. Our predecessor Committee subsequently called
on the ITC to require ITV to reinstate News at Ten.[115]
117. Now, following years of chaotic scheduling,
a fixed slot for the late evening ITV news been determined at
ITV's initiative[116]
- but outside peak time, at 10.30pm. This decision was reached
in the closing moments of the ITC and with Ofcom's collusion.[117]
Section 279 of the Communications Act 2003 provides that the
regulatory regime for every licensed public service channel (including
Channel 3) includes conditions that Ofcom considers appropriate
for securing, among other things, news in peak viewing times.
We deplore Ofcom's endorsement of the ITC decision to allow
a down-grading of the news service offered by ITV during peak
time, and urge them to reconsider their position on this issue
during the forthcoming re-licensing of Channel 3 services.
118. Mr Jeremy Dear, General Secretary of the NUJ,
pointed to advertiser influence on ITV to reduce regional and
political programmes as well as news during peak time: "Only
2.6% of peak time viewing in the ITV network is now on news and
current affairs."[118]
119. A merged and thus more powerful ITV shows
little interest in maintaining news coverage beyond the bare minimum
imposed by legislation and laxly interpreted by the ITC and Ofcom.
The Communications Act 2003 provides some flexibility in the regulatory
regime for news provision on public service television and we
recognise that the news environment has evolved considerably,
including 24-hour provision on digital platforms. However, with
half the population still relying on analogue services, Ofcom
should seek to reinstate on Channel 3 two substantial news bulletins
within peak time — 6pm to 10.30pm.
120. The first Ofcom review of PSB comes at a critical
time. Historically, commercial broadcasters have contributed to
the provision of public service programming on UK television in
return for privileged access to scarce spectrum. In future, the
end of spectrum scarcity and the proliferation of channels mean
that competitive pressures might affect the extent to which the
commercial public service broadcasters can continue to sustain,
and be required to sustain, PSB content. There may well be a move
to reduce the specific PSB burden on ITV and Five and a commensurate
increase in the burdens on the BBC and Channel 4.
121. Andy Egan of BECTU made the point that public
service obligations may be less of a burden than is sometimes
supposed: "I think you would be wrong to conclude that PSB
programming is a loser in the marketplace; it is not a loser.
Audience research shows that, by and large, given the choice between
original programming and bought-in commercial programming from
abroad, people prefer the former. There is also research to show
that the UK viewing public does strongly value programming made
in the regions."[119]
Both UK production and regional programming have been traditional
strengths of ITV - rightly acknowledged by Granada's Mick Desmond
as unique selling points.[120]
They must so remain.
122. In evidence to the Committee, Clive Jones of
Carlton referred to the costs associated with the privilege of
public service broadcaster status: "At the time where we
face an enormous increase in competition and our revenue over
the last ten years has dropped by £400 million per annum,
we maintain our regional commitments and we want to continue to
maintain our regional commitments, but I think we would like relief
from the massive super taxes that we pay in terms of cash bids
and PQR.[121] We are
paying £250 million a year, at a time when Channel 4 pays
nothing and Channel 5 pays a small amount of special tax and all
the BBC seems to get is an ever-increasing source of revenue."[122]
123. Interestingly, the figure of £250 million
broadly coincides with some estimates of the economic value of
ITV's public service broadcasting, taking into account production
budgets and advertising revenue forgone due to the low appeal
of certain genres.[123]
The Ofcom PSB review may well produce some robust quantitative
measures, in so far as it is both possible and appropriate.
124. ITV plc and ITV Network have reportedly been
seeking to negotiate reductions in public service commitments,
a debate that was alluded to in our evidence session with Granada
and Carlton.[124]
Some trading of public service commitments has been mooted,[125]
for example abjuring a simplistic box-ticking approach to certain
genres, in favour of firmer commitments to other aspects of PSB.
If this is indeed ITV's intention, they should not be allowed
to get away with it.
125. A memorandum from the Campaign for Press and
Broadcasting Freedom urged the Committee "to reinstate public
service ideals at the heart of television in the UK, not because
we wish to return to some mythical 'golden age' of British broadcasting,
but because we believe that this is the only hope for a better,
more diverse broadcasting system in an increasingly competitive
environment. Outside the pages of the Murdoch and Black press,
there is a great deal of reliable evidence that the vast majority
of British people value tremendously the kind of broadcasting
which public service values have helped to create, and they and
their descendants will judge harshly those who, whether by accident
or design, destroyed it for ever."[126]
We agree.
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