Memorandum submitted by SMG Plc
SMG plc is a cross-media company comprising
television, radio, outdoor and cinema advertising businesses.
It owns the two regional Channel 3 licensees in Scotland, Scottish
TV and Grampian TV. Both licensed areas of Scottish TV and Grampian
TV are wholly within Scotland.
This response is submitted on behalf of Scottish
TV and Grampian TV (together referred to in this letter as "SMG").
SMG have reviewed SwitchCo's response to the above Inquiry and
are in agreement with their response. However, SMG would like
to take this opportunity to highlight the main issues that affect
Scotland in the run-up of Digital Switchover ("DSO").
Grampian TV's licensed area has the highest
numbers of transmitters for any regional licensee, albeit it is
one of the smallest ITV licensees from a revenue perspective.
Therefore, it is imperative that the current cost-sharing mechanism
within ITV Network for sharing transmissions costs and subsidising
the smaller licensees is carried over to costs incurred in the
build-out of the digital network.
In addition, it is likely that DSO will result
in additional capacity on the PSB multiplexes, particularly the
BBC multiplex. This would be an ideal home for the dedicated Gaelic
channel as it would be the means towards ensuring that the Gaelic
channel has universal coverage within Scotland. That Gaelic channel
has all party support among the Scottish Executive, DCMS, the
Gaelic Media Service, Ofcom, the BBC and SMG as the future for
Gaelic broadcasting in Scotland.
Finally, we believe it is important that, once
the DSO plan commences and regions begin to switch over, the Government
ensures that the timetable is adhered to and that all regions
achieve DSO as planned. Otherwise, a two-tier digital community
would exist in the UK with certain regional broadcasters being
unfairly prejudiced.
September 2005
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