2nd Jul 2015 09:10
LONDON (Alliance News) - UK media and communications regulator Ofcom published its review of public service broadcasting in Britain on Wednesday, with a warning that the debate surrounding retransmission fees may result in extra funding but may result in more regulation due to the complexity of implementing a new scheme to govern this.
Late in 2014, ITV PLC said major pay-TV broadcasters should pay UK public service broadcasters, which also includes the BBC and Channel 4, fairly for the transmission of their channels and said the government should end what it describes as an effective subsidy for Sky PLC and Virgin Media Inc.
While Ofcom said it agrees that the government could go further in pushing for fees to be paid to the public services broadcasters by the pay-TV companies, the regulator said there would be a number of challenges to this, which would depend on the precise nature of any regulatory change.
In particular, Ofcom is concerned that the nature of any regulatory backstops which would be required to avoid the risk of channels being withheld and going off air. These backstops could involve "significant regulation and result in lengthy analysis by the regulator".
Ofcom also warned that it has concerns about how any new system would ensure that any funds resulting from retransmission fees are invested into programme budgets or into specific public service broadcasting genres, rather than being passed on to shareholders. That concern is specifically for ITV and Channel 5.
Beyond the retransmission fees, Ofcom said its review showed the public sector broadcasting system is currently broadly healthy, though a number of issues still need to be addressed. Increased delivery, including of news, is among the concerns it has raised, particularly for drama on ITV, programming for UK regions and children's programming provision beyond the BBC.
ITV shares were down 1.1% to 264.30 pence on Thursday.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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