The Price of Plurality - Stakeholders - Ofcom

32Robin FosterIn at least some of these areas emerging commercial alternatives tobroadcast television might provide enough diversity and choice toreduce the need for any public intervention in future. For example,the interest in local TV and broadband services from the newspaperpublishing sector. In any event, the existence of these gaps shouldnot automatically lead to the conclusion that they should be fi lled – athorough analysis of the costs, benefi ts and practicality of differentoptions for intervention is needed.A further general observation is worth making here. Given the rangeof new factual and other content available from a wide variety ofproviders on the internet, a new priority for PSB might be to help usersfi nd, understand and interpret that content, as well as commissioningnew content themselves. The BBC might, for example, be requiredto use its brand and approaches to packaging content to help usersreach many different types of content from many different sources;not just that commissioned or produced by the BBC.Distribution and navigationMy suggested third plurality outcome – ensuring ready access toPSB content – seems likely to be much easier to achieve in thenew broadband world than it ever was in a world of a few linearscheduled broadcast channels. Plurality of PSB provision in the oldmodel helped ensure people got access to PSB output by securing arange and diversity of programming on each channel. Current affairsprogrammes might be scheduled against soaps, documentariesagainst entertainment, news might be found at different times of theevening. Across the schedules as a whole, there was a reasonablechance that audiences could fi nd programming that they mightappreciate, and the presence of PSB programming on differentnetworks most likely increased its reach and impact.In the broadband world, linear broadcast schedules will becomemuch less important as a means of providing access to PSB content.While there might be less UK-made PSB content available on othermain broadcast networks, access to that content in different formsand on different media will be more convenient than ever before– for example via the BBC’s new iPlayer. 9 The introduction of the BBCiPlayer and other on-demand services will ultimately free viewersfrom the constraints of a linear schedule and allow them to accessPSB content when and where they want it. The BBC’s ultimate aimto make all of its archive available on-demand will complete thisprocess. It is no longer as important to have a range of PSB packagersto ensure that PSB content is readily available across the schedules– it will always be available, on demand. Equally, the application ofsophisticated search tools to audiovisual content, coupled with thewider syndication of that content across many different internet sites,will enhance the effectiveness of its delivery.In conjunction with developments mentioned so far at other stagesin the value chain – direct access to content from programmeproducers, breaking down of international market boundaries,