A FUTURE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE TELEVISION CONTENT AND PLATFORMS IN A DIGITAL WORLD

Why television
matters
Television is in its death throes but
has also been reborn; it is a relic
of the mass audiences of the 20th
century but it is has never been
more popular or more creative;
we are watching more television
but television viewing is also
declining. Such are the profound
contradictions of television in the
21st century.
The television screen remains at the heart of
many a British home, and the output of the
UK’s numerous television companies remains
central to British life. Even in the information
age of tablets and smartphones, when the
idea of broadcasting can seem almost quaint,
television remains a powerful – indeed, is
arguably still the most powerful – medium for
information, education and entertainment.
Television has, in its relatively short history,
been connected to major waves of social
change. It was one of the main symbols (and
accessories) of the consumer boom in the
1950s; it provided a crucial backdrop for
many of the struggles that took place in the
1960s; satellite television helped to facilitate
the globalisation that occurred from the
1980s while digital television in this century
epitomises the abundance of an ‘information
age’. It has given us new vocabularies
and new ways of behaving: we no longer
just binge on alcohol or chocolate but on
episodes of our favourite TV dramas.
Television also shapes our lives in many
different ways. It has a crucial democratic
purpose, for example through informing
the public about the political process and
encouraging us to engage with it, hosting
political debate and discussion, investigating
and analysing public affairs, and dramatising
the most important moments in the UK’s
political life. Unlike the print and online news
media, UK broadcasters are formally required
to do all of this impartially. In recent years,
television has helped –not without significant
controversy – to frame the issues behind the
referenda on Scottish independence and
EU membership as well as the 2015 general
election. Many of the key moments in those
campaigns happened on television and much
of the reporting that informed the public’s
decision making was by television journalists.
Television’s highly regulated status has long
distinguished it from the UK’s notoriously
partisan print media, and it is all the more
distinctive today amid the cacophony of
the internet. Within the existing regulatory
framework, television ought to allow for
the expression of differences and a respect
for opposing views that allows us to work
through our conflicts. In a world where
increasingly popular social media platforms
can act as an echo chamber, it is especially
important that we are forced to consider a
full range of perspectives and voices.
Television also provides a means of collective
experience. For example, television brings
major sporting event such as the European
football championships and the Olympic
Games into tens of millions of UK households.
It is still largely through television that
people can watch such significant occasions.
This sharing happens on a daily basis too.
Television facilitates conversation, both while
it is being watched and afterwards. A few
shows – Strictly Come Dancing, X Factor,
EastEnders, Coronation Street – have survived
the fragmentation of the multichannel era
to remain talking points for watercoolers
across the UK. Sherlock, Downton Abbey, and
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