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

A FUTURE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE TELEVISION
Will it have the imagination to guide UK
television into an internet-only future but
protect the principles of universality and
diversity that will be required to make
sure it remains distinctive and envied at an
international level?
We have been guided by the views and
suggestions of a wide range of people and
institutions: on our advisory committee,
at our various public events, at our policy
forums and academic workshops, and
through the high-quality submissions that
were presented to the Inquiry.
We have learned that there is little consensus
in these debates. People understandably
disagree about the pace of change, about
whether to prioritise the performance of
existing broadcasters or to focus on new
providers and emerging platforms, about
whether to remain pragmatic or to sketch out
a vision that might seem overly ambitious,
and indeed about whether an independent
Inquiry can have any material impact on
a such a volatile industry and on such an
politicised policy process.
We remain determined, however, to find
mechanisms that link television producers
and distributors to their audiences and
allow them speak to issues of common
concern, that recognize the needs of distinct
communities and that involve the public as
active subjects. However, if we are sustain a
television ecology that sees communication,
as Raymond Williams once put it, not in
terms of the selling but the “sharing of
human experience”, we will have to raise our
ambitions and to expand the terms of debate
beyond those of policymakers who are often
more interested in stability and consensus.
We need to build on television’s strengths,
address its weaknesses and re-imagine a
public service television system that thrives in
a digital era.
“WE HAVE A FANTASTIC
OPPORTUNITY
TO PRODUCE THE
FOUNDATIONS FOR A
MORE REPRESENTATIVE
AND CREATIVE TELEVISION
LANDSCAPE.”
154