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

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A FUTURE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE TELEVISION expanded the idea of public service to embrace diversity rather than just universality, and allowed for balance across the schedule rather than within programmes. In Wales, the fourth channel was devoted to the Welsh language service S4C. The Conservative government that had presided over Channel 4’s launch was also responsible for the 1990 Broadcasting Act, which significantly changed the nature of commercial TV. ITV licences were to be auctioned off rather than awarded on merit by the regulator. The conditions were set for a series of deals that allowed the ITV network to merge into one company (at least in England and Wales) by 2004. Regulation continued, with quotas set for particular types of programming, but a new commercial spirit infused ITV. By the 1990s, a technological revolution was making cable and satellite channels available to anyone who wanted to pay for them. No impediment was placed in the way of this rapidly emerging market, and no requirements were made of these new channels to offer original public service programming (although they were obliged to carry the existing PSB channels). Public service television became the preserve of the four legacy channels, Channel 5 (launched in 1997) and the BBC’s new digital services. The Labour government of Tony Blair committed itself to switching off the analogue signal by 2012, bringing the digital, multichannel future into focus. By the end of the 20th century, the old public service formula was holding firm but the great technological disruption that so characterises today’s marketplace was already under way. In summary, we can see the history of British public service broadcasting policy in the 20th century as being characterised by a series of very deliberate public interventions into what might otherwise have developed as a straightforward commercial marketplace. The creation of the BBC, the launch of an ITV network required to produce public service programming, and the addition of the highly idiosyncratic Channel 4 gave the UK a television ecology animated by quality, breadth of programming and an orientation towards serving the public interest. At each of these three moments, the possibilities of public service television were expanded and British culture enriched as a result. The 1990 Broadcasting Act and the fair wind given to multichannel services may have ended the supremacy of the public service television ideal. Public service television may now seem like a relic of the 20th century and the benefits that accrue to a public service broadcaster are far less obvious in a multichannel and, increasingly, nonlinear environment. It may now come to feel like an aberration in an era of apparently limitless consumer choice whose discourse is increasingly dominated by economic arguments. Indeed, as the media economist Robert Picard argues, the “fundamental economic and technical conditions that led to the creation of public service television no longer exist.” 30 Nevertheless, it has survived, through the design of the institutions responsible for it, because of legislative protection, and as a result of its continuing popularity amongst the public. But the goodwill of programme makers and the appreciation of audiences will not by themselves keep it alive in the 21st century. It is worth remembering that at all stages, 30 Robert Picard, submission to the Inquiry. 20
CONTENT AND PLATFORMS IN A DIGITAL WORLD for good or ill, governments of the day have played an instrumental role in shaping the television industry. Today’s policymakers retain the power to shape it for better or worse if they wish to and it is one of the aims of this report to remind them that this is the case and that television does not develop ‘naturally’ following either a technological or commercial logic. Public service television today Before the multichannel era, all the TV channels were public services in different ways; there were no purely commercial operations. So the trick of providing a mix of programmes that were popular, public service or both was not so hard to pull off and nailing down a definition of what was public service was not an urgent task. Anyone seeking definitions today can find plenty of guidance, if not total enlightenment. The 2003 Communications Act laid out some of the key features. First, it listed the public service television services as all the BBC’s TV services, S4C, every Channel 3 service (which now means ITV in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and STV in Scotland), Channel 4, and Channel 5. 31 It made it obligatory for these services to be “broadcast or distributed by means of every appropriate network”. 32 It defined the purposes of public service television broadcasting in terms of programmes that deal with a wide range of subject matters; cater for as many different audiences as practicable; are properly balanced; and maintain high general standards of content, quality, and professional skill and editorial integrity. 33 It also outlined various genre-based aims for public service television to fulfil, covering cultural activity (drama, comedy, music, films, and other visual and performing arts), news and current affairs, sporting and leisure interests, educational programming, science and religion, as well as programmes for children and young people. It also specified the need for “programmes that reflect the lives and concerns of different communities and cultural interests and traditions within the United Kingdom, and locally in different parts of the United Kingdom”. Importantly, it did not say which broadcasters should do what, just that the public service channels “taken together” should produce these outcomes. 34 The Act required the UK’s three commercially funded public service broadcasters – the Channel 3 licencees, Channel 4 and Channel 5 – to provide a range of “high quality and diverse” programming. Channel 4’s output must additionally demonstrate innovation, experiment and creativity; appeal to a culturally diverse society; contribute to education; and exhibit a distinctive character. 35 Further detailed requirements in accordance with the act are set out in ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5’s main channel licences (which were agreed in 2004 and renewed in 2015, but have been subject to frequent variations). They are required to broadcast a set number of hours of news and current affairs programming and to fulfil various quotas on production in return for their prominent positions on the electronic programme guide. The BBC also operates under specific instructions laid out in its current royal charter (which is set to be replaced in January 2017) and in the agreement between the secretary 31 Communications Act 2003, section 264 (11). It also mentioned the public teletext service. 32 Ibid., section 272 (2). 33 Ibid., section 264 (4). 34 Ibid., section 264 (6). 35 Ibid., section 265. 21
Page 1 and 2: A FUTURE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE TELEVIS
Page 3 and 4: Contents Foreword by David Puttnam
Page 5 and 6: To instruct democracy, if possible
Page 7 and 8: Welcome Television is leading a cha
Page 9 and 10: CONTENT AND PLATFORMS IN A DIGITAL
Page 11 and 12: PSB channels 71.9% All other channe
Page 15 and 16: Why television matters Television i
Page 19: 1982 1990s 2012 The BBC-ITV duopoly
Page 23 and 24: Time for action Today’s policymak
Page 29 and 30: Basic principles At the core of pre
Page 39 and 40: The multichannel revolution Perhaps
Page 51 and 52: The BBC For most people, the BBC is
Page 67 and 68: Channel 4 If the BBC is the most im
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Only 8% of Channel 4’s total spen
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CONTENT AND PLATFORMS IN A DIGITAL
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ITV and Channel 5 The focus of atte
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The changing face of ITV 1993-2002
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New sources of public service conte
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Television and diversity We have ea
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THE PEOPLE SHOULD BE TELEVISED If t
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Nations and Regions Public service
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Content diversity One of the key wa
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Sports content now accounts for som
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Talent development and training In
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Conclusion Television is changing.
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Recommendations General The UK’s
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Appointing the BBC board Sir David
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APPLICATION OF THE NOLAN PRINCIPLES
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BAFTA members’ survey delivered i
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Public service broadcasting, public
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Inquiry events Do we still need pub
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Acknowledgements Inquiry Report Con
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A FUTURE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE TELEVISION CONTENT AND PLATFORMS IN A DIGITAL WORLD

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