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

CONTENT AND PLATFORMS IN A DIGITAL WORLD
Transparency
Public services ought to be fully accountable
to the public; the funding of public service
media, equally, ought to have a commitment,
as the EBU puts it, to an “open and clear
funding mechanism holding PSM accountable
to its audience.” 76
Redistribution
We propose that, in accord with the
principles of universality and citizenship,
new funding mechanisms should exist to
address structural inequalities and economic
disparities both between providers in media
markets (for example as in the original
funding relationship between ITV and
Channel 4 that we refer to in Chapter 5) and,
crucially, between citizens themselves.
Plurality
We believe that a healthy public service
ecology is served by multiple funding sources
(and public service providers) in order to
minimize, wherever possible, competition
for revenue. Britain is fortunate to have a
television landscape financed by the licence
fee, advertising, subscription and even some
elements of general taxation (as in the
government’s small contribution to S4C).
However, we would also wish to note specific
problems with existing mechanisms in the
light of the normative principles:
Subscription favours the better off,
discourages universality of genre (mixed
programming) and, by fragmenting
audiences, damages social and cultural
universality.
Advertising and sponsorship carry risks of
commercial influence and of the skewing
of provision towards more desirable
demographics thus providing a disincentive
to invest in particular kinds of content to
represent particular social groups.
A flat licence fee is a regressive payment
mechanism in that it is a ‘poll tax’ that,
at least in relation to the BBC, currently
criminalises some of the poorest sections of
the population.
We propose several possible improvements
for PSM funding going forward, some of
which we explore in more detail in Chapter
4 in relation to the BBC. Rather than a flat
fee, in order to mitigate criminalization
and improve distributive justice, wealthrelated
payments should be implemented,
whether through a revamped and platformneutral
BBC licence fee, general taxation
or a household fee following the German
model but based on different tiers, and with
substantial exemptions for the low-waged,
the unemployed and so on. In addition, we
suggest exploring the use of levies on the
profits of the largest digital intermediaries,
ISPs and phone/tablet manufacturers in order
to fund, in particular, new sources of public
service content or to stimulate key genres
that are currently under-funded (such as
children’s television and education).
Whatever our particular preferences, we urge
government to ensure that the normative
principles discussed in this chapter guide
legislation and policies in relation to funding,
that greater attention is given to curbing
inequality and that pluralism of funding
remains at the heart of the PSM ecology in
the digital age.
76
Ibid.
37