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

The multichannel
revolution
Perhaps the single most striking
change in television over the
past generation has been the
proliferation of channels made
possible since the 1980s by the new
technologies of cable, satellite and
digital compression.
But the overall impact on the established
broadcasters has not been as disastrous as
sometimes predicted. They have retained
their prominence, thanks to regulation
that keeps them at the top of electronic
programme guides. ITV may no longer
dominate the landscape in the same way, but
it remains the UK’s most watched commercial
channel and retains the commercial clout
that comes with that. The old broadcasters
The four-channel analogue world of the 1980s have also adapted to the new world by
has given way to a new digital landscape of developing new ‘families’ of channels. Taking
hundreds of channels and the prospect of an those channels into account, the combined
online environment in which linear channels audience share of BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and
play a less significant role. This explosion Channel 5 still represents 72% of the total. 79
of choice was facilitated by governments Of the 20 most viewed channels in 2014, 17
and regulators but it was consumer-led too; belonged to these four broadcasters, with
millions of households chose to pay for cable the five analogue legacy channels still the five
and satellite subscriptions, to adopt the most popular. 80
free digital services Freeview and Freesat
and to buy the Smart TV sets that ‘liberate’
Sky and the rise of pay-TV
them from the tyranny of the electronic
programme guide. The process of digital
The only true broadcasting powerhouse
switchover was completed by 2012 without
to arrive on the scene as a result of the
any significant hitches or public resistance.
multichannel revolution has been Sky. The
main satellite TV distributor as well as the
As a result of this transformation, the
operator of a number of channels and a
analogue legacy channels’ audience share has
content producer, Sky is a player of real
halved. In 1988, BBC One, BBC Two, ITV and
significance. Its reported revenues of £7.8
Channel 4 still accounted for 100% of viewing.
billion in 2015 were far greater than the BBC’s
Ten years later, with Channel 5 now launched
income of £4.8 billion. 81
as the fifth analogue channel, their combined
audience share had fallen to 86%. By 2014,
So much of Sky’s scale and success has been
they had just 51% of viewing between them. 77
built on the back of its acquisition of sports
‘Multichannel’ services therefore now account
rights, most importantly those to English
for around half of all viewing, bringing new
Premier League football. It has been the main
competition for advertising with them. ITV’s
broadcaster of live Premier League football
main channel has been perhaps the most
since the league’s creation in 1992. Live
spectacular casualty, its share down from
football above all else has driven the creation
44% in 1990 to just 15% in 2014. 78 of a pay-TV market in the UK.
77
Ofcom, Public Service Broadcasting in the Internet Age: Ofcom’s Third Review of Public Service Broadcasting, 2015, p. 7.
78
Ofcom, The Communications Market Report 2015, 2015, p. 192.
79
Ofcom, PSB in the Internet Age, p. 7. Ofcom also reports that the share of viewing accounted for by BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel
5’s portfolio channels has risen from 14% in 2008 to 21% in 2014.
80
Ofcom, CMR 2015, p. 204.
81
Sky’s revenues are for the UK and Ireland in the year to June 2015 and mostly derive from subscriptions. The BBC’s income, quoted for the
year to March 2015, is made up of £3.7 billion from the licence fee and £1.1 billion from BBC Worldwide. See Sky and BBC annual reports.
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