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

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A FUTURE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE TELEVISION These changes appear far more dramatic when the changing consumption patterns of younger people are examined in detail. Reported TV viewing of children between 4 and 15 and adults between 16 and 34 declined by 30% between 2010 and 2015 as compared to the 10% drop across the whole audience. 98 Only 50% of 16-24-year-olds’ total audiovisual consumption is through live TV, compared with 69% for all age groups 99 while two-thirds of their TV viewing is live as compared to 86% of those aged above 55. 100 Some 47% of them have an on-demand subscription in the home, against 26% for all age groups. 101 Only 10% of their viewing on Amazon and Netflix services is to BBC or ITV content. 102 They are also increasingly watching short-form content on sites such as Facebook and YouTube that accounted for 8% of all their audiovisual viewing in 2014. 103 These changing patterns of consumption are not confined to under- 25s: there is evidence that 25-34-year-olds and even 35-44-year-olds are also watching material in different ways. 104 How fast these changes spread remains to be seen, and it is possible that younger people will adopt the habits of older generations as they age, perhaps preferring to watch live TV more as they go out less. But even if this happens – and there are strong reasons to doubt it – it is clear that the formal boundaries between broadcasting and the internet have already effectively collapsed. The trend towards on-demand viewing and the prospects of “post-network television” 105 point in one direction; it’s just a question of how fast the change occurs. This does not, however, presage the imminent decline of television as a form of popular communication but rather the gradual supplementing of live television with more complex modes of consumption. Indeed, it would be a mistake to equate the appetite for short form video amongst younger audiences with a rejection of long form video when, in reality, those audiences are enjoying both. The increasing popularity of YouTube, as one source of video, “no doubt poses a challenge for traditional broadcasters” argue Enders Analysis. “But it is one that concerns the delivery of the content rather than the nature of the content itself – the production of which [comes]…from a position of experience.” 106 Traditional content providers may have to up their game if they are to keep up with changing consumer preferences but they still retain brand familiarity, access to capital and a track record that suggests they are not likely to disappear anytime soon. The arrival of the Americans As we have seen, the arrival of Netflix and Amazon is potentially of huge significance in disrupting the UK broadcasting sector. They are the biggest names at the moment; others are likely to enter the market, and they are most likely to be US companies. The giants of the technology sector – Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Apple – are all American. Channel 5 is now owned by the US media corporation Viacom, while it is often predicted that ITV will ultimately be bought by a US company. Many of the largest ‘independent’ production companies in the UK are now US-owned. 98 Enders Analysis, Will the young of today ever turn to trad TV? January 15, 2016. 99 Ofcom, PSB in the Internet Age: Ofcom’s Third Review of Public Service Broadcasting, 2015, p. 19. 100 Enders Analysis, Watching TV and video in 2025, January 15, 2016. 101 Ofcom, PSB in the Internet Age, p. 20. 102 Ibid., p. 20. 103 Ibid. 104 Ibid., p. 21. 105 Amanda Lotz, The Television Will Be Revolutionized, 2nd edition, New York: NYU Press, 2014. 106 Enders Analysis, Does short form video affect long form content? May 12, 2016. 44
CONTENT AND PLATFORMS IN A DIGITAL WORLD DESPITE A DECADE OF DISRUPTION, STANDARD VIEWING IS RESILIENT Source: Thinkbox No. of hours of TV viewed per day 3h 39m 3h 36m 3h 38m 3h 44m 3h 45m 4h 02m 4h 02m 4h 01m 3h 52m 3h 41m 3h 36m 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 It is not parochialism to point this out. The preservation of a vibrant and dynamic British culture and industry, with all its national, regional and local variations, has long been one of the goals of public service television. 107 The protection of UK-originated content and regional news is built into the quotas that are written into the broadcast licences of ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, for example. At the same time, we have to recognise the appeal of much American content. It is many years since the Financial Times’ television critic, Christopher Dunkley, warned of the dangers of “wall to wall Dallas”. 108 Primetime schedules are no longer reliant on US series being bought for transmission by UK networks and instead high-quality long-form television drama has been one of the great cultural phenomena of the past 15 years, from The Sopranos to Breaking Bad. The availability of DVD box-sets and the new culture of viewing them at leisure that has developed over the past 15 years has enabled viewers to sample much more adventurous US-originated content. 107 As we saw in Chapter 1, the Communications Act 2003 aims at a system in which there are “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”. Communications Act 2003, section 264 (6). 108 Christopher Dunkley, Television Today and Tomorrow: Wall to Wall Dallas? London: Penguin, 1985. 45
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 and 20: 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 43: CONTENT AND PLATFORMS IN A DIGITAL
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
Page 71 and 72: Only 8% of Channel 4’s total spen
Page 79 and 80: ITV and Channel 5 The focus of atte
Page 85 and 86: The changing face of ITV 1993-2002
Page 91 and 92: New sources of public service conte
Page 95 and 96:
CONTENT AND PLATFORMS IN A DIGITAL
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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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