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

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A FUTURE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE TELEVISION the means of production as people who did not ordinarily see themselves on television… would be given an opportunity to make programmes and have their experience represented on national television. It was quite revolutionary in broadcast terms.” Why, she reflected, “did no one else apart from Channel 4 trust us to do this?” 167 Channel 4’s original constitutional arrangements and funding model also gave it the space to be inventive and different. Operating as a subsidiary of the broadcasting regulator, it was funded by the ITV network, which paid it a subscription in return for selling its advertising. This arrangement liberated Channel 4 from the demands of commercial competition and allowed it huge creative freedom. It was inevitable that some of the experimentalism and risk of the early, freewheeling days would dissipate after 1993, when Channel 4 became commercially independent as a public corporation that sold its own advertising. 168 It had to operate in an increasingly competitive marketplace as the multichannel landscape started to take shape. This was always going to put a strain on the programming mix, and to be likely to take it in a more commercial direction. In the 1990s it came to depend on US drama imports and Brookside 169 ; in the 2000s, leisure-based factual programming dominated the schedules. Channel 4 became hugely dependent on the revenue generated by the reality show Big Brother, a programme that became a liability after the Celebrity Big Brother racism row in 2007. 170 Since Big Brother ended in 2010, Channel 4 has achieved a better balance in the schedule, although the main channel’s ratings have fallen. 171 Channel 4’s more commercially focused programming has allowed it to make the programmes that more obviously fulfil its remit, as well as to meet the terms of its main channel’s licence, under which it is required to produce a certain amount of news and current affairs programmes and satisfy various production quotas in return for its prominent position on the electronic programme guide (EPG). 172 Meanwhile, the remit has evolved since the channel was founded. The obligation to cater for tastes and minority interests not served by ITV was dropped following the 2003 Communications Act. 173 Instead, the act stated that Channel 4 must provide a range of “high quality and diverse” programming, with output demonstrating innovation, experiment and creativity; appeal to a culturally diverse society; contribute to education; and exhibit a distinctive character. 174 It was given additional new media responsibilities, including appealing to the tastes and interests of older children and young adults, in the 2010 Digital Economy Act. 175 167 Margo Harkin, comments to Inquiry event in Coleraine, April 4, 2016. 168 For five years after that, it continued to be linked to ITV: it had to pay ITV a portion of its advertising revenues in return for ITV providing it with a safety net should it fall into deficit, an arrangement that proved very favourable to ITV. 169 US sitcoms and dramas, films (mostly of US origin), and Brookside between them accounted for half of viewing in 1997. Brown, A Licence to Be Different, p. 207. 170 Brown, A Licence to Be Different, pp. 1-9. 171 From 6.1% of the audience in 2010 to 4.8% in 2014. See Ofcom, Communications Market Report 2015, 2015, figure 2.59, p. 201. 172 Channel 4 is required to broadcast 208 hours per year or 4 hours per week of news (all in peak), and 208 hours per year or 4 hours per week of current affairs (80 in peak), while 56% of programmes (70% in peak) should be originally produced or commissioned, 35% of hours and expenditure should be devoted to programmes made outside the M25, with an additional requirement for 3% of programmes to be made outside England, rising to 9% from 2020. See the licence on the Ofcom website. 173 Brown, A Licence to Be Different, p. 275. 174 Communications Act 2003, section 265. 175 Digital Economy Act 2010, section 22. 68
CONTENT AND PLATFORMS IN A DIGITAL WORLD CHANNEL 4’S AUDIENCE INCREASE (INCLUDING PORTFOLIO CHANNELS) Source: Ofcom SPEND ON CHANNEL 4 (MAIN CHANNEL ONLY) Source: Ofcom 15% 10% 5% 0 10.9% 8.6% £638m £492m 2004 2014 2006 2014 Nevertheless, Channel 4’s remit has remained flexible rather than prescriptive, and this has allowed the organisation to stay agile. It has made sure, for example, that its interpretation of diversity has changed with the times. In the 1980s, it made specific programmes for black and Asian audiences 176 ; it broke new ground in 1999 with the gay drama Queer as Folk; today it is proud of broadcasting the Paralympics and of programmes about, for example, transgender issues 177 . This has translated into better reach among diverse audiences: for example, its viewing share among BAME audiences shows a smaller differential with its white audience than is the case for the other public service broadcasters. 178 The channel has, therefore, successfully negotiated what has been described to us as a “paradoxical” remit – “the need to produce content which is attractive to audiences and thus advertisers, while at the same time able to take creative risks. 179 But for all its adaptability, Channel 4 has also shown a certain fragility. In recent years it has faced a number of challenges; while these have generally been shared with other broadcasters, its smaller scale and the need to fulfil its remit have sometimes made it seem unusually vulnerable. The audience for its main channel has fallen in the face of multichannel competition – from a peak of 11%, last recorded in 2000 (the first year of Big Brother), to just 5% in 2014. 180 But it has compensated for that by launching a family of channels, which between them have grown Channel 4’s total audience from 8.6% in 2004 to 10.9% in 2014. 181 176 Black on Black and Eastern Eye, for example. 177 It highlights the Born in the Wrong Body season in its latest annual report. Channel 4 Annual Report 2015, p. 60. 178 In 2015, Channel 4’s portfolio share among BAME viewers was 10.1%, compared with 10.7% among white viewers. The BBC’s 23.2% share among BAME viewers fell well short of its 33.8% share among white viewers; for ITV the figures were 14.7% BAME and 21.9% white; for Channel 5 they were 5.2% BAME and 6.1% white. BAME viewers are much more likely to watch multichannel services, which accounted for 46.8% of their viewing, compared with 27.6% for white viewers. Taken from Channel Four Television Corporation Report and Financial Statements 2015, p. 36. 179 Sian Powell and Catriona Noonan, submission to the Inquiry. 180 Ofcom, CMR 2015, p. 192. 181 Ibid., p. 201. The total Channel 4 family share peaked at 11.7% in 2008. 69
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A FUTURE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE TELEVIS
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Contents Foreword by David Puttnam
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To instruct democracy, if possible
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Welcome Television is leading a cha
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CONTENT AND PLATFORMS IN A DIGITAL
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PSB channels 71.9% All other channe
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Why television matters Television i
Page 17 and 18: CONTENT AND PLATFORMS IN A DIGITAL
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 51 and 52: The BBC For most people, the BBC is
Page 67: 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 103 and 104: Television and diversity We have ea
Page 107 and 108: THE PEOPLE SHOULD BE TELEVISED If t
Page 115 and 116: 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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