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

CONTENT AND PLATFORMS IN A DIGITAL WORLD
Channel 5’s owner Viacom says it wants the
channel to remain part of the UK’s public
service broadcasting system. In its submission
to us, it pointed out that Channel 5 exceeds
its commitment to original programming
and in fact makes a voluntary commitment
to children’s programming, with an early
morning strand of mostly animated content
aimed at young children. 248
However, Channel 5 is not widely
acknowledged for its contribution to
public service television. Indeed, Ofcomcommissioned
research reported:
“Participants of all ages expressed some
surprise that Channel 5 had public service
obligations.” 249 We can see why viewers felt
that way. Channel Five’s schedule is best
known for US dramas, Australian soaps and
Big Brother, with a lot of documentaries
about the benefits system (although we note
that a channel rebrand has been announced).
It does, however, broadcast more hours of
current affairs than ITV (its licence requires
130 hours a year, but only 10 of those in peak
250
).
threat, and of great benefit to children
themselves and their families and carers. It
would be useful to put Channel 5’s status as
a broadcaster catering for young children
on a formal footing. The regulated children’s
content should be UK-originated. In this
way an important part of the public service
ecology will be more reliably maintained.
In return for this change to Channel 5’s
licence – although this would not mark
a significant change in practice for the
broadcaster – we believe that Channel 5
should benefit from similar guarantees on
EPG prominence that we envisage for ITV (as
set out above). It would also benefit from any
changes resulting from further exploration of
the debate on retransmission fees, an issue
that it brought up in its submission to us. 251
We do not view Channel 5 as such an
important part of the public service television
ecology as the BBC, Channel 4 or ITV.
However, we would like Channel 5 to remain
part of it, and propose that the regulatory
commitments currently imposed on it should
be maintained, with one improvement:
that its laudable voluntary commitment to
children’s programing should from now on
be embedded in its licence. British-made
children’s programming is a genre under
248
Viacom International Media Networks, submission to the Inquiry.
249
Ipsos MORI for Ofcom, An investigation into changing audience needs in a connected world, 2014, p. 48.
250
See the licence on the Ofcom website.
251
Viacom International Media Networks, submission to the Inquiry.
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