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13|06|07

Ofcom to analyse gap in digital delivery of public service content

In January Ofcom published a discussion paper assessing the potential of digital media to deliver public service audio-visual content to UK citizens. Ofcom today published a summary of responses to the paper and set out how it intends to address the issues raised by respondents.

In the January document, Ofcom argued that, although there is already a wide variety of content available via digital media platforms, there is likely to be insufficient provision of public service content. Ofcom has proposed the creation of a Public Service Publisher (PSP) that would help remedy this shortfall, among other objectives.

Ofcom received over seventy responses to the discussion paper. The majority agreed that online delivery will be a valuable new way of accessing public service content and supported the case for intervention in principle. Issues raised by respondents include:

• The need for clarity over where intervention was most needed. There was support for further work to identify where market shortfall would occur and the types of content which would be needed.
• Possible roles for the PSP. Some argued it could help citizens navigate to other sources of public service content while others suggested it could support the creation of public service content by acting as a source of “venture capital”.
• Protection of rights. Ofcom’s document set out a possible new open rights model which would allow content to be modified, amended and re-used. This approach received support in some quarters while others argued that existing copyright legislation is sufficient to deliver these benefits.
• Questions of funding and scale. Most respondents agreed that this should be considered in the context of the new media market rather than learning lessons from traditional broadcasting. There was no consensus, however, over the required scale nor source of potential funding.

Next steps

Ofcom will assess the issues raised by respondents as part of its next statutory review of Public Service Broadcasting which will begin in the Autumn. Meanwhile, it is undertaking a further body of work in the near term to help inform its thinking during the Review:

• an independent economic analysis of the likely provision of public service digital media content. This will examine the nature and extent of any possible shortfall;
• a review of content on digital platforms to identify what public service content is already available;
• a series of seminars during the summer, inviting representatives from broadcasting, interactive media and other relevant markets to discuss the case for intervention as well as the structure, content and funding of the PSP; and
• Ofcom will also continue to work to develop a model for the nature of content delivered via the PSP.

The responses can be found along with the summary at www.ofcom.org.uk.

Ends.

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