bad day for news

Ofcom has finally published its plans for ITV and the future of Public Service Broadcasting. The launch was not as slick as usual, for some reason no-one at the briefing was given a copy of the report and had to rely on a few hastily photocopied sheets - a good start for the communications regulator. As the plans emerged it went downhill from there. ITV to be allowed to butcher its regional news service, cut back to virtually nil its regional non news output. The cheery news is not confined to ITV, both the BBC and Channel Four will suffer, a slice of licence fee hived off, and a half hearted commitment to a sustainable model for C4 all adds up to a bit of a mess. We are meeting ITV in the coming days and planning our resistance in order to try and save ITV from itself and an old style, non-regulatory regulator.

Five joins the runners and riders

Ofcom has granted Public Service Broadcasting status on channel five today joining an elite group of UK broadcasters. These free to air broadcasters are able compete for the so-called sporting crown jewels. These are events such as the Grand National and FA cup which must be made freely available to the public. Although Five has been on the analogue platform for some time, it has not be universally available until now. For some time now, I have been arguing that post digital switchover, legislation should ensure that sporting events are available to the public free to air. This is important not only for the audiences but also it affords the PSBs an incentive which could be given in return for continuing PSB obligations. Alex Salmond has recently also pressed that the Scottish national side should be shown up north although the experience of watching a UK national side isn't always a pleasant one.

talking heads

Time spent today at the BBC talking about their approach to the upcoming Public Service Broadcasting Review, then to Ofcom to bang my head against a brick wall for a bit. They told us how everything will be run in the consumers best interest once all the public assets have been sold. Nearly thirty years on from Thatcher and her privatisation scams, this Government will auction off one of the last few pieces of silverware, the public spectrum - which we currently own - and sell it to the highest bidder who will then sell it back to us in bite sized and considerably inflated chunks. Result.


Finally I attended the George Viner memorial fund event this evening at the NUJ's head office. The charity funds bursaries and grants for aspiring Journalists from an ethnic background. The guest speaker was Samira Ahmed from Channel Four news.

the last waltz?

DCMS/BERR Think Tank launched today.

A first outing for the new Secretary of State. Many of the speakers were keen to portray a rosy picture of consumer choice and a shift in the balance of power away from the traditional providers and gatekeepers towards the public as consumer participant. Ed Richards, in particular, evangelising on this and saying that this power shift was a "one-way journey". In this he is wrong; there is an inevitable tension between individuals on the one hand and the interests of business on the other; the latter seeks to control, consolidate and extend influence over the former. This is why itunes is proprietorial and why microsoft package Internet explorer. Companies seek to dominate markets - it's in their DNA and runs counter to an ethos whereby the consumer is king.

This same process drives the music business, where 'start ups' or bands are bought up by content aggregators and distributors (record companies) who seek to exert control over how the product is packaged, distributed and sold. Now this may not be an analogy that traditional broadcasters wish to consider in the wee small hours, however, in their nightmares such scenarios must play out (although only on demand, of course).

It wasn't touched on much, if at all, in the session, however, the television business is on the edge of a precipice; if ways are not found to retain control over, and make money out of, the content that is produced, then the companies will die.

My colleague, Lawrence Shaw has also blogged on this event as well.

healing self inflicted wounds

The OFT have given an indication of the timetable for ITV's much lobbied for, review of the contract rights renewal system . CRR has the effect of limiting the revenue that ITV can generate from advertising. The reason we have the current system is due to the fact that previous management of ITV played a very poor hand when tying up the merger of ITV. The system was in fact proposed by ITV itself. The so-called 'straitjacket' is said by some analysts to cost around £50m a year to the broadcaster. A little more than the proposed level of cuts to its news output and commitments. To us it's a no-brainer - give ITV some leeway on CRR so long as they back off on cutting local news. Meanwhile the share price is flatlining.

save kids' tv campaign

I have been recently contacted by the above group asking if the NUJ supports the campaign. Of course we do. It is good to see that there are still people committed to preserving and improving the quality of public service broadcasting in the UK. Hang on, isn't that what Ofcom is supposed to do?

Vive La France

Just picked up the story on FT.com about Sarkozy's intention to take advertising off state TV and replace revenues with 'taxes on mobile phone operators, internet service providers, plus a levy on the advertising revenues of private television channels'. The intention it would seem is to create a BBC for France.
Each country has a very different broadcasting history and comparisons are not always that helpful, however, if true this proposal is the kind of thing the NUJ has been seeking in a UK context for years.
The current system in the UK whereby the vast majority of public service broadcasting is provided by the BBC in exchange for a public licence fee is sustainable, providing the BBC gets the transition through Bill Gates 'digital decade' right. The trick being not to alienate your core audience by rushing headlong after the new. The jury is out on the current BBC strategy. However, if long term funding for the BBC is uncertain, amongst commercial broadcasters the funding picture is distinctly bleak. Channel Four is asking for Government intervention to bolster and sustain its PSB offering; ITV is currently trying to divest itself of its remaining commitments, killing, in the process, the very goose that laid the golden - licence-to-print - eggs.
We have argued that those commercial operators who benefit from access to broadcast systems in the UK - such as Sky and others, should be obliged to pay a levy allowing others to produce PSB programming. On the other hand. if a commercial entity is committed to producing such programming they could then be given an exemption from the new tax.
It will be interesting to see what happens in France. The marriage between a right wing populist leader who launches a full scale attack on workers rights and a trade union is an unlikely one, however, with so much riding on the outcome, sometimes needs must.

reading room

Lots of announcements today. Ofcom bringing our its statement on the Digital Dividend Review. The BBC Trust with a report on procurement and spectum use and ITV gave a trading update. Too tired to read them now.

withering on the vine

Talks with ITV about pay and conditions yesterday. The share price is at an all time low. The Grade strategy relies on a massive rise in internet income - multiplying income in this area tenfold by 2010. On this issue there is little detail. Equally within ITV's strategy no account is taken of the potential damage that will be done if ITV abandons PSB commitments. Analysts may not care much about the loss of regional news and programming but the public associate ITV with regionalism and quality content. In the afternoon we went to Westminster to talk about the fight to save ITV regional news, we have the support of more than 150 MP's but we need to galvanise them.

the endangered species

Last week was dominated by the BBC cuts. We managed to negotiate a framework agreement on Monday, which sets the terms for divisional talks. Meanwhile people started top realise just how bad the plans are. Met with the Secretary of State at the DCMS, James Purnell on Wednesday. We gave him our thoughts on the future of Public Service Broadcasting. Everyone we speak with reiterates the line that they want strong independent broadcasting but none seem prepared to say how it will be delivered. If they wait long enough it will be gone, perhaps that's the idea.

Have you seen the future?

Conversations today about ITV and the future of non-bbc commercial public service broadcasters. They are an endangered species; not least because they themselves have not yet put forward a compelling case for their continued existence. Channel 4 seems to favour the 'cap in hand' approach; ITV, the 'cut our cloth'. Both want to get their hands on the digital spectrum, neither seem prepared to offer anything in return. If the licence fee settlement provides any pointers it would be wise for the broadcasters to be careful when dealing with government. Think not what Gordon can do for you but what you can do for Gordon.

Ofcom encounter

A return trip to the glass-fronted palace that is the home of regulator Ofcom this afternoon. We went to talk about the 'Digital Dividend Review' and how it fits in with High Definition TV. We learned some useful stuff about how the multiplexes work and who owns them. And we were warned that there's plenty of work in store before Xmas in terms of responding to consultations about making space for HDTV under the current set-up.

mixed fortunes

A couple of things happened today: At the BBC tensions rose, rumour is now the only currency, we are still in an information black-hole. We wrote to the chair of the BBC trust outlining some of the problems with their strategy of disengagement.

At ITV we continue to make progress in the campaign to save news on the channel. More MPs have joined the list of supporters. Meanwhile I picked this up from the ofcomwatch website . James Purnell putting himself about a bit.

The expanding universe of ofcom

Some of today was spent putting in a response to the Ofcom PSB review terms of reference. This consultation will help shape the broadcasting landscape for the next few years. The industry is a mass of contradictions at present; Rapid expansion of services, content and delivery on the one hand; decline in traditional viewing, reduction in quality and job cuts, on the other.

People talk often about the 'digital-divide' those unwilling or unable to take up new television services. However, the real battle will be between those with access and inclination to embrace broadband and the Internet, and those (currently 40% of the population) who are without. Ofcom says it wants to broaden its look unilaterally to include new services available over the Internet. Despite the fact that its review terms are laid down by act of parliament.

They have always sought to expand but in tackling the world wide web even this monolith may have bitten off more than it can chew.

ITV NUJ Reps meeting

NUJ reps from across the ITV regions gathered today for an emergency meeting. Feelings of shock, anger and bemusement were relayed from newsrooms across the country, on the back of yesterday's announcement. The reps pledged to fight the attack on regional programmes every step of the way and called on Ofcom to reject the plans. The campaign starts here...

Death by consultation

Some time spent yesterday and today drafting material for the NUJs submission to the Lords Committee looking at media ownership issues. The latest in a series of time consuming consultations. There's plenty at stake, with Ofcom and others pushing a free-market agenda. The Lords were influential with their responses to the Communications Act so hopefully Gordon will be in listening mode.

Breakfast at Ofcom

Sadly no croissants on offer at Ofcom for this morning's breakfast meeting. It was held to launch the regulator's 2007 report on the Communications market.. read more here.

Statistics to note include a fall in the levels of radio listening among 25 to 34 year olds of more than 17% since 2001. Over 55's on the other hand are listening to more radio. In the TV industry advertising revenues fell by a percentage point since last year and viewing also fell slightly. Someone from the BBC snuck in a question on the i-Player about the rumblings

concerning broadband congestion caused by downloads. Ofcom's response was that it had highlighted the issue in its market impact assessment on the player and that a natural commercial process will happen to work out who pays for what...

We met with Ofcom

Today we had discussions with Ofcom (Ofcomwatch) . We meet regularly with them to discuss issues of concern. Top of the bill was the news review and ITV's commitment to regional news. Coming after M Grade's recent speech about a reduced regional news structure, we wanted to know where Ofcom stood. One of the problems of the current set up, is that although Ofcom consult over everything in the known universe (and much that is not), when it comes to varying the regional licences, they have been known to deal-or-no-deal behind closed doors. On this occasion we were able to extract a commitment. If they are approached by ITV with plans to reduce news commitments prior to the end of the PSB review, Ofcom will 'not be minded' to agree any changes and if they are approached we will be told and consulted. In the current free-market climate this represents progress.

An article from earlier this year on Keith McMahon's blog is worth a look, her refers to one M Grade, is this be the same man who told viewers to develop a sense of humour in relation to phone quizzes that weren't quite what they seem?