23 September 2005
The advent of digital TV, and the accessibility of digital TV through a broadband internet connection, have made a new regulatory framework necessary, two giants of the TV industry have said.
Speaking at a convention of European broadcasters in Liverpool, Mark Thompson, director-general of the BBC, and James Murdoch, chief executive of BSkyB, told Brussels to come up with a new way of thinking about television.
Mr Thompson said that while the industry had a duty to regulate digital TV, for example for the protection of children, BBC research suggested that people would be happy if online content was not regulated.
"They simply do not feel they need, or want, the same level of protection," said Mr Thompson.
Mr Murdoch was more radical still, hinting that the blurring of boundaries between digital TV and the internet made the regulation of either impracitcal.
Mr Murdoch said it was irrelevant whether "the image on their screen has come through a TV tuner or a broadband connection.
" Even the minimal regulation of internet audio-visual content proposed by the [European] Commission will be difficult to enforce and places an unnecessary burden on a nascent part of the market.
"A lessening of TV content regulation seems inevitable. A totally new approach that recognises the on-demand world is needed."
© 2008 Adfero Ltd
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