8 November 2006
The Culture, Media and Sport Committee (CMSC) is going to launch an enquiry into public service television, following concerns that the service organisations will need to modernise if they want to appear in the modern, digital era.
It will assess whether the current terrestrial channels should continue to receive public funding as well as analysing the necessity of providing quotas for certain types of programmes like factual programmes.
It will also look at the value of the Public Service Provider concept as advanced by the regulatory body Ofcom back in early 2004.
This concept suggests the use of one over-riding 'publisher' of public service programmes which would cost around £300 million a year and would be more of a content producer and commissioning house rather than a conventional TV channel.
Ofcom also spoke of the possibility of it having the potential power to oblige certain named broadcasters to provide the means to receive public service broadcasting (PSB) services when households cannot otherwise receive them to an acceptable technical standard, but this is not thought to be discussed at the committee.
Broadband, 3G mobile phones and other forms of new media will be discussed to ascertain if they could be among the most practicable way to provide PSB.
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