Voice of the Listener and Viewer (VLV) represents the citizen and consumer interest
in broadcasting and works for quality and diversity in British broadcasting.

In the next few months we shall have a real fight on our hands.  Despite a summer of public consultation on the draft Communications Bill - in which VLV played a full part - the Government seems determined to force through some of its most controversial proposals with all speed, ignoring many of the concerns raised about the Bill.  The Government’s intention is to achieve a Second Reading before Christmas. 

At the start of the process the omens were good.  We applauded the Government for taking the rare but wise step of establishing a Committee with members from both Houses of Parliament to scrutinize this long and complicated Bill.  Its chairman was Lord Puttnam; most of its members had expertise in relevant fields. 

The Joint Committee worked hard in the three months consultation period, questioning many different parties.  Towards the end of the period, however, before the Committee had had time to publish its report, Ministers let it be known that proposals to change the rules on media ownership were not in any way negotiable.

These changes would allow British media companies, including ITV, to be bought by non-European owners, with the aim of attracting inward investment from the USA.  They would also allow Channel 5 Television to be bought by any newspaper company, including News International, which already owns The Times, Sunday Times, Sun and News of the World, and is the major shareholder in the satellite broadcaster, BSkyB. 

The Joint Committee opposed the lifting of limits on cross-media ownership on public interest grounds, and suggested a ‘plurality’ should be introduced in this area.  The Committee was not against foreign ownership, it said, but could find no evidence to support the Ministers’ assertions that the proposals to allow foreign companies to buy British media interests would encourage beneficial inward investment at this time. 

Instead, it made the sensible suggestion that the proposals should be deferred for two or three years, by which time the new regulator, OFCOM, would have established itself and the impact of changes in the regulatory system which the Bill will introduce will have become clearer.  OFCOM should then be asked to conduct a detailed review of the implications of introducing any change in the rules on media ownership. 

The policies on media ownership in the draft Bill are the opposite of those outlined in the preceding White Paper and of statements made by the Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell, less than twelve months ago. 

Neither she, nor the Trade Secretary, Patricia Hewitt, have produced figures to support their more recent assertion that economic benefit will inevitably flow from inward American investment.  Nor does either Minister appear to have any intention of pressing for British companies to be given reciprocal rights to buy American media interests.  So what is behind the moves and the indecent haste to allow national assets like ITV to be sold at the very bottom of the market?
 
Some of VLV’s concern stems from the fact that American broadcasters operate in an entirely different tradition, where commercialism sets the tone and dominates the practice, and success is measured by profit and audience numbers, not by audience satisfaction or the range and diversity of programming, factors which we in the UK would include in any test of success. 

Here, and in many European countries, there is an established tradition of public service broadcasting which has served both broadcasters and audiences well.  The USA has no experience of public service broadcasting, and many media executives of the companies most likely to be interested in buying British media ridicule its principles and practice. 

The main objective of any American or multinational company wishing to enter the British market would be first, to obtain an entry to Europe, and then to effect economies of scale in the production of programmes which would appeal to the audiences they seek in the global market. 

Some of these programmes may appeal to British audiences, but many will be made at the expense of material designed for quintessentially British tastes and interests, and which employ British, rather than international talent, themes and locations - unless there is strong content regulation to ensure otherwise.  Yet the whole thrust of the Bill is to make OFCOM a ‘light touch’ regulator. 

So we agree with the Joint Committee that the issue of media ownership should be passed to OFCOM to deal with in two or three years time.   Once OFCOM has established itself as an effective regulator, it can conduct a comprehensive review of the new communications environment, including the rules on media ownership, taking into account the changed regulatory framework and other issues. 

As we believe that these are the most crucial issues facing British broadcasting today, VLV is launching a campaign to make the Government see the sense of the Joint Committee’s proposals, particularly on media ownership.  We shall launch it at the autumn conference under the theme: ‘The Communications Bill: Getting it Right’.   Lord Putnamm, chairman of the Joint Committee will be the keynote speaker.   On the evening of 2nd December we shall hold another public event at which Lord McNally, a member of the Joint Committee will a key speaker.

Our aim is to persuade Members of Parliament of the wisdom of the Committee’s recommendations, and to inform the public who, sadly, are almost totally unaware of any of the proposals in the Bill, whether about media ownership or in respect to the future of public service broadcasting and the knock-on, detrimental effects that changes will have on genres like life long learning, regional programming and  children’s programmes. 

We are now working to build a coalition of allies who share our concerns about these threats to the quality and independence of British broadcasting.  We hope that every thinking person will join us because of the immense influence that broadcasting has on British cultural and democratic life today.  Please help us to spread the word and if you can, please send a donation to support our campaign.   Time is short and the predators are at the gate.

The BBC and OFCOM
In addition to dealing with OFCOM and its relationship with commercial broadcasters, the Bill proposes changes to the BBC Agreement on the Corporation’s future responsibilities and governance. The full ramifications of these proposals are not yet clear but we are glad that Ministers have said that their intention is that the BBC should continue to be regulated by its Governors who will continue to be responsible to Parliament,  not to OFCOM or directly to the Secretary of State. 

Telephone: 01474 352835.
Fax: 01474 351112.
E-mail: vlv@btinternet.com

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