OFCOM throws punch at BBC, proposes £300m TV channel

Michael Hedges October 16, 2004

Time was when the BBC deftly avoided punches thrown by critics and competitors. A series of OFCOM reports and statements suggests the real contest is only beginning.

A report on the BBC digital TV offerings commissioned by Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, released last week (October 13) concluded that BBC3 and BBC4 were not living up to their expectations, and audience levels. The report referred to the channels as poor value for the money.

“Targeting the 25-34s (by BBC3) so obsessively seems to go beyond a helpful guideline and to have become a creative straitjacket,” said the reports author, London Business School management professor Patrick Barwise.

"BBC4, “said the professor, “should be more selective about showing arts and other programs which virtually no one watches".

The report generally praised the two digital channels for children, Cbeebies, “a triumph,” and CBBC, “highly distinctive.”

Of Professor Barwise conclusions with respect to the looming review of the BBCs Royal Charter, Ms Jowell called them “illuminating.” The review is to be completed by 2006.

Two weeks earlier (September 30) OFCOM suggested launching a new public service television channel, “to keep the BBC on its mettle.”

OFCOM Chief Executive Stephen Carter referred to the proposed new channel as a “public service publisher,” recognizing – perhaps more clearly than broadcasters – that regulators take seriously the consequences of the digital revolution. He said the new channel would be like Channel 4 but “not a conventional TV channel” and not based in London.

Officially, the BBC takes all this in stride. Its spokesperson said Professor Barwise made a number of “constructive criticisms.” In the post-Hutton era, new General Director Mark Thompson is clearly emphasizing the BBCs enduring public support.

The BBC jumped on an OFCOM draft of editorial rules on fairness and accuracy as outside the regulators mandate under the Communications Act. Under the law, BBC is subject to stiff penalties for breaching “taste and decency” rules.

OFCOM, the super-regulator created by the Communications Act at the end of 2003 combining five smaller telecom regulators into one, sends few marching orders to the BBC, which is governed by Royal Charter and a board of governors.

Most European public service broadcasters are similarly governed, regulation being left for commercial media. But pressure from commercial interests as well as the regulators to better manage issues like spectrum distribution, financing and accountability is leading governments to look for single agencies as final arbiter of all telecom questions.

Lord Currie, OFCOM chairman, sounded a warning to all broadcasters that digital challenges are seismic; like Mt. St. Helens, when it blows “it will be too late to run.”