Newsmakers: UK’s Ofcom proposes new media agency

Earlier this year, the UK’s Office of Communications (Ofcom) followed up a 2005 review of "public service broadcasters," or PSBs – roughly equivalent to Canadian over-the-air broadcasters – with another process looking for input on how PSBs can best work with the new media community.As part of that consultation, Ofcom has put forward an innovative proposal: create a central clearinghouse for commissioning independent, home-grown new media content on behalf of those PSBs. Below is an excerpt from the media release announcing the consultation paper – the full paper can be found at http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/pspnewapproach/summary/ Ofcom completed its first review of PSB in February 2005. It showed that, despite continued public support for the current level of PSB, the existing terrestrial analog model of commercially-funded PSB will not survive the transition to digital and may erode rapidly prior to 2012.As part of its response, Ofcom suggested there could be a new Public Service Publisher (PSP), a commissioner of new media content focused on meeting public purposes. It would use new distribution platforms such as broadband, mobile and digital broadcasting to deliver distinctive, high quality, UK-originated public-service content. The PSP would be a networked, participative new media organisation in contrast to the traditional broadcasting focus of the existing PSB model.....Consumers – especially those under the age of 25 – are increasingly taking advantage of new internet-based and mobile technologies that allow users to create, modify and comment on content. It is this transition toward a more complex, interactive relationship between audiences and visual media that would form the focus of the PSP.In July 2006, Ofcom published a document which outlined the areas of importance for the future provision of PSB and set out where Ofcom will be undertaking further work in this financial year. As well as developing the concept of the PSP, Ofcom committed also to carry out a financial review of Channel 4 and evaluate the future prospects for news and children’s television programming.Following this document’s publication in July, Ofcom commissioned a PSP Creative Forum which held a number of workshops during the summer of 2006 to determine what kind of content the PSP might generate and what its public service values should be. A discussion document published today further develops Ofcom’s initial views on the PSP alongside the work of the Creative Forum. It suggests the PSP could offer a rich new media experience for users. It could:allow audiences to re-use content as well as view it; place user participation at the heart of much of the content; include high-quality audio and video content developed for new media distribution and use rather than traditional broadcasting; and drive community activity, including location-sensitive content and the ability to collaborate to create new material. Ofcom believes that there are valid arguments both for the creation of a new organisation and for the PSP to be linked to an existing media provider....Ofcom is seeking views on the exact amount, and source, of the PSP’s funding. At present, production and distribution costs for new media content are lower than for conventional television. This suggests therefore that the PSP could make a significant impact for an initial budget of £50-100 million per annum. Larger-scale, more ambitious proposals could be made as digital media enters the mainstream, as expected, later this decade.

Newsmakers: UK’s Ofcom proposes new media agency

Broadcast | March 9, 2007

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