By Archie Bland
"Streaming services, such as Netflix and Now TV, could be encouraged to provide public service programming as they become increasingly dominant players in the digital era, the UK’s television regulator has said.
In a report on how public service broadcasting (PSB) should adapt to the age of online viewing, Ofcom said the existing system was “unlikely to survive” and that new platforms should be obliged to feature traditional broadcasters’ streaming services prominently.
It suggested the rules governing the public service remit for broadcasters including the BBC should be radically overhauled, potentially allowing them to fulfil their obligations online instead of through traditional channels.
If Ofcom’s suggestions are implemented, they would represent the most radical revision to the rules governing broadcasting in the UK since streaming services began to challenge traditional outlets.
As companies from Apple to Disney muscle in with their own paid-for services, the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 have a precarious place in younger audiences’ viewing habits. While 67% of total viewing time in 2019 was to broadcast content, that figure fell to 38% among 16-34 year olds, Ofcom’s audience research found, with those viewers feeling “much less connection to the public service broadcasters” and sometimes only discovering their content via streaming services.
Two in five viewers of streaming services say they can imagine watching no broadcast TV at all in five years’ time.
The regulator recognises the vast changes in the landscape since the last major updates to the regulatory framework in 2003 by setting out a transition from “public service broadcasting” to “public service media”.
The report says with the channels’ long-treasured position at the top of programming guides becoming a less important way of reaching audiences, a new “service neutral” system is needed – meaning broadcasters could decide for themselves the best venue for public service programming. ..."
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