Submission to House of Lords Select Committee on Communications, inquiry into “Public service broadcasting in the age of video on demand”

• There is a long history of specific institutions restricting competition in broadcasting and changing the definition of public service broadcasting to serve producer rather than more general interests. • The current definition of public service broadcasting used by Ofcom is not coherent. Definitions used by the House of Lords Communications Committee (in a previous report) and in a recent government Green Paper make more sense. They relate to content which would be under-produced in the market but still have (for example) educational value. • The nature of the broadcast market has changed to such a degree that the interests of public service broadcasting can no longer be served by focusing on institutions rather than looking for the best way to achieve the end objectives. • Furthermore, the nature of broadcasting has become so diverse, that broadcasting should be seen as one method of achieving wider education and cultural objectives and policy in relation to public service broadcasting should reflect this: there is no need for specific public service broadcasting policy. • The BBC should be financed by subscription and probably be owned by its subscribers. It should provide edifying and sophisticated programming to a wide international market and would be able to do so profitably. • The fact that the market for broadcasting is now international means that much artistic, educational and cultural programming which might not have been economic in the past may now be economic and not need subsidy (for example, the potential audience for an arts programme in the English language on post-reformation Dutch painters can be drawn from the whole English speaking world, if not the whole world). • Niche providers are often better than the BBC at ensuring the broadcasting of good quality content to meet minority tastes. The BBC is clearly more attractive to higher-income white audiences, despite the impression it tries to convey in its marketing.