This clarion call is two years old and went nowhere, but is being revived again now by the UK telecom and media regulator Ofcom’s CEO Ed Richards: he vowed to press ahead with plans for a “public service publisher” – a new media service – to maintain competition with the BBC and Channel 4 in the digital age.
The regulator first raised the idea for a new entrant with a budget of GBP 350 million a year, delivering content via broadband, in 2004 when it was roundly derided by broadcasters. Richards told Guardian that Ofcom had been proved right by subsequent events: MySpace, YouTube and the pace of change etc.
The new service could come under the wing of Channel 4 or be a new publicly funded entity, and would be “very new media focused”. He said some of the most innovative ideas were online. Richards said he was on a “personal crusade” to maintain a plurality of public service provision in the digital age.
Some background on this on Ofcom website here.
Subscriber content
?
Subscriber content comes from Gigaom Research, bridging the gap between breaking news and long-tail research. Visit any of our reports to learn more and subscribe.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Comments have been disabled for this post