Government opens the door to new public service broadcasters to take on the BBC and ITV
Key Points
- Government proposes reforming public service media away from broadcast licences
- Could open the system to new providers, including streamers and YouTube channels
- Current six providers (BBC, ITV, STV, Channel 4, 5, S4C) fixed since 1997
- Three models proposed: PSM institutions, PSM services, content-centric
- Aim to reverse decline in public service content output since 2022
- BBC would remain the largest provider under any reform
The government has opened the door to creating new public service broadcasters for the first time in decades, under reforms proposed in its media green paper.
The paper sets out plans to “explore options to reform the UK’s system of public service media for television,” which it says is currently too reliant on traditional broadcasters and too inflexible to adapt to changing viewing habits.
The current set of public service media (PSM) providers – the BBC, ITV, STV, Channel 4, 5 and S4C- has remained fixed since 1997.
Under the present system, public service status is tied to holding a broadcast licence. The government argues that moving away from this model would give greater flexibility over who qualifies as a provider, as well as the obligations and benefits attached.
The paper suggests reform could allow “a greater or different range of PSM providers that deliver content in different ways.”
What a new system could look like
The green paper sets out three potential models for a reformed system:
- The first would continue to designate institutions, such as broadcasters or streamers, as public service providers.
- The second would grant public service status to individual “services,” which could range from a linear arts channel to a documentary channel on YouTube.
- The third, described as a content-centric approach, would attach public service status to qualifying content itself, regardless of who produced it.
The government states that any new model should “result in the creation of more public service content,” reversing what the paper describes as a decline in output from existing providers in recent years.
Production of public service content has fallen year on year since 2022, according to figures in the paper.
The proposals would sit alongside the ongoing review of the BBC’s Royal Charter, with the paper stressing that the BBC would remain the largest provider under any reformed system.
