Media bill gets Royal Assent
Plans for a major overhaul of the British media have finally been approved by Parliament.
The Communications Act received Royal Assent today, paving the way for key regulatory and commercial changes in the industry.
The biggest change to the legislation is the creation of OFCOM, the new watchdog that will replace the existing five regulatory bodies, which include the ITC, the Broadcasting Standards Commission and Oftel.
Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said: “This is only the first step in a far longer process. OFCOM must now deliver a new regulatory system that will be light touch and unobtrusive wherever possible, but decisive and robust wherever necessary.”
“And I hope the communications industry will take advantage of the considerable opportunities that the deregulation enshrined in this act offers.”
The deregulation to which she referred largely revolves around the new rules on media ownership, removing the bar on national newspaper owners holding a stake in terrestrial TV channels. Rules on foreign ownership and the structure of ITV will also be relaxed.
Such measures could pave the way for media moguls such as the Australian owner of News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, to enter the market. His influence in the UK already extends to ‘The Times’, ‘The Sun’, ‘News of the World’ and the Sky News channel.
However, the Government has bowed to pressure from the Lords by including a plurality test for mergers and acquisitions to ensure that companies cannot exert an excessive level of control over the British media as a whole.
The Government aims to ensure that public service television is still central to British television output, but there are concerns that increased competition and investment could actually lead to the dumbing down of British TV and an excessive number of programmes being imported from the US.
