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Broadcasting unions propose public service levy on satellite, cable and web TV providers

By | Published on Wednesday 29 April 2009

In related news, ie the funding of public service programming over and above that funded by the TV licence fee, the two main broadcasting trade unions, BECTU and the National Union of Journalists, have proposed imposing levies on Sky and Virgin Media, as the providers of the UK’s main non-terrestrial broadcasting networks, which would be redistributed back to the makers of non-BBC public service programmes, which is mainly ITV and Channel 4.

ISPs, who arguably benefit from the public service content provided online by the three public service broadcasters, may also be made to pay a share.

The proposal comes in a report from the Institute For Public Policy Research commissioned by the two unions. It notes that similar systems exist elsewhere in Europe, and that both Sky and Virgin benefit from others’ investment in public service broadcasting (because they provide BBC, ITV and Channel 4 programmes on their networks) but don’t currently contribute to the cost of making such programmes. It concludes: “Levies continue to present a possible solution to bridging the funding gap in order to maintain current levels of public service broadcasting”.

Commenting on the proposals, NUJ General Secretary Jeremy Dear told reporters: “All the plans we’ve seen so far suggest ways of spreading diminishing resources more thinly. Now the government has detailed evidence that shows new funding could be found – all it needs is the political will to get behind public service broadcasting. We suspect that companies will vehemently resist these proposals but sometimes what’s good for the public has to come first”.

Yeah, assuming Sky and Virgin did vehemently resist these proposals, that would require the government to take on Rupert Murdoch and Richard Branson. This proposal won’t happen.



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