Changing the Channel
Across all five areas the scope of its regulatory powers over the BBC is considerably less than the rest of the broadcasting sector. Spectrum allocation Ofcom takes the lead in developing spectrum use policy (making recommendations to government) across broadcasting and telecoms and then in either auctioning off spectrum or setting an administered price for access. Currently the only significant broadcaster payments to the government for spectrum are the fees paid by ITV1 and FIVE for their access to analogue spectrum, fees that were set in the 1990s in an initial auction process and then adjusted over time to reflect the impact of digital switch over. Digital terrestrial spectrum has been allocated directly to PSB broadcasters for no specific charge, and to two “multiplex” operators, SDN (owned by ITV plc) and the Freeview consortium (led by Arquiva but also involving the BBC and BSkyB) through a “beauty contest” auction in 1997 and 2002 respectively. The BBC, however, receives its analogue spectrum and its gifted digital terrestrial spectrum directly from government (the BBC also has access to extra spectrum through its involvement in the Freeview consortium). In radio, Ofcom allocates both analogue (FM and AM) and DAB capacity to the commercial sector (in the case of local and regional radio through a “beauty contest” and in the case of national radio (Classic FM, TalkSport and Absolute Radio) an initial auction and then an administered price process). Again the BBC has its own direct access to FM, AM and DAB frequencies. Awarding, monitoring and enforcing broadcast licences Ofcom has both a general role in issuing and monitoring all broadcast services operating from the UK and a specific role in enforcing the requirements of commercial PSB licences linked to the allocation of analogue and digital terrestrial frequency to specific organisations (ITV1, C4 and FIVE). Ofcom’s general remit covering all broadcasters operating from the UK covers the enforcement both of minimum EU wide quota requirements (most notably a 50% European output quota where “practicable”, and a 10% independent producer quota) and UK specific taste and decency requirements (referred to as Tier 1 UK regulations). At Tier 1, Ofcom sets standards in matters such as offence, protection of children, and political impartiality; this applies to PSBs –including the BBC - and all other broadcasters licensed by Ofcom. For example, Ofcom fined the BBC £150,000 for the obscene phone message broadcast in a late night BBC Radio 2 show with Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand which described it as “gratuitously offensive, humiliating and demeaning.” In July 2008, Ofcom fined the BBC £400,000 for faking phone-ins linked to Comic Relief where viewers were urged to phone in to enter competitions they had no chance of winning. Ofcom’s powers and duties with respect to PSB licences (not including the BBC) are at two levels (referred to as Tier 2 and Tier 3 regulations). Tier 2 requires Ofcom to set quotas for particular types of output. Tier 3 refers to other area of public service output, where Ofcom has no power to set quotas, and broadcasters are primarily responsible for deciding what volume of output to deliver relating to high quality and diversity.
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