Ofcom reports on Children’s TV
Ofcom launched its review of Children’s Public Service Broadcasting in February ‘07. Originally intended as part of the main review of PSB, the intense lobbying by SKTV, PACT and others alerted the regulator to the problems the industry faced, as ITV deserted kids’ commissioning and abandoned its commitment to terrestrial TV for kids, FIVE scaled back its children’s output and the effects of the advertising ban began to bite.
The children’s review was brought forward and has paved the way for a better understanding of just what is happening to public service programming in the commercial sector as the old constraints whereby commercial broadcasters traded certain genres of content in return for their valuable licences to broadcast started to melt away as digital TV fragmented the marketplace. In the report issued today (Wednesday 3rd October) Ofcom admits that children’s TV has acted like a “litmus test” for the other genres – and indeed the mainstream PSB review will now be brought forward too as the trends become rapidly clearer.
So what has Ofcom done for the kids? First – it took them seriously. The review has been heavily based in research, of the market statistics, of other countries responses to saving public service content for children and of kids and their parents themselves. No-one can say this is partial, merely an opinion or half-baked.
And what has all this research revealed? In sum – significant support for the SKTV position that something needs to be done to replace the loss of UK-commissioned output because in the end it’s our kids who will suffer, from lack of choice, lack of their own stories on TV, lack of their own voices and lack of a perspective which helps them understand the society in which they live. For the past year we’ve been saying that a country which fails to tell its own stories is a country which could just quietly fade away. Out kids deserve the best TV – from everywhere – and that includes from the UK too.
Ofcom’s report backs up this concern with real figures. For the full detail you can download the short version of the report here: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/kidstv/
The report lists the decrease in investment by commercial broadcasters, and how this has particularly hit factual and drama programmes for the 8-12 age group, though all age ranges are affected to an extent, and pre-school will be hit as the funding crisis deepens. They also indicate that attempts to increase commissioning spend in the cable and satellite channels have not matched the losses at ITV, Five and GMTV, and are unlikely to do so because of the commercial realities. This leaves the prospect of the BBC as a hugely dominant commissioner of children’s programmes – which the report indicates is of real concern.
Their research amongst parents and young people was revealing. Parents are clear about the need for plurality. They understand and support the idea that their kids need locally produced drama as well as transatlantic comedy, and they recognise that there’s less of it available – and fewer factual shows too. Teenagers were also vocal in calling for programmes made for them. They still watch TV and they’ve noticed hardly anybody cares!
Ofcom’s purpose in conducting the review is to report to government on the state of the sector – and how audiences will be affected. If ever there was a call to action this report is one. The politicians need to sit up and take notice or we’ll lose some things in this country which we’ll all regret: – a world-beating creative industry, our kids’ right to their own stories, and entertainment, and an irreplaceable force for social cohesion.
Now Ofcom goes into the next phase. In the report they’re proposing 5 possible options for the future. They’re launching a consultation exercise over the next three months on these options, which will close on December 20th. Then they’ll prepare their recommendations to Government which will go forward as the first phase of reporting on the general PSB review in March ’08.
In brief, the options are:
1. Let the market run its course and leave children’s to the BBC
2. Quotas on broadcasters – potentially with some contestable funds associated, possibly from some sort of levy
3. Tax incentives – these are quick to implement, but they don’t deal with the long–term problem
4. Extending the remit of existing PSB institutions (e.g. Channel 4) – with some form of intervention
5. Create a new institution, either standing alone or within the PSP concept – funded, with commissioning powers, and public-service oriented
PACT is pursuing the Tax incentives route with SKTV support. Meanwhile Save Kids’ TV is developing a plan for a “funded destination” for kids PSB content which first into Ofcom’s category 5. Now we need to build public support around these two plans if we’re to get the politicians to do more than pay lip service to the regulator’s concerns. The campaign continues.
