Ofcom Discussion

The government edge ever closer to giving Ofcom governance over the BBC and by extension the voice of the entire UK airwaves. Early on this week, White responded with the expected assurances of competence and independence should Ofcom be given the duty... This summation of her words also has two good links to details of recent developments in the story:

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/ma...says-chief

Note how she gets in her plea for more resources. Ofcom clearly have doubts that they can keep all their balls in the air at the same time if, given this extra responsibility, they are expected to do so on what the have at the mo... If we are being purely self-centred here we might hope they will drop a few in relation to those areas that concern this board most!

Elsewhere, Ofcom already have problems of their own:

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/ma...nformation

...Presumably, turning the data back over to Ofcom gave the guy's new employers the grounds to sack him.

As for Ofcom, the ICO can issue fines to a maximum of £500,000 for breaches of the Data Protection Act.

^ More details emerge on the story above:

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/ma...ofcom-data
http://www.lawyerherald.com/articles/393...ployee.htm

Former Sky News head Nick Pollard ("The Man Who Put Sky On Top" according to The Independent) joins Ofcom's content board:
http://media.ofcom.org.uk/news/2016/Ofco...ent-Board/

This Guardian article from last year gives more bio information for Pollard; as well as hints at a couple of specialist areas he will most likely be advising on:
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/au...roadcaster

While an interesting piece here has Pollard admitting to a mistake in his handling of the Savile-Newsnight inquiry: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/c...laims.html

Ofcom's latest broadcasting bulletin came out today http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binarie...ue_302.pdf

I'm just having a quick look through it, i notice two babe channel broadcasters get a mention,
In the section titled "complaints assessed, not investigated" is Babestation X and Xpanded TV

The complaint about BSX is dated 15/03/2016, it's in the category of "out side of remit", it doesn't say what the complaint was about.

The complaint about Xpanded TV is dated 04/03/2016, it's in the category "race discrimination/offence.

Obviously with both channels being in the list of complaints assessed/ not investigated, Ofcom aren't investigating them .

So somebody made a complaint about racial discrimination concerning Xpanded .

I was wondering whether the result of the referendum would have any remote chance of having any effect on our babe shows in the UK. Could a leave vote result allow the government to tighten up even more. As we won't be tied to European laws, as such, would it allow them to revoke or refuse licences more easily to broadcast in the UK from broadcasters in Europe. Presumably a stay vote will see it unchanged.

Would a leave vote have any effect on Cellcast/BS being able to use a European Dutch licence in order to broadcast on freeview ? .

I wouldn't normally post anything here on Ofcom's problems with the mobile networks as that would seemingly stray into vast off-topic waters. But this article did catch my eye as it is IMO a particularly pertinent piece and include one preciously choice quote from the owners of the 3 network: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/04/12/...lock_deal/

Look out for Hutchinson's opinion on Ofcom's stance on 3's proposed acquisition with O2: “It is an entirely one-sided argument designed to support a preordained outcome.”

Now where have we seen that sort of attitude from Ofcom before I wonder.

Shadow culture secretary Maria Eagle querying whether Ofcom have the capacity to take on the regulatory duties of the BBC when the new royal charter begins on 1 January 2017 (from the Guardian):

“It looks to me very much that [the government] will ask Ofcom to do the job. I think that is tough, I really do.

“It would double the size of Ofcom overnight, and BBC regulation has some similarities but it is different also.”

Eagle said the BBC received 10 times the volume of complaints dealt with by Ofcom.

“We certainly need a guarantee that Ofcom will get proper resources to do this job properly,” she added. “If they have that kind of challenge and have to start it by January next year, that is very, very difficult.”


Is the prospect of a twice-the-size Ofcom a scary one? Or will their purview over the BBC become an over-riding focus for the regulator such that old targets like the babeshows get off lightly? Does it even matter given that the shows, in general, seem so little concerned with upping their current content levels; how much would the shows even change if Ofcom was looking the other way?

(16-04-2016 19:12 )Dave_A Wrote:  Would a leave vote have any effect on Cellcast/BS being able to use a European Dutch licence in order to broadcast on freeview ? .

It's a good question, but it's impossible to answer without knowing what the relationship between the UK and the EU would be following a Brexit.

If the UK left the EU but entered into a trade agreement with the EU it's likely that nothing would change, as the EU would probably require that their directives on free movement of goods and services be accepted as a condition for making the agreement.

But if the UK left the EU and didn't want to enter into any form of trade agreement with the EU, then the government and Ofcom would be free to ignore the EU's Audio-Visual Media Services Directive and make the UK's own policy on licensing matters.

The two questions would be what happens to licence holders that currently use a licence from elsewhere in the EU to broadcast in the UK and what happens to UK licence holders that currently use their UK licence to broadcast in other EU countries.

If the UK left the EU and didn't want to enter into any form of trade agreement with the EU, it's possible that some separate agreement could be made to mutually recognise each other's licences, i.e. to preserve the status quo for broadcasting alone.

Is this another hint that the current Ofcom regime has a more flexible view to the broadcast of censorial material than it did in the Richards era.. The regulator recently took consultations on allowing greater flexibility for broadcasters in presenting "certain content more suitable for adults" pre-watershed - provided it remains accessible only behind a mandatory PIN system: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consult...otections/

It at least confirms that the regulator is willing to adapt it's rules to current technologies and the changing habits of the viewing public.