(15-02-2016 20:45 )steviebaby Wrote: It also struck me that as there are fewer channels these days and competition isn't as fierce, maybe the channels have come to an agreement not to grass each other's transgressions to OFCOM?
Shortly before Bangbabes went kaput legend has it that their boss told Ofcom basically where to stick it and called on all the other operator execs to step out of the general meeting they were having and sort the content levels out "amongst themselves." Whether that is true I have no idea, but it speaks to the somewhat nasty struggle for market share that was going on at that time and the very possible (tacit or otherwise) informal agreements that could have taken place to set levels and such in order to 'keep everyone happy' with their established piece of the pie.
Personally I feel very few words between the operators were eventually needed. I think the process happened anyway, more organically if you like, over the succeding years. The channels realised there was room for all of the by and large. If they all stuck to the status quo there would be enough dollar for everyone - girls and behind the scenes personnel (even if it was coming from a diminishing market pool). Provided no-one stepped out of line and no-one new was too agressive in their challanges to that, everyone could get along with Ofcom (now vital to their survival) and each other essentially just doing their own, if actually samey, thing. So the 'dobbing in' to Ofcom slowly died out and everything settled into the current sometimes outwardly frustrating holding pattern. The frigid babe war commenced!
I think there may have been only momentary anxiety from the execs on this score since that time with the launch of an unknown factor, something like Sin say. That threatened the norm for a while; but such operators either fitted in with the rest (like bluebird) or botched their attempt (like Sin).
As such innovation and change comes only very slowly to this industry with all the channels doing much the same things at the same times - with much crossover whispers of direction between operators it would seem.
Advances in technology might be seen as a threat to the now long established pattern if one operator was really keen to invest heavily in serious new ways of interaction. The steps in this direction are coming currently, if quite timidly and with much 'experiment'.
So it does indeed seem at times like the balance of keeping everyone employed quite naturally trumps any serious competion between the current operators. Outside of a new operator bursting on the scene with serious financial backing to grab the tecnology mantel (unlikely in a diminishing market even if there is this relative state of flux going on atm) I can't foresee significant change in that any time soon.