adamedia

broadcasting-act-1996.doc (Word version – easier for printing)

Broadcasting Act 1996  What was the aim of the Act?To assist the emergence of British commercial broadcasters big enough to hold their own in the international market.Basically, the Act was a response to the emergence of digital media. What did the Act do? 

• established the framework for the licensing of digital television and radio stations, providing for 6 digital terrestrial television multiplexes (a group of frequencies) and 7 for radio.
• companies no longer restricted to major shareholdings in just two ITV licences but subject to the more flexible limit of a 15% share of the total audience.
• allowed most newspaper groups (with less than a 20% share of the national market) to expand into terrestrial television
• relaxed rules on cross-media ownership which had already been eased in 1993 to enable the ITV companies to compete with the growing strength of BSkyB.
• no real changes to the regulatory framework. It did however merge the Broadcasting Standards Council (BSC) with the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BSC) to form the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC)

What is Cross-media ownership?the ownership by a company or organisation of more than one type of medium, ie, owning newspapers, television, radio etc.Advantages:-         economies of scale-         ability to exploit the same content across a range of media-         ability to stay competitive in an increasingly global marketDisadvantages to the consumer:-         lack of diversity, either cultural or ideological-         anti-competitive pricing policies-         decreased choice within an individual medium and between different media, as content is carefully controlled and re-used.