UNITED KINGDOM
UK television network Channel 4 fears that public broadcasters are being lost amid “the rise of smart TV interfaces, streaming sticks and other ways of watching TV”.
Chief Executive of the network, Alex Mahon (pictured) said broadcasting was “sleepwalking into a position where public service content is no longer prominent”.
Current laws make it obligatory for electronic guides to give “appropriate prominence” to the likes of the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.
The broadcasters receive prominence in exchange for delivering programming such as news and current affairs and shows produced in the regions.
“Government, regulators and policymakers have not adapted to the pace of technological change that is fundamentally changing viewing behaviour,” Ms Mahon said.
“Battles that were hard fought and hard won are now quietly being undone.”
She said as the world shifted to on-demand content through smart TVs and streaming sticks, prominence was no longer secured by regulation.
Ms Mahon told the Media and Telecoms Conference: “This has a direct impact on viewers’ ability to access the well-regulated, trustworthy, impartial programming that has defined British television for decades.”
“If you think of the damage that fake news has already done, I think we should all find that deeply concerning.”
She said public service television matters.
London, 11 March 2019
