Today’s Mediaweek has two pieces on Ofcom, mostly praising the regulator for such an effective first year. I’ll post my thoughts later in the year.

Ian Quinn’s article approaches Ofcom from an industry reputation perspective and a perspective of key issues (e.g., alcohol advertising). Maybe that’s appropriate, but I always like to think of Luke’s observation about the first perspective that is lost in regulatory debates: The viewer - citizen - consumer. Has Ofcom’s first year affected those third-party ‘beneficiaries’ to regulation that all of us tend to ignore? On that count, it’s probably too soon to say.

Another observation: Mediaweek really doesn’t mention the IP-TV regulatory challenge that OfcomWatch tends to focus on. So, even if you buy Ian Quinn’s premise that Ofcom is making its presence felt, it remains a fairly static analysis. Although, I suppose I shouldn’t be so critical because the ostensible purpose of the article is to focus on 2004, not the years ahead.

Stay tuned…