March 20th 2006
By: Russ
John Whittingdale OBE MP, Chairman of the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee, emailed OfcomWatch with his thoughts on the DCMS White Paper related to the BBC Charter Review:
The White Paper contains virtually no change of substance from the Green Paper. On the key issue of governance, the BBC Trust ...
March 17th 2006
By: Luke
Something about radio licencing seems dodgy.
Firstly, there's one being issued every other day - community licences, restricted licences, digital licences, FM licences. You only have to blink and Ofcom seems to have sent out a release telling the world that they have issued another radio licence to someone or ...
March 15th 2006
By: Russ
I still haven't read the entire BBC Charter Review white paper yet. But, I woke up this morning and read most of the press coverage and tried to put it all into perspective. What initially strikes me is the conceptual notion of separation.
In the case of the ...
March 14th 2006
By: Scott
My first impression of the BBC White Paper is that it seems to give the impression of increasing Ofcom's role without really doing so in a meaningful way.
It's role on providing market impact assessments as part of the Public Value Test (PVT) for new services and significant changes to old ...
March 14th 2006
By: Luke
The Government's White Paper on the future of the BBC is a huge missed opportunity for change and innovation say the Conservatives.
Responding to Tessa Jowell's statement in the House of Commons this afternoon, Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Hugo Swire, MP said:
"Across the country and across ...
March 14th 2006
By: Luke
Summary of Key Points from White Paper
The BBC�s purposes
The White Paper confirms six new public purposes for the BBC:
1 Sustaining citizenship and civil society
2 Promoting education and learning
3 Stimulating creativity and cultural excellence � including film
4 Reflecting the UK�s Nations, regions and communities
5 Bringing ...
March 14th 2006
By: Russ
*** UPDATE: White Paper is here (76-page .pdf) ***
Tessa Jowell is on ParliamentLive.TV, announcing the BBC Charter Review White Paper
Some nuggets / my quickly-typed summary:
* BBC needs to be strong to survive, and flexible
* Over 70% of households now have digital TV
* 'unprecedented engagement' with 10,000 citizens shows desire for ...
March 14th 2006
By: Luke
Following on from Rupert Murdoch's widely reported comments to The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers last night, the Liberal Democrat Leader in the House of Lords, Lord (Tom) McNally, will today say:
"Last night Rupert Murdoch said that the technology revolution now underway had the power �to build and ...
March 14th 2006
By: Luke
Today's Financial Times reports that the BBC has been told it will "not get" its desired licence fee settlement of 2.3% a year above inflation over the next 10 years.
The BBC claims that it needs an additional �5.5bn to fund the extra responsibilities put on it by the white paper, ...
March 14th 2006
By: Luke
The Conservatives have hit out at the �300 million stealth tax faced by television licence fee payers under Government plans to be outlined in today's White Paper.
Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Hugo Swire, branded the charge a TV Tax, orchestrated by Gordon Brown to get ...
