By: Russ
Anthony Lilley — the 2020 media landscape…
As part of his lecture series here in Oxford Anthony Lilley is seeking questions on this topic:
‘I’m looking for contributions on what the 20 most important questions are right now if the media landscape of 2020 is going to be fit for purpose.’
I’ve got one:
Given our seemingly unstoppable and unquenchable desire to amuse and express ourselves, share knowledge and news, and advocate, why should we worry the 2020 landscape won’t be fit for purpose? Isn’t the only likely problem that the delivery and other technical facilities will be inadequate in some respects? I guess this is a way of asking: shouldn’t the government get the focus off content and really focus on delivery (broadband, spectrum, ending state-granted privileges)? There is much uncertainty about what types of content society will want or need in 2020, but we can probably say with some certainty that today’s technical platforms will be insufficient.
Next lecture: 29 Jan 07; 17:30; Green College, Oxford.
Jan 25th 2008
I have read with interest an article in the FT, which complains about poor old BSkyB being held back by Ofcom from launching a Picnic service on Freeview. Clearly a very one-sided article and makes no mention of the breaches of regulation that BSkyB are so clearly guilty of.
While claiming to operate a Open Platform on DTH to the OFT BSkyB then claims in the Rapture Competition Commission Appeals Tribunal that the Sky Platform controls access to 8.5 million homes. This is strange since the regulations are clearly set up to prevent such control.
Ofcom may be many things but meddling isn’t one of them perhaps slow and lazy in my experience. BSkyB may well be frustrated that it is not getting its own way on the planned launch for ‘Picnic’ but coming from a dominant supplier that is no surprise. Ofcom is at last being forced to start to regulate and that is to be welcomed by all with the exception of BSkyB, as they are of course the subjects of the regulation. PR spin can’t cover up the fact that Sky has dominated the supply of consumer Satellite equipment and has reduced competition in this market, so a proper level of regulation is to be welcomed in my opinion.
James Murdoch will be seen as bad news by the BSkyB shareholders when the losses from the ITV shareholding kick in later this year. Perhaps fathers should hand multi billion businesses to their sons to run? Without them first proving that they have the experience to fulfil the position.
If you want to read the CAT hearing transcript it can be found on the Rapture TV website.
Jan 25th 2008
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