I finally got a hardbound copy of Ofcom’s recent publication, The Price of Plurality. Reading through it — and also having a chance to see BSkyB’s consultation response — made me think a bit about where Ofcom stands in all of this. Here are some random thoughts:

* You can tell that Sky has really stopped attempting to deal with Ofcom on point-for-point matters contained in the PSB Review. Sky’s response is more of an essay than anything else. I really enjoyed reading it. It seems more like a debate when people take Ofcom to task for an overall view than attempting to rebut minor points.

Sky’s overall point is that Ofcom are living on another planet and seem to have missed the golden age of media abundance that surrounds us.

* I was reading through Annex 6 of the PSB Review and came across this little nugget. Ofcom say:

‘Do as I say, not as I do: this axiom applies to the discrepancies between TV opinions and habits just as it applies across a range of activities in life. What we know we want and need in theory is not necessarily what we consume or do. Such a split between thoughts and behaviour is no less or more wrong than in other areas: actual viewing behaviour does not prove that viewers can’t be trusted in terms of their views about what’s important to provide.’

Now that’s a classic! I can imagine the head marketing director for Costa Coffee saying ‘Just because people are buying more Starbucks than our product in head-to-head competitions doesn’t mean they actually like it more… in fact, our deliberative research shows Costa Coffee is valued most highly!’

‘Asking people how they feel about coffee is a much more reliable indicator than their buying habits…’

Yeah, people value PSB, value UK origination, value the BBC, etc. However all of that is loosely defined. But Ofcom’s own research shows the obvious trend. The digital world probably means that public funding of big, state-owned institutions will be an error-plagued process:

* So, I am not sure why we would agree with what Ofcom call an axiom about human behaviour. Ofcom make loads of claims in the PSB Review based on asking people questions. Sometimes the answers defy ordinary experience:

Willing to pay more for state-owned broadcasters’ programmes? Yes!

Want fewer breezy and/or stylish U.S. television imports? Yes!

Want to actually raise your children instead of parking them in front of cartoons? Yes!

After commuting and working all day, do you want to be intellectually challenged by television? Yes!

* I think Ofcom have the right intentions and actually want to improve television but the PSB review seems headed down a certain path where the regulator — under the guise of giving the public what it wants — will actually devote more public spending towards programmes that people consume less of.

* So there is the audience and the public. The audience is this bunch of tramps who throw themselves at US programming, endless repeats of Top Gear and must be chased-down and threatened before they will pay the licence fee. Then there is the public — a noble group of civic-minded types who want more programmes about battery chickens.

Is that what the Comms Act meant by citizens and consumers?