Britain’s culture minister gave a glimmer of hope to the country’s recovering media sector today, saying he was willing to radically rethink and redesign the system of regulation. Jeremy Hunt told the Oxford Media Convention in a speech that he would conduct a thorough review before producing a Green Paper by the end of the year that will set the scope for a new Communications Act due in 2015.
“I am prepared to radically rethink the way we do things,” he said. “To take a fresh look at what we regulate, whether we regulate and how we regulate. To consider whether there are areas we might move out of regulation altogether. “This is not about tweaking the current system, but redesigning it - from scratch if necessary - to make it fit for purpose.”
Mr Hunt has already signaled that he would be willing to reduce the laws surrounding cross-media ownership at a local level and also the rules imposed on ITV, the country’s biggest commercial free-to-air broadcaster, and how it charges for advertising.
One of the biggest issues facing the government at the moment is whether to refer to the Competition Commission the proposed bid by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp for the rest of the pay-TV group BSkyB it does not already own. Mr Hunt has said he will make a decision on whether to send the merger for a six-month examination by the end of this month, and said again today that he would not comment on the ongoing process. “We are strictly following due process,” he said. “It would be completely nuts for any secretary of state in my position not to follow due process for a decision that is as much in the public eye as that.”
Mr Hunt also asked media groups to state their interest in contributing towards a local media TV channel, which would sit alongside other public service broadcasters to offer a new voice for local communities.
Hunt asked all potential providers to register their interest by 1 March. “Our goal is to be able to award the relevant licenses by the end of 2012 and for local TV to be up and running soon after,” he said.
(Source: Reuters)
