Dept. for Culture, Media & Sport Culture Secretary renews Channel 3 and 5 licences (6332R)
November 21 2012 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
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RNS Number : 6332R
Dept. for Culture, Media & Sport
21 November 2012
Department for Culture, Media and Sport 21 November 2012
*** News Release ***
Culture Secretary renews Channel 3 and 5 licences
Channels 3 and 5 are to have their licences renewed for another
10 years, Culture Secretary Maria Miller announced today, subject
to negotiations which include the levels of public service
broadcasting.
The decision will give both Channel 3 and 5 the security
required to plan and deliver public service programming and the
confidence to invest in programming. The decision offers
significant value to the creative industries as Channels 3 and 5
invest around GBP800 million a year in original content.
Following the decision by the Culture Secretary, Ofcom will be
asked to start discussions with the licence holders on the cost and
terms of the renewals. The Channel 3 licences are held by ITV in
England, Wales and The Channel Islands, STV in Scotland and UTV in
Northern Ireland while the Channel 5 licence is held by Northern
& Shell.
Culture Secretary Maria Miller said:
"Renewing the licences for Channel 3 and 5 will enable us to
secure a strong and diverse future for public service
broadcasting.
"And in these tough economic times, my decision will give the
current licence holders - multi million pound organisations - the
security they need to grow and invest.
"I intend for the licence renewals to deliver a good deal for
viewers and the UK economy and also create certainty in the market
during these difficult economic times.
"The UK is in a global race, and the TV programmes produced for
3 and 5 are exported around the world. Renewing the licences will
ensure the holders can continue to invest in original UK
content."
After considering advice from Ofcom, the Culture Secretary has
decided the licences should be renewed for the full 10 years. She
has written to the regulator asking it to negotiate the licences,
and highlighted the issues she wants looked at as part of that
process. Those issues are:
-- The need to work with the licence holders to maintain, or
even increase, the current level of public service requirements,
such as the amount of news or original content.
-- Under proposals advanced by ITV, viewers in the south of
Scotland would not receive the same level of programming about
Scotland as those in the northern and central parts of the country.
The Culture Secretary said she wanted to see a way forward that
addressed the concerns of viewers in the Border region.
At the Culture Secretary's request, Northern & Shell has
made a commitment for the first time about investing in programmes
for children on Channel 5. The channel has said it will broadcast
at least 600 hours of UK-originated children's programmes a year
and this would comprise at least half of children's programmes on
the channel.
She also agreed that Ofcom should progress the potential
separation of the Wales and West Channel 3 licence region.
The licences for Channel 3 and 5 expire on 31 December 2014 and
Ofcom are expected to agree and complete the negotiations by then.
However, Mrs Miller is prepared to extend the licences by a year if
the necessary negotiations are not completed in time.
Notes to Editors
1. The Secretary of State can instruct Ofcom to renew the
licences for a full 10 years, extend for a limited period or
auction the licences. Ofcom are required to produce a report to the
Secretary of State under section 229 of the Communications Act
2003. In the report, Ofcom give their opinion on whether the
existing licence holders will be able to contribute, at a
commercially sustainable cost, to the fulfilment of the public
service broadcasting purposes in the 10 years from 2015. The report
is available here
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/tv/c3-c5-licensing
2. The letter from the Culture Secretary to Ofcom detailing her decision is available at http://www.culture.gov.uk/publications/9535.aspx.
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Out of hours telephone pager no: 07699 751153
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