Media Ownership

The Communications Act will simplify the existing system of media ownership rules.  The Act will deregulate where possible in order to promote competition and attract new investment, ideas and skills.  This should lead to increased efficiency and productivity, providing better services to viewers and listeners.

The aim is to retain a balance of different media viewpoints (a 'plurality' of debating voices) in society, and specific limits on the ownership of media assets (over and above competition law thresholds) are the best way to achieve this balance whilst providing the transparency and predictability that minimises costs on business.  We will therefore keep those key media ownership rules that act as safeguards of democratic debate, at national, regional and local level.

Changes to the ownership rules:

The Communication Act will:

• remove the disqualifications on ownership of Broadcasting Act licences by non-EEA persons and removes some but not all of the current disqualifications in respect of religious bodies
• lift the ban on local authorities holding licences so as to allow them to broadcast information about their services or the services of bodies with similar functions

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Within individual media markets

• Repeal the two rules which prevent the joint ownership of Channel 3. These are the rules that limit ITV licence holders to no more than 15% of the TV audience, and which prevent the same company from holding the two London licences. The way will be clear for a single ITV, subject to the competition authorities being satisfied that a merger would not be anti-competitive
• Remove all ownership rules for Channel 5, which could now attract investment from any company
• TV - existence of BBC and C4 ensures at least three separate free-to-air broadcasters, plus other platforms
• Local radio ownership rules should ensure that wherever there is a well-developed choice of radio services there will be at least two separate owners of local commercial radio services, in addition to the BBC
• No one will be allowed to own more than one local digital multiplex in any area (most areas will only have one or two). This rule is currently under review
• Remove the Channel 3 nominated news provider system and most of the ownership rules for the Channel 3 news provider, while maintaining the quality obligations
• Power for the Secretary of State to introduce an appointed news provider system for Channel 5, if that channel's share of the audience for television broadcasting services is broadly equivalent to that of the services comprising Channel 3

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Cross-media ownership rules

• A national '20%' rule:
  (a) no one controlling more than 20% of the national newspaper market may hold any licence for Ch 3
  (b) no one controlling more than 20% of the national newspaper market may hold more than a 20% stake in any Ch 3 service
  (c) a company may not own more than a 20% share in such a service if more than 20% of its stock is in turn owned by a national newspaper proprietor with more than 20% of the market
• A parallel, regional '20%' rule: no one owning a regional Channel 3 licence may own more than 20% of the local/regional newspaper market in the same region.
• Rules on local radio ownership will ensure there are at least three local/regional commercial media voices (in TV, radio and newspapers) in addition to the BBC in developed markets.

Media Public Interest Considerations

• Introduce public interest tests which will allow the Secretary of State to intervene in media mergers which raise public interest considerations

Review

OFCOM will be required to review all media ownership rules at least every three years.  They will make any recommendations for further reform to the Secretary of State, who will be able to amend or remove rules by secondary legislation.

Content regulation will ensure the quality, impartiality and diversity of broadcast programming.

Competition law will tend to encourage dispersed ownership and new entry.

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