A new report has recommended retransmission fees should be paid by UK pay-TV platforms to public service broadcasters.
The Future for Public Service Television Inquiry, chaired by Lord Puttnam, and coordinated by researchers at Goldsmiths says such a move would address the current undervaluation of public service content by Sky and Virgin Media.
Broadcasters including the BBC and ITV argue that they produce the greatest about of UK original content, but Sky has historically countered by saying they pay nothing for the valuable EPG positions occupied at the top of the guide.
Puttnam believes it’s time for a new examination of ITV’s role as a PSB and that which its commitment to public service television is boosted in return for meaningful protection on EPG and on-demand prominence for the foreseeable future and action from the government to allow ITV to charge some kind of retransmission fees.
The prominence currently given to ITV and its regional services might also be extended to its other non-PSB channels.
