What is the future of public service broadcasting? Historically, UK broadcasting has been characterised by a high degree of public intervention. But the transition to digital TV and the arrival of high-speed broadband, with its multitude of viewing options, are having a profound impact on the industry. These changes create the possibility of more effective delivery of content but also threaten to erode existing commercial and public broadcaster models and to fragment audiences and funding.
This paper, with a foreword by Gavyn Davies, explores what this changing context will mean for public service broadcasting in the UK some ten years from now. Read more...
As scientific discovery and technology, from vaccines and GM crops to the internet and mobile phones, drive forward our society, policy makers are confronted with the increasingly difficult issue of how to communicate scientific ideas, and the benefits and risks associated with them, to the public. This collection of transcripts highlights the main issues surrounding this debate, as well as making recommendations for improving communication for policy makers, the media, scientists and the public. Read more...
This publication sets out the argument for the introduction of ‘genre’ licences, providing commercial broadcasters with the opportunity to bid for financial support to provide specific public service broadcasting (PSB) programming, specifically news programmes, paid for by ‘top-slicing’ the BBC licence fee. Read more...
In this publication Gavyn Davies argues, from an economic standpoint that the BBC should be retained in its standard form after its Charter renewal of 2006 despite changes in the broadcasting market brought about by digital technology. Read more...