§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will require the Independent Broadcasting Authority to ensure compatibility in dish receivers and television sets between contractors granted licences for direct broadcasting by satellite; and what other measures he has in mind to promote standardisation in these areas.
§ Mr. Giles ShawThe IBA will be the broadcaster of the services and will therefore be responsible for control of the transmissions in accordance with the terms of the world broadcasting-satellite administrative radio conference of 1977. Other matters such as hardware compatibility will not be the responsibility of the IBA. It is, however, envisaged that all three channels will be broadcast on the same transmission standard. It will be in the interests of the television set and antennae manufacturing industries to reach common standards in order to secure a wide market for their products and we believe that this will be achieved through the normal channels of cooperation within the industries.
§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has had any proposals from the British Broadcasting Corporation for direct broadcasting by satellite; what is his assessment of the implications for the British Broadcasting Corporation of his announcement on 21 February about direct broadcasting by satellite and the Independent Broadcasting Authority; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MellorIn 1982 the Government approved plans for the British Broadcasting Corporation to provide direct broadcasting by satellite service on two of the five channels allocated to the United Kingdom under international agreement. Later it became clear that the cost and risk of such a project were too high to be borne by the BBC alone, and in May 1984 the Government approved arrangements for the BBC to take a 50 per cent. share in a wider consortium which included the independent television companies and other companies in the electronics and entertainment field, with a view to providing three DBS channels under the terms of sections 42 to 44 of the Cable and Broadcasting Act 1984. In June46W 1985 the consortium concluded that the proposed arrangements would not create a viable commercial proposition and the project was abandoned.
If the IBA proposals prove successful, the new service is unlikely to become operational in less than three to four years. Since consumers will need to buy or rent additional equipment in order to receive the service, the audience is expected to build up only gradually. We do not, therefore, expect the service to make an impact on the existing pattern of broadcasting for some years. When the new service has been operational for at least three years, we shall consider the assignment of the two remaining channels which are available to the United Kingdom, and in doing so, we shall, of course, take account of the views of the BBC.