Terrestrial Television (Hansard, 14 February 2003)

§ Mr. Jim Cunningham
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her policy is on whether terrestrial television stations should be protected from ownership by corporations with a substantial stake in the national newspaper market. [97867]

§ Dr. Howells
Our policy is to prevent joint ownership of a substantial share of the newspaper market and a substantial part of Channel 3, the only commercial public service broadcaster that currently has universal access to a mass audience. We believe this would represent an unacceptable concentration of influence.
The Communications Bill is therefore retaining restrictions on newspaper proprietors holding Channel 3 licences. The rules in the Bill are as follows:
No one controlling more than 20 per cent. of the national newspaper market may hold any licence for Channel 3;No one who runs a national newspaper with more than a 20 per cent. share of the total national market share may hold more than a 20 per cent. stake in any Channel 3 company;No Channel 3 licence holder may be a participant with more than a 20 per cent. interest in a body which runs a national newspaper controlling 20 per cent. of the national market;A company in which such a newspaper proprietor holds more than a 20 per cent. share cannot itself hold more than a 20 per cent. share in such a service.63W
There is also a parallel local rule so that:
No one may own a Channel 3 licence if he runs local newspapers which together have more than 20 per cent. of the local market share in the coverage area of the service.
We believe that these new rules will allow more freedoms for Channel 3 whilst at the same time safeguarding against substantial joint ownership of the newspaper market and Channel 3. We believe that there are less grounds for concern about the cross-ownership of Channel 5 by a large newspaper group, as it has a relatively small audience, does not reach the whole UK population and has fewer public service commitments than ITV. Were the nature of the service to change, however, and its audience share increase under new ownership, it will be possible to alter the public service obligations of the Channel 5 licence, and to introduce a nominated news provider system.

§ Mr. Jim Cunningham
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her Department is doing to encourage a pluralistic media culture, with particular reference to terrestrial television channels. [97868]

§ Dr. Howells
The Communications Bill ensures that rules will be retained to safeguard democratic debate at national, regional and local level. In particular, there will be limits on the joint-ownership of newspapers and ITV. Newspapers are the most editorially influential mass medium, and television is people's most trusted source of information. Joint-ownership of a substantial share of the newspaper market and a substantial part of Channel 3, the only commercial public service broadcaster that currently has universal access to a mass audience, would represent an unacceptable concentration of influence. Therefore, no one owning a regional Channel 3 licence may own more than 20 per cent. of the local/regional newspaper market in the same region.
We believe that there are less grounds for concern about the cross-ownership of Channel 5 by a large newspaper group, as it has a relatively small audience, does not reach the whole UK population and has fewer public service commitments than ITV. Were the nature of the service to change, however, and its audience share increase under new ownership, it will be possible to alter the public service obligations of the Channel 5 licence, and to introduce a nominated news provider system.
The existence of the BBC and Channel 4 will ensure that there are at least three separately controlled free-to-air public service TV broadcasters, in addition to the expanding range of digital channels.
There will also be a scheme to protect the range of voices that exist in the local media. Newspaper and television owners will be subject to local ownership rules that will ensure the existence of at least three local or regional commercial media voices (in TV, radio and newspapers) in most areas.