The government has dismissed a call for emergency
legislation to help television companies struggling
with the global downturn in advertising.
The Department of Media Culture and Sport (DCMS)
said that relaxing rules piecemeal on media
ownership, which could lead to the creation
of a single ITV company, was neither practical
nor desirable.
The rebuff followed an appeal for greater flexibility
in the industry by Sir Robin Biggam, chairman
of the commercial broadcasting watchdog, the
Independent Television Commission.
Speaking in Edinburgh, Sir Robin said "hopelessly
outdated" broadcasting legislation was hurting
companies caught between increased competition
from cable and satellite and dwindling revenues.
Although the government's draft communications
bill could ultimately allow ITV's big two, Granada
and Carlton, to merge, it will not become law
until at least 2003. This was too late given
the current climate, Sir Robin warned.
Potentially Damaging
His plea for reform was backed by the opposition.
Tim Yeo, the shadow culture minister, said
the government was being inflexible: "A two-year
wait for change could be extremely damaging
for the industry."
Nick Harvey, broadcasting spokesman for the
Liberal Democrats, said he could see no objection
in principle to more mergers within the ITV
network.
Callum Spreng, corporate affairs director of
SMG, which owns Scottish Television, Grampian
Television, and The Herald newspaper, said:
"We have long argued that media ownership rules
in the UK need to be relaxed so that media companies
can achieve scale, because that brings with
it the ability to invest in new content and
products."
However a spokeswoman for the DCMS said media
ownership rules had to be carefully crafted
to endure, with legislation expected in 2003.
"It is neither practical nor desirable to deal
with this issue in a piecemeal fashion," she
said.
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