UK media expert says 'clear, transparent process important in TV licence contest

Banatvala, who has more than 20 years of experience in the media industry, said there was a very big difference between a publicly owned and government-owned TV station. The government will run the TV station according to its own views but a public organisation will have independence to run a station. 

However, the format of the UK’s public service broadcasters is quite different from what Thailand will soon have when the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) grants digital public TV licences. 

“In my country, we have four public TV broadcasters including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.”

For the British Broadcasting Corporation, the main national station, everyone who owns a television set has to pay about US$200 as a licence fee to watch its programmes. The BBC also has other TV and radio stations. They all use the fee income to operate. The station produces news, current affairs programmes, documentaries and dramas.

Next is ITV (Independent Television). This station is not publicly owned but run by a private company traded on the stock market. It also has a regional broadcasting office.

Unlike both public TV stations, Channel 4 is publicly owned and privately run for minority, art and specific groups. It runs commercially and can have sponsors to make money to buy content. 

Launched in the early 1980s, Channel 4 does not make its own programmes, but mainly buys titles from independent producers. 

Channel 5 is the smallest production company. Its website describes the station as a public broadcaster working with independent production houses. 

The UK recently introduced local TV stations in big cities like Birmingham, Cambridge, Edinburgh and London where frequencies were available. 

As there are already enough national public TV channels for now, OfCom has prepared a certain number of licences for local TV channels. It will invite interested companies and then it will have its committee evaluate their offerings against the criteria set by the committee. 

For instance, OfCom will consider how much local content they might have and how many neutral variety shows, dramas or other kinds of programmes they want to offer. Every decision throughout the process will be published for the public. OfCom will also explain why a licence was given to each eligible entity. 

“A clear and transparent process is very important,” he said. 

There is public participation in the licensing process. Public consultation is also needed for cases such as licence renewal or rollover. The watchdog needs to go to the public for their response. For instance, if the regulator wants to raise the proportion of news or reduce regional programming at a public broadcasting service, it has to offer a proposal to the public.

Therefore, public consultation is also very important, he said. 

Some Thai civil groups and academics have kept expressing their concern that all public TV licences might be awarded to state agencies and that would allow them to spend the national budget on their own TV channel inefficiently and without transparency.

They are also worried that the “beauty contest” regulations that the NBTC is now drafting would fail to select broadcasters that genuinely reflect the public interest.