15/12/2008

The former chair of the owners of stv has added his voice to a campaign by the company against a single, channel 3 licence operating for the whole of the UK.

Gus Macdonald - now Rt Hon Lord Macdonald of Tradeston - was addressing the House of Lords on the public service broadcasting review being conducted by broadcasting regulators, Ofcom. One proposal being considered is that there is a single ITV for the whole of the UK.

Already, stv group plc have secured the backing of the Scottish Parliament.

While most of the ITV network is owned by ITV plc, stv group plc, UTV and Channel TV are not. And stv say there are good reasons why they should remain independent when its licence comes up for grabs in 2014.

Ofcom has indicated that a single Channel 3 licence is an option for the future, and ITV plc has indicated it supports the idea.

Earlier this month, stv group plc chief executive, Rob Woodward, told allmediascotland.com: “The stakes are very high. We absolutely refute that the needs of Scotland would be best served by a single, branded ITV.”

Said Macdonald, who was chair of stv group plc when it was known as Scottish Media Group: “I would ask Ofcom and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to be prepared to question ITV plc’s demand for a single ITV brand covering all the UK. The interests of viewers in  Scotland might well require dedicated programming and opt-outs from the network schedule.

“That means that it needs the freedom to flex its schedules, which is particularly relevant to stv’s ability to offer a robust alternative option to the news and current affairs output of BBC Scotland. A nation such as Scotland should not be reduced to reliance on a single broadcaster for the television reporting of its national and local issues, particularly with political impartiality being such a sensitive matter.”

Macdonald, who was speaking at the end of last week, also appealed for stv to be designated an ‘independent TV producer’ to allow it to bid for commissions from the BBC and Channel 4.

“Redesignation as an independent producer would encourage the assembly of a critical mass of creative talent in Glasgow which might compete on even terms with the rest of the independent production sector based largely in London.”

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