BBC chair calls for overhaul of UK broadcasting rules

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The UK’s rules on public sector broadcasting need a radical overhaul to help British programming fight for viewers against US streaming giants, according to BBC chair Samir Shah.

In a speech on Tuesday, Shah will call on the UK government to “regulate for growth” and say that “the fight is on” to protect homegrown programming produced by the BBC, Channel 4, ITV and Channel 5.

Shah, a former TV production executive appointed BBC chair in March, wants the “outdated” regulatory regime improved so that public service broadcasters (PSBs) can act with “greater agility, flexibility, and pace”.

BBC executives have privately said they are frustrated, for example, by the time it has taken to gain approval for new digital radio stations while commercial rivals have been able to launch new services more rapidly.

The broadcaster, which is funded by the public and is Britain’s biggest, is typically scrutinised more extensively by Ofcom than smaller commercial rivals because its size and clout can distort the UK media market.

All UK PSBs have quotas to produce a certain proportion of programmes outside London, are governed by content rules over areas such as news output and have a requirement to appeal to and be accessible by everyone.

“Action is needed now to future-proof public service broadcasters, otherwise our very British success story will be part of our halcyon past,” Shah will say.

UK PSBs such as the BBC, Channel 4, ITV and Channel 5 are fighting for relevance in a global TV market that is moving online and is increasingly dominated by the streamers such as Netflix and Amazon. 

While tech companies command huge budgets and large global audiences, the BBC is facing funding constraints after a freeze in the licence fee that pays for its programming over the past two years. 

ITV and Channel 4, which are funded by advertising, have been hit by the downturn in the TV advertising market at a time when all broadcasters are facing the need to invest in digital platforms to follow audiences online.

The UK’s media regulation regime is already facing pressure from privately owned broadcasters such as GB News, which is already pushing boundaries over what is allowed within the impartiality rules governing broadcasting.

Shah’s speech at the Leeds Conservatoire comes after UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer insisted last month his Labour government would “[get] rid of regulation that needlessly holds back investment”.

The BBC chair, appointed under the previous Conservative government, will also point to media legislation passed before the election this summer that is intended to secure prominent positions for UK public sector broadcasters on online TV platforms like smart TVs and streaming sticks.

He will call on the government and Ofcom to quickly enforce the Media Act to ensure homegrown broadcasters are prioritised on digital platforms.

Shah will call on regulators and ministers to help make sure international streamers are investing in the UK creative industries.

The BBC chair will call on other PSBs to work together “to press our legislators and regulators to take action on these fronts . . . to invert the cliché: let us act fast, so that we don’t repent at leisure”.