PSB and the rise of internet companies

Ever since the beginning of Public Service Broadcasting in 1955, it has been popular and was designed as a public service to provide information, advice or entertainment without making a profit. In the UK, the BBC is the most prevalent, companies grouped together to form a monopoly which is funded by a license fee.

Although Public Service Broadcasting has been important in the past, with the rise of internet companies such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc, the question is whether Public Service Broadcasting is relevant anymore. In the Ofcom report in 2015, there is a lot of mention about the rise of internet companies and how this will affect / how it has affected Public Service Broadcasting.

Such a good read on Netflix’s rise. Love this description of an executive retreat: “We studied AOL and Blockbuster as cautionary tales. We knew we had to disrupt, including disrupting ourselves, or someone else would do it.” https://t.co/Z0Qs5TSmYy by @sherman4949— Christina Farr (@chrissyfarr) June 13, 2018

“Netflix, if not directly responsible, is at least holding the murder weapon.”

“Netflix and YouTube are able to provide, relative to PSB catch-up-services, and their significant investment in technology and the user experience, it may be increasingly difficult for PSB to maintain their current large audiences” (Ofcom 2015)

This is referenced in particular to the younger generation, with the rise of internet companies and social media becoming a new way for audiences to gather the news the need for Public Service Broadcasting may decrease. It has been found that there are more subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon and NOW TV than to traditional ‘pay’ TV services. (Ofcom 2018) This means PSB may have to look at other ways of keeping audiences especially the younger generation. However, throughout the report, it still indicates that “Importance and satisfaction is increasing” (Ofcom 2015) and that the need for PSB is still very much alive.

However, it does seem that there has been a decline in children’s TV, drama and comedy, but an increase and continued investment in the news. PSB are aware that ‘News remains the most important genre to PSB audiences’ (Ofcom 2015) It could be indicated that high satisfaction with PSB may be focused on News and not these other areas. The obvious decline in these areas could further indicate the rise of internet companies as the audience may be finding better alternatives elsewhere but are still wanting to keep updated with the news in traditional ways.

It has also been proven that there is a current lack of diversity in PSB and that PSB does not portray society as a whole. For example ‘over half (55%) of people from black ethnic groups (such as African or Caribbean) felt underrepresented and a similar proportion felt that they were negatively portrayed’(Ofcom 2015)Even though similar issues are raised with others, not only ethnic groups but also LGBTQ and religious groups, the report states that this needs to be ‘monitored’, they create no plan to help the lack of representation in PSB. This could be due to an unrepresentative media workforce, or a lack of investment in diversity. This comes full circle to PSB investing more in news and less in other areas due to the lack of attention these other areas are currently receiving.

Bibliography:

(Online) Ofcom (2015) Public Service Broadcasting in the Internet Age p 17-18, accessed on 31st March 2019 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/81069/psb_annual_report_summary.pdf

(Online) Ofcom (2017-2018) News Consumption in the UK: 2018: Jigsaw Research https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/116529/news-consumption-2018.pdf accessed on 24th March 2019