ITV, Five reject cash handout for PSB

ITV and Five have said they do not want to be given cash handouts in return for retaining their public service broadcasting commitments.

Both companies have so far been relatively quiet, compared to the BBC and Channel 4, on their view of the future of public service broadcasting.

Representatives of both, speaking at a policy forum on PSB yesterday, stressed the urgency of their situations, with declining audience shares and advertising revenues.

However, ITV and Five said they were against "top slicing" TV licence proceeds from the BBC.

"We do not want a handout," said Magnus Brooke, ITV's director of regulatory affairs. "We are a commercial organisation primarily and we are not looking for our old model to be propped up."

Carolyn Fairbairn, the broadcaster's director of development and strategy, added: "The idea that ITV could move onto a purely commercial footing at some point in the future is very attractive... We are not asking for money, we are asking for more flexibility."

If privatised, ITV may continue to provide content with public service benefits such as news and original British shows, she said, though such provision would no longer be guaranteed and may disappear in time.

However, Fairbairn suggested ITV could make commitments in return for other, indirect, forms of public support: "What we would really welcome is a debate around what that contribution could be."

For Five, Sue Robertson, director of corporate affairs, said unlike the other public service broadcasters it was created in a "multichannel world".

"We believe we can continue and we are not asking for extra funding or top-sliced money," she said. "My plan would be for Ofcom and the Government to build on the existence of free to air channels rather than try to rebuild a new system."

Robertson said that if Five lost its status as a PSB entirely - and whatever benefits this may bring in the future - there would be an "erosion" in its commitment to original UK shows and its news would become more "off the shelf".

Several possible methods of supporting the PSBs in the future were raised at the Westminster Media Forum event. They included gifted digital terrestrial spectrum; the right to retain their prominent positions in electronic programme guides; allowing more advertising; and drawing funds from a levy on other parts of the industry.

The discussion event was held to promote debate on Ofcom's ongoing review of public service broadcasting.