Ofcom: BBC Trust should become independent

In a wide-ranging response to the Government's Green Paper on the BBC's Royal Charter, communications regulator Ofcom has made a number of recommendations for the future of public service broadcasting during and after digital switchover.

Ofcom said that it was "essential" for the BBC not to be the only public service broadcaster in the post-analogue TV marketplace.

"If the BBC were to become the UK’s sole public service provider," Ofcom reasoned, "there is a risk that audience tastes would be conditioned by the commercial majority rather than the public service minority; and that producers, writers, editors and other talent would be heavily conditioned by the needs of the commercial sector alone."

Such a situation would, Ofcom speculated, "leave the BBC vulnerable to a decline in market share and loss of viewer, industry and political support."

Ofcom outlined three ways that such a circumstance could be avoided. It recommended to the government that pilot schemes for new methods of financing be carried out; that a review of public service funding take place by 2010; and that various reviews including options for local TV, the "Public Service Publisher" proposals, and Channel 4's future role be taken forward.

It added that in a post-analogue marketplace with multiple public service broadcasters, the BBC Trust should "evolve" into an independent entity with responsibilities beyond monitoring the BBC.