Broadcasting Act 1990

46 Licensable programme services

(1) In this Part “licensable programme service” means (subject to subsection (2)) a service consisting in the provision by any person of relevant programmes with a view to their being conveyed by means of a telecommunication system—

(a) for reception in two or more dwelling-houses in the United Kingdom otherwise than for the purpose of being received there by persons who have a business interest in receiving them, or

(b) for reception at any place, or for simultaneous reception at two or more places, in the United Kingdom for the purpose of being presented there either to members of the public or to a group or groups of persons some or all of whom do not have a business interest in receiving them,

whether the telecommunication system is run by the person so providing the programmes or by some other person, and whether the programmes are to be so conveyed as mentioned in paragraph (a) for simultaneous reception or for reception at different times in response to requests made by different users of the service.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to—

(a) a service where the programmes are provided for transmission in the course of the provision of a television broadcasting service or a non-domestic satellite service;

(b) a service where the running of the telecommunication system does not require to be licensed under Part II of the [1984 c. 12.] Telecommunications Act 1984; or

(c) a two-way service, that is to say a service of which it is an essential feature that while visual images or sounds (or both) are being conveyed by the person providing the service there will or may be sent from each place of reception, by means of the same telecommunication system or (as the case may be) the part of it by means of which they are conveyed, visual images or sounds (or both) for reception by the person providing the service or other persons receiving it (other than signals sent for the operation or control of the service).

(3) It is hereby declared that the person who does either or both of the following things, that is to say—

(a) uses a telecommunication system for conveying relevant programmes as mentioned in subsection (1), or

(b) runs a telecommunication system which is so used,

is not to be regarded as providing a licensable programme service in respect of any such programmes except to the extent that they are provided by that person with a view to their being so conveyed by means of that system.

(4) It is hereby also declared that where—

(a) any service constitutes such a service as is mentioned in subsection (1), and

(b) the relevant programmes in respect of which the service is provided are provided for transmission in the course of the provision of any additional service,

that service is licensable under section 47 as a licensable programme service, and not otherwise; and in this subsection “additional service” means an additional service within the meaning of this Part or Part III.

(5) In this section “relevant programme” means a television programme other than one consisting wholly or mainly of non-representational images (within the meaning of section 2(6)); and for the purposes of this section a person has a business interest in receiving programmes if he has an interest in receiving them for the purposes of his business, trade, profession or employment.