Digital Economy Act 2010

22 Functions of C4C in relation to media content

(1) Before section 199 of the Communications Act 2003 insert—

“198A C4C’s functions in relation to media content

(1) C4C must participate in—

(a) the making of a broad range of relevant media content of high quality that, taken as a whole, appeals to the tastes and interests of a culturally diverse society,

(b) the making of high quality films intended to be shown to the general public at the cinema in the United Kingdom, and

(c) the broadcasting and distribution of such content and films.

(2) C4C must, in particular, participate in—

(a) the making of relevant media content that consists of news and current affairs,

(b) the making of relevant media content that appeals to the tastes and interests of older children and young adults,

(c) the broadcasting or distribution by means of electronic communications networks of feature films that reflect cultural activity in the United Kingdom (including third party films), and

(d) the broadcasting or distribution of relevant media content by means of a range of different types of electronic communications networks.

(3) In performing their duties under subsections (1) and (2) C4C must—

(a) promote measures intended to secure that people are well-informed and motivated to participate in society in a variety of ways, and

(b) contribute towards the fulfilment of the public service objectives (as defined in section 264A).

(4) In performing their duties under subsections (1) to (3) C4C must—

(a) support the development of people with creative talent, in particular—

(i) people at the beginning of their careers in relevant media content or films, and

(ii) people involved in the making of innovative content and films,

(b) support and stimulate well-informed debate on a wide range of issues, including by providing access to information and views from around the world and by challenging established views,

(c) promote alternative views and new perspectives, and

(d) provide access to material that is intended to inspire people to make changes in their lives.

(5) In performing those duties C4C must have regard to the desirability of—

(a) working with cultural organisations,

(b) encouraging innovation in the means by which relevant media content is broadcast or distributed, and

(c) promoting access to and awareness of services provided in digital form.

(6) In this section—

• “participate in” includes invest in or otherwise procure;

• “relevant media content” means material, other than advertisements, which is included in any of the following services that are available to members of the public in all or part of the United Kingdom—

  (a)

  television programme services, additional television services or digital additional television services,

  (b)

  on-demand programme services, or

  (c)

  other services provided by means of the internet where there is a person who exercises editorial control over the material included in the service;

and a film is a “third party film” if C4C did not participate in making it.

(7) The services that are to be taken for the purposes of this section to be available to members of the public include any service which—

(a) is available for reception by members of the public (within the meaning of section 361); or

(b) is available for use by members of the public (within the meaning of section 368R(4)).”

(2) In section 199(2) of that Act (functions of C4C), for “C4C’s primary functions are” substitute “In subsection (1) “primary functions” means—

“(za) the performance of C4C’s duties under section 198A;”

and in the heading for that section, at the beginning insert “Other”.

(3) In Schedule 9 to that Act (arrangements about carrying on C4C’s activities)—

(a) in paragraph 1(1), after paragraph (a) (but before “and”) insert—

“(aa) as soon as practicable after the day on which section 198A comes into force,”,

(b) in paragraph 10, in the definition of “relevant licence period”, after paragraph (a) (but before “and”) insert—

“(aa) in relation to the notification under paragraph 1(1)(aa), the period beginning on the day on which section 198A comes into force and ending on the last day of the first licence period to expire after that day;”, and

(c) in that definition, in paragraph (b), for “any other such notification” substitute “any other notification under paragraph 1”.

(4) Accordingly, in the heading for Part 3 of that Act (television and radio services), at the end insert “ETC”.

(5) In section 24(1) of the Broadcasting Act 1990 (Channel 4 to be provided by C4C), for “The function of the Corporation shall be to” substitute “The Corporation must”.

(6) In paragraph 1 of Schedule 3 to that Act (status and capacity of C4C)—

(a) in sub-paragraph (4)(b), for “primary functions” substitute “Channel 4 functions”, and

(b) after that sub-paragraph insert—

“(5) In sub-paragraph (4) “Channel 4 functions” means—

(a) securing the continued provision of Channel 4, and

(b) the fulfilment of the public service remit for that Channel under section 265 of the Communications Act 2003.”