Legal background
- The principal pieces of existing legislation that are relevant to the public service broadcasting provisions in this Act, and which are amended by provisions in this Act, are:
- Part 1 of the Broadcasting Act 1990 ("BA 1990"), which primarily contains provisions on the licensing of non-BBC TV services;
- The Broadcasting Act 1996 ("BA 1996"), which primarily contains provisions on licensing digital terrestrial TV services; and
- The Communications Act 2003 ("CA 2003"), which contains further provisions relating to television services in Part 3 of that Act, and provisions relating to on-demand services in Part 4A of that Act.
- There are different legal and regulatory frameworks for broadcast television and television on-demand.
- Broadcast television (also known as "linear" or "live" television) means programmes which are transmitted by a signal (whether by airwaves, satellite or an electronic communications network such as the internet) from one point (the broadcaster) to many indeterminate points (the viewers) who watch the same images at the same time as they are transmitted.
- In terms of the broadcast television services which are licensable (see section 211 of the CA 2003), the legislation provides that such services must be "provided with a view to its availability for reception by members of the public". The term "reception" is used in the CA 2003, the BA 1990, and the BA 1996 to denote some type of transmission of a signal.
- The phrase "available for reception by members of the public" is further defined in section 361 CA 2003 to include subscription services (section 361(1)) but not on-demand services (section 361(2)). The viewer has no choice when to watch them; the broadcaster "pushes" out the programmes to the viewer at a given time. Broadcast television encompasses analogue and digital television and streaming over the internet.
- In contrast, on-demand programme services (also known as "non-linear television") are not transmitted as described above, but are services generally accessed by means of the internet (whether before or after the user has selected the programmes to view), which enable the viewer to "pull" the programme at a time of the user’s choosing from a catalogue of programmes selected by a media service provider (see section 368A(2) CA 2003; e.g. BBC iPlayer).
- The Office of Communications ("OFCOM") is the independent regulator in the UK for broadcast and on-demand television. OFCOM was established by the Office of Communications Act 2002 but received its full authority from the CA 2003 (see Part 1).
- Under section 368B CA 2003, OFCOM is responsible for the regulation of on-demand television in the UK, although only in certain circumstances for S4C.
