ITC publish major new study on television's future

A major new study into the future of television has been published by the ITC in advance of upcoming Parliamentary debates on the Communications Bill.
'Television and Beyond: The Next Ten Years', features 17 expert authors, including Peter Bazalgette, Tony Benn and Chris Smith who present their own personal perspectives on the cultural and economic issues facing the medium in the coming decade and offer their visions for the future.
Launching the study, Patricia Hodgson, ITC Chief Executive, said: "The Communications Bill and the single regulator it creates, OFCOM, will shape the economic, social and cultural potential of the sector in the UK for a generation. It deals with television but, as technologies converge, it does so in the context of communications as a whole."
The book is a guide to what is needed to deliver British television into the digital age and to meet the challenge of combining a deregulated, open and competitive market with the quality of content the citizen deserves. The essays are grouped into three sections. The first offers authoritative views on how markets are likely to develop over the next ten years. In section two, the writers examine public and industry expectations of the new electronic media in terms of quality of output and how well content will inform and support both individuals and civic society as a whole. The third section sets out the high-level policy approaches the authors believe will deliver the investment, quality and accountability necessary for success.
"The opinions in the book are, of course, the authors' own," added Hodgson. "They represent a range of views which are not necessarily those of the ITC but they have informed the ITC's thinking and we are delighted to be able to offer them to a wider audience."
(GB)