COULD A FOUR/FIVE MERGER ADDRESS PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING ISSUES?
There’s been a lot more chatter in media circles over the future of public service broadcasters like ITV, Channel 4 and Five. As previously reported, the UK media regulator OfCom is currently reconsidering the ‘public service obligations’ of the terrestrial commercial broadcasters because said broadcasters claim it is increasingly difficult to fund public service programming through advertising and sponsorship. ITV simply want to reduce their public service obligations, while Channel 4 want help with finding new sources of income, to supplement revenue from advertising and sponsorship. One proposal that has been suggested by some for making Channel 4 more commercially sound is for it to merge with rival Channel Five. It wouldn’t be the easiest merger in the world, because Channel 4 is state-owned while Five is in private ownership (it’s owned by Bertelsmann’s RTL Group). But those that advocate the merger do so on the basis that if C4 shunted its mainstream shows onto Five it would cre
