The trade body for UK tech and electronics firms says the BBC needs to embrace “more flexibility in how its content is presented” to audiences if it’s to remain relevant and accessible to audiences in a post broadcast world.
Viewers are increasingly shifting away from broadcast platforms in favour of live (also known as IPTV) and on-demand streaming, a move which has opened up debate on the future of the nation’s Digital Terrestrial Television platform, popularly known as Freeview.
That debate is overlapping with the Government’s regular periodic review of the BBC’s Charter – the agreement which sets out how the broadcaster is funded and must operate.
At the same time, Parliament’s Culture Media and Sport Committee is holding its own inquiry into the future of the BBC.
In a submission to that inquiry, techUK notes “there is likely to be a partial or full shift away from DTT to IPTV” during the next Charter period and has called for a rethink in how the BBC approaches the distribution of its content and services.
Since the switch from analogue to digital television, the BBC and other free-to-air broadcasters have been able to set the rules on how their content is delivered and displayed through their shared ownership of the Freeview, Freesat, YouView and Freely platforms.
Ownership of these platforms has allowed them to control the order of streaming apps within menus – with their own services always taking priority over 3rd party ones regardless of popularity – and set the rules for set top makers.
In the case of Freesat this saw the ability of firms to manufacturer compatible boxes curtailed in favour of a box procured in-house which was plagued with long-running performance issues, many of which persisted throughout the box’s life.
However, audiences are increasingly moving away from these broadcaster owned platforms in favour of streaming devices and smart TVs from major brands such as Amazon, Apple and Roku.
Despite this, the broadcasters have proven reluctant to allow third-party platforms and TV makers to deliver their channels over broadband – an ability they’ve largely reserved for Freely.
techUK says its members would “welcome greater collaboration with the BBC” and that embracing third-party platforms could be “a valuable mechanism for reaching audiences who consume media across a wide range of connected devices, operating systems, and content environments.”
It adds: “It is important that BBC services are available across a broad range of devices and platforms on fair and non-discriminatory terms, supporting competition and avoiding fragmentation of audience access.
“This is particularly relevant as the UK transitions toward greater IP-based delivery. From the perspective of device manufacturers, maintaining a level playing field across platforms is essential.
“BBC services should be available to all relevant platforms on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, supported by open technical standards and interoperable delivery mechanisms.”
The body says this should include ensuring that BBC services are offered to TV and set top box makers “on terms no less favourable than those offered to Freely” which would “ensure audiences can access publicly funded services consistently across devices, support fair competition, and avoid fragmentation of access.”
It also comments: “It is essential that audiences can access and discover BBC services easily and consistently in a range of formats across devices and platforms, rather than a default assumption that all access to BBC content should be through the BBC iPlayer or Freely.”