Public Service Broadcasting: Ownership, Funding and Provision

Abstract

The British broadcasting system is heavily influenced by public service broadcasting (PSB) concepts and regulation. The debate over PSB has raged for decades and has to varying degrees been based on the proposition that there are myriad market failures in the provision of broadcast television programmes. The paper critically assesses these historically and in the light of developments in analogue and digital transmission of television and audio-visual programmes, the latter on different delivery platforms. The conclusions is that the claim that the structure, scale and scope of PSB can be explained or rationalised in terms of “textbook market failures” such as externalities and merit goods is deeply flawed and unconvincing especially in a digital age where subscription and conditional access systems are widely available. The chapter concludes with some observations on the funding of PSB, and particularly the current license fee, in the light of the UK Government review of the BBC’s Royal Charter in 2016.