Recommendation 1

The Government is seeking to simplify the public service remit; however, removing the requirement to provide specific genres of content goes beyond mere simplification. The removal of origination quotas for UK children’s content for commercial Public Service Broadcasters led to significant reductions in the production of original children’s TV, and we are concerned that the draft Media Bill’s removal of the specific reference to other genres will lead to similar reductions in content, particularly in the less commercially successful areas. We recommend that the Government retains obligations on Public Service Broadcasters to provide specific genres of content.