Select committee: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Recommendation 12
Twelfth Report - Draft Media Bill: Radio Measures
Published 21 Jul 2023
Paragraph 50
Addressed to Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Pre-legislative scrutiny of the Draft Media Bill All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Government’s approach to on-demand and online-only content appears at odds with market trends. Listeners are increasingly choosing to access content on- demand or listen to online-only stations and there is merit in including these forms of content provision within the scope of the Bill. We agree that the Government should limit the Bill’s protections to Ofcom-regulated stations. However, we consider that it is possible to extend the provisions to these stations’ on-demand and online- only content without extending such protections to non-Ofcom regulated content producers as well. Limiting this provision would ensure that any extension of this legislation would only benefit those stations that abide by Ofcom broadcasting standards. We recommend the Government amend the Bill to include on-demand and online-only content from Ofcom-regulated broadcasters.
From: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Twelfth Report - Draft Media Bill: Radio Measures (HC 1287), paragraph 50, 21 July 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 17 November 2023.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government welcomes the Committee's reports and says it has amended the Bill in response to a number of recommendations, while declining others, including changing the prominence descriptor from "appropriate" to "significant".
- On genres, the Government does not agree that reverting to a list of specific genre requirements is compatible with modernising the remit, but has amended the Bill to refer to an "appropriate range of genres". It accepts the second recommendation, on Ofcom recommending new content categories.
- On prominence, it has "decided not to change from 'appropriate' to 'significant'", citing flexibility across different user interfaces and operability concerns.
- On listed events, it has amended the Bill to allow Ofcom to draw up a list of 'relevant services' to close the streaming loophole. On digital rights, it is "considering this issue" and plans to set out more detail "in due course".
- On video-on-demand, it accepts the recommendation to lay a list of services before Parliament no fewer than 5 sitting days before designation, but continues with its tiered approach.