Recommendation 22

The findings of the Competition Commission in 2009 are now outdated, given the rate at which the market has changed and the dominance of global streaming services, and PSBs should be allowed to collaborate so that they have a better chance of competing in the now crowded video on demand market. Whilst we hope that prominence legislation will be extended to online platforms within the next 18 months, the Government’s track record on addressing issues within the media ecology does not fill us with confidence so PSBs should be taking steps to maximise their own bargaining power, and attract audiences, in this digital age. Rather than waiting for the Government to help them, we recommend that PSBs help themselves by exploring options for collaboration on a single video on demand platform, and Ofcom should support PSBs in this endeavour. We call on the competition policy authorities to make clear that, given the evolution of the broadcasting landscape, there is no automatic objection to such collaboration on market dominance grounds. (Paragraph 101) Diversity and representation