Tech notes

Feb 1 2007 By Herb Kim, The Journal

Since the early days of the BBC, the UK has enjoyed a strong tradition of public service broadcasting (PSB) - that is, broadcasting intended for the public benefit rather than for purely commercial concerns.

But the advent of the digital age has raised many questions about the future of PSB in our country. Audiences, especially younger ones, simply aren't watching television in the numbers they used to. TV is no longer the medium of choice for these people: instead it's the internet or the mobile phone. So how do you reach them?

The time has clearly come for a change. An evolution. And it looks as though it just might happen…

Last week, Ofcom announced its latest plans to create a new provider of public service content - a public service provider (PSP) with `its centre of gravity in digital media and with a remit specifically designed for new forms of content provision'.

From the perspective of the North-East's digital business community, and from my own personal viewpoint, the announcement about this proposed organisation was welcome but raised questions about how it would operate.

Current public service broadcasters, still primarily focused on TV and radio, are missing the emerging opportunities of the internet.

In fact, you could argue there are already numerous examples of embryonic services which could constitute part of what a PSP might deliver - from social networking sites like MySpace to video sharing and editing platforms, such as YouTube and Videojuicer. With these services already emerging organically, a key challenge for the PSP will be how it operates without distorting the market - an accusation often levelled at the BBC by private sector new media firms.

I believe the market would fear the creation of a ivory tower (even if based outside of London) that adopted an institutionalised approach to public service publishing.

Perhaps key to allaying this fear will be the way the PSP commissions content and services. And maybe the term `commissions', which implies a single organisation (or even person) selecting and filtering content, is becoming redundant in the new media world, where consumers can become commissioners themselves and filter and select their own content.

We're already seeing early forms of organised consumer feedback helping to drive production/commissioning decisions. The recent cult movie hit, Snakes on a Plane, was greatly influenced by internet-based feedback and enthusiasm… for better or worse!

I hope the PSP will adopt a new radical approach to the challenge of commissioning - perhaps by developing a network of consumers representing the wider community, rather than appointing its own public servants to carry out the task.

This would give it distinctiveness from public service broadcasters… as well as giving taxpayers a much greater sense of ownership and inclusion.

Herb Kim is the chief executive officer of Codeworks, the North-East's centre of digital excellence.