Letters: 5 Sept, 08

Peter Fincham

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Letters to Broadcast.

First and foremost, it's entertainment
Are we against popular entertainment on television? Of course not. 
Did we give great weight to entertaining television in our recent public service broadcasting review? Absolutely - it was mentioned no less than 37 times.
Do we micromanage ITV's schedule like the previous broadcasting regulator did? No.
Does ITV receive a public subsidy? Yes, it has free access to the valuable spectrum for terrestrial broadcasting.
If we had been asked for our response to Peter Fincham's "rousing" Edinburgh festival speech on regulation as part of Broadcast's vox-pop round-up of opinions (29 August) then this is how we would have responded.
Philip Graf
Deputy chairman, Ofcom

BBC local video stays true to its roots
Mark Story may feel that BBC local video is moving into new territory, (Broadcast, 28/08/08) but the facts don't bear this out.
The BBC led the way in online development and has had local websites for more than eight years. Indeed, you will already find BBC video news on our local websites. The BBC does not want to compete with the local commercial sector. This proposal is about extending the range and depth of our local video coverage.
We have already listened carefully and have put in place a number of safeguards to manage negative impact. These include a commitment to exclude content which drives revenue for local media such as listings and jobs.
We've also thought about how the service might help commercial media by proposing that other local video news providers could supplement their content with the BBC's local video.
But it's not our judgement that counts. The BBC Trust is carrying out a rigorous process of scrutiny and evaluation, including two periods of public consultation. In reaching its decision, the Trust will assess the public value created by the proposals.
David Holdsworth
Deputy controller, BBC English regions