Burnham: PSB decisions by early '09

Andy Burnham

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The government will announce its decisions on the future of PSB in the new year, culture secretary Andy Burnham has promised.

Ofcom will conclude its PSB review on 4 December and has said it will publish its conclusions in early 2009. There were concerns that there would then be a lengthy delay while the government considered its recommendations, but Burnham said the government would work on a "twin track" approach with Ofcom over the coming months to ensure it could take its decisions "as quickly as possible".

Speaking at the Royal Television Society conference, Burnham said: "The coming weeks are about deciding on solutions. There are no easy options and none without consequences...But there will be changes, with decisions taken as quickly as possible to end the uncertainty and restore our collective belief in television."

The new timeframe will be welcomed by the industry, and Channel 4 in particular, which has been lobbying hard in recent months for the PSB review process to be accelerated.

However, Burnham was unable to guarantee that time for legislation would be set aside when pushed on the issue by C4 chief executive Andy Duncan. Instead, Burnham floated the idea that rather than a full Communications Act, the government could introduce a more focused piece of legislation.

Burnham said: "What I am interested in is the speedy resolution of these questions and then the most effective method of implementation. It's not always the case that a flagship bill is the best way to make the progress we need."

Lack of risk-taking

Earlier in his speech, Burnham chided the industry for mimicing the UGC-style of the internet particularly in news, and for playing it safe with programming.

He said: "I detect a tendency towards safety first and the tried and the tested, and away from innovation, risk-taking and new talent. Where is the successor to Top of the Pops, bringing the family together to discuss new music?

"Isn't there a tendency for safety first in sport? We rely heavily on traditional fare - football and Formula 1 - but have perhaps become less good at covering sport in breadth and depth."

He also ruled out axing the watershed because of the availability of post 9pm-style content on VoD services and on the internet.

"My argument is families value it [the watershed] and know where they are with it. That's critical for TV. Don't chip away at it at the expense of taste and decency."