of how commercial media firms could for the first time gain direct access to £130m-plus of the licence fee to finance local TV news beyond the BBC.
That money will come from the money set aside for digital switchover.
While the BBC expressed its unhappiness, that the report stressed the changes to the commercial market "make a strong, confident and independent BBC more vital than ever" -- but give a helping hand to struggling commercial broadcasters including Channel 4.
Brand Republic editor, Gordon MacMillan, to move ahead with top slicing the BBC licence fee. He says it is a mistake that will only encourage others to borrow from the licence in the future.
Equally controversial is likely to be the government's plan to invest £200m for blanket broadband access.
the investment to provide 2Mb per second broadband internet access to everyone by 2012, while the government plans to launch a £12m three-year co-ordinated communications campaign to help "get Britain online".
Of all the elements of the government's plan to get Britain's rich and poor online, it is how it plans to do it that is perhaps most controversial. how Britain's next generation broadband will be funded by a 50p monthly levy on existing copper line connections.
While those proposals will make some unhappy at the thought of more taxation, there is likely to be equal disquiet among regional publishers whose hopes of reform were scuppered. Media Week reports on hard pressed local newspaper owners not seeing the existing rules on mergers across the sector being relaxed.
As well as broadband and TV, digital radio got a look, as the government set 2015 as the digital radio switchover date. Media Week writes that on national and local DAB multiplexes will cease being broadcast via FM by that year.
Marketing's Jeremy Lee on his blog says that the switch-off of analogue radio is something
Of the many hopes and expectations that rode on the back of Digital Britain, the future of Channel 4 was perhaps one of the most hotly discussed and headline dominating.
Media Week writes Lord Carter's Digital Britain report resolution to Channel 4's future funding. The report concluded that further work was needed on the merits of a BBC Worldwide/Channel 4 joint venture.
±±¾©Èü³µpk10 also has a of what is in the Digital Britain report.
KEY REACTIONS TO THE DIGITAL BRITAIN REPORT
Thumbs up from ITN on the boost to local regional news
John Hardie, chief executive officer of ITN, said: "The continued supply of high-quality, impartial regional news is central to a pluralistic environment and today’s proposals set out the mechanisms to ensure viewers retain this much-valued choice of sources and opinions.
"ITN has a key role to play in the new architecture as the nexus of national and regional news provision, working with local media on the ground to provide enriched broadcast and multiplatform content and to ensure a true competitive alternative to the BBC."
"Those who are shielded from commercial realities should not be allowed to delay this funding intervention and risk damage to these crucial services."
Channel 4 welcomes Digital Britain support for BBC Worldwide partnership/rejection of a partial privatisation
Andy Duncan, Channel 4 chief executive, said: "Digital Britain again offers crystal clear acknowledgement of Channel 4's vital role in ensuring public service competition to the BBC and the importance of that competition in maintaining creative standards and delivering range and quality across the daily schedules."
"The report also strongly supports the updated, alternative public service remit we envisioned in our Next on 4 blueprint last year, which outlined Channel 4's strategy for transitioning into the digital age. We are particularly pleased that Digital Britain so clearly endorses our strategy of extending our public service role into digital media through initiatives such as our 4iP innovation fund."
Channel 4 chairman, Luke Johnson, said: "We welcome the government’s explicit rejection of a partial privatisation of Channel 4 through a forced commercial merger and the encouragement Digital Britain gives to our discussions about partnership with BBC Worldwide.
"This remains our preferred means of securing more sustainable funding to support our public service delivery and we look forward to confirming with BBC Worldwide in the near future the proposed terms of our partnership."
Duncan added: "Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide have made considerable progress towards agreeing the structure, scope and operation of a substantial joint-venture.
"As conceived, we share the government’s view that this partnership can deliver significant value to both parties and, alongside other commercial relationships, significantly bolster Channel 4's ability to invest in original British content and maintain our distinctive public service contribution."
Guardian Media Group welcomes report, but concerned over BBC and C4 tie-up
Carolyn McCall, chief executive of Guardian Media Group, said: "There remain causes for concern. Any joint venture between Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide will need to be subject to close scrutiny and clear limits if it is to avoid damaging plurality in the market. Our concern is that whatever entity emerges will seek to expand aggressively online - at the expense of existing commercial players.
"A successful Digital Britain will need successful UK content providers, especially journalistic organisations. Today's paper goes some way towards addressing this, but there's still a great deal of work to be done to secure the future of quality content in the UK."
McCall added that GMG is especially encouraged by the acknowledgement of the negative effects of online aggregators on content creators, and of the need for the BBC Trust to be vigilant in overseeing the expansionary activities of the BBC.
"The government has, for the first time, recognised the hugely important issue of online aggregators' impact on the provision of quality content, and the need for collective action to address the problem. However, there is a long way to go before this will be resolved, and we look forward to engaging with all relevant parties to work towards a fair exchange of value between content providers and aggregators."
More Digital Britain reaction from Media Week
LONDON - Sly Bailey, Trinity Mirror chief executive, has welcomed the decision not to reform the rules governing mergers in the Digital Britain report, citing its proposal to seek Ofcom's view on individual newspaper cases as a "clever answer".
LONDON - Google has backed government plans, unveiled in yesterday's Digital Britain report, to provide universal broadband access within a few years.
LONDON - The commercial radio industry has welcomed plans to set a digital switchover date of 2015 in yesterday's Digital Britain report.
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