LONDON (Brand Republic) - The regulation of public service broadcaster the BBC by its own governors has been condemned by a report from the House of Commons media select committee.
The report, outlined yesterday by the committee鈥檚 chairman Gerald Kaufman, calls for the BBC to be brought under the same authority as its commercial rivals, the government鈥檚 proposed communications super-watchdog Ofcom.
It was also suggested that the new body became responsible for the approval of new BBC services instead of culture secretary Chris Smith.
The BBC said that it welcomed the debate raised by the report but warned there was a danger that commercial needs could be put ahead of public interest if the corporation came under the same remit as its commercial rivals.
The report recommends that the government鈥檚 department for culture, media and sport is scrapped and replaced by a department of communications. It goes on to highlight the need to abolish current cross-media ownership rules and limits on consolidation in the radio industry.
The government鈥檚 handling of the analogue switch-off between 2006 and 2010 was also criticised. The committee suggested that a leaflet clearing up any confusion about digital TV be distributed to every home in the UK by October this year.