British Government Releases White Paper on U.K. Broadcasting Regulations

variety.com:

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorThe British government has laid out its plans to reshape the country’s broadcasting landscape with a broad ranging set of proposals, contained in a White Paper published Thursday.

These include confirmation that Channel 4 will be privatized and the BBC funding model will be reviewed.The proposals were previewed to the media on Wednesday, and covered in depth by Variety here.Secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, Nadine Dorries, said: “Rapid changes in technology, viewing habits and the entrance of global players have introduced new challenges for British broadcasters.

Against that backdrop of rapid change, we need to take action to support British broadcasters in meeting the most pressing of those challenges, to protect our mixed ecology, and ensure public service broadcasters remain at the heart of our plans.” In the White Paper, the government proposes to bring larger TV-like video-on-demand providers – in other words, the streamers – under the jurisdiction of media regulator Ofcom.

Ofcom will be given powers to draft and enforce a new Video-on-Demand Code, similar to the Broadcasting Code, “to ensure TV-like content, no matter how audiences choose to watch it, will be subject to similar standards.” Fines for breaches of the code could be up to £250,000 ($311,000) or 5% of annual revenue.These changes will mean U.K.