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With The Merger Of The Two Conglomerates To Form Bskyb, The Company Was Able ...

With the merger of the two conglomerates to form BSkyB, the company was able to bypass the public service obligations that effected terrestrial and cable television companies as it was not viewed to be a domestic-provider. Therefore, not only was this form to prove profitable, unlike cable companies, but also allowed it to show a huge range of television programming, both from the UK and imports from mainly US companies, where companies were not subject to strict remits. It also surpasses licensing regulations that effect British commercial and public service broadcasters. Consequently, programming has been able to surpass boundaries and although relatively few UK programmes are received in the US, the UK audiences are subjected to US programming. Subsequently, Curran argues (284) that this leads to a weakening of the ideas of identity and the value of political ideals in terms of one's country. Therefore, current affairs programming has perhaps moved from being inherently British in its structure to being more globalized in order to reach wider audiences and to be sold to other companies abroad. Curran accounts this universality and the dominance of US broadcasters for the changing shape of British current affairs programmes, now demonstrating less impartiality (285). Although satellite and cable channels have yet to reach a majority audience and British television companies have to consider the viability of marketing the programme or the concept at the international market, British Current Affairs programmes, in some ways have changed very little. The US, on the other hand, imports very few of its programmes. According to Varis (1986), 98% of programmes in the US are made in the US, leaving 2% of programmes to be imported (237), with an even lower figure if commercials had been considered.
For Hamilton (1996), a paucity of mass audience appeal has meant that current affairs programming has suffered in the US; children's programming and public affairs programming giving way to indecent or violent based programmes (1179) and any risk of impartiality therefore is not applicable. He suggests that the Anthony Down's theory of rational ignorance accounts for why both these sectors, although in existence in the US market, are not the forerunners where ‘the same logic of free-riding which discourages voter turnout operates in the market for public affairs coverage' (1181) and where entertainment programmes may not suffer too greatly, there is a general aversion to other current affairs topics.
The advent of New Media has also called into question the need for a change in regulatory bodies, especially within the stricter UK. Indeed, one might question why there is such a need for regulation within broadcasters when this does not exist with the press.


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