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On 27 November 1995 the Independent Television Commission awarded the licence for the new (and probably last) terrestrial television channel, Channel 5. It was awarded to the consortium Channel 5 Broadcasting , composed of MAI, a broadcasting and financial services group; Pearson, the media group which ownes the Financial Times and Warburg Pincus, the US investment bank. The consortium had bid £22,002,000 per year for the licence. Under the Broadcasting Act 1990 the Commission was obliged to award the licence to the highest bidder subject to that bidder meeting a 'quality threshold' based on the...

On 13 december 1995 the Independent Television Commission has issued the latest version of its Code of Advertising Standards and Practice. The new edition contains no departures from the previous version but incorporates amendments and additions adopted during 1994 and 1995. Specifically, the new Code now includes the amendments to rule 18 permitting advertising for the National Lottery and to rules 8 and 9 of Appendix 2 (Financial Advertising), the re-drafted Appendix 3 on Medicines, Treatment-s, Health Claims, Nutrition and Dietary Supplements (adopted in February 1995) and a new Rule 19 permitting...

The Radio Authority, acting in virtue of Section 90 of the Broadcasting Act and its own Programme Code, has fined Talk Radio UK £5,000. S.90 provides that every licensed service must not include anything in its service that '... offends against good taste of decency or is likely to encourage or incite to crime or to lead to disorder or to be offensive to public feeling'. The Radio Authority's Code has rules on 'Bad Taste in Humour' and on 'Religion', which require that licensees avoid humour which offends against good taste and decency and that licensees avoid abusing the religious views and beliefs...

In August 1995 the UK Government announced its proposals for Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting (see IRIS no. 8, p. 13). The BBC has now issued its response. It suggests that it will be in a position to act as a catalyst to attract investors and other service providers because of its production capability and archive base to develop high-quality British programmes though the new delivery systems. This will however require the Government to create an open digital environment guaranteeing service providers access to conditional access and subscriber services on all digital delivery systems on fair...

The regulatory body for broadcasting in the UK, the Independent Television Commission, has published its response to the Government's plans for digital terrestrial television. It questions the two tier system of licensing proposed, under which seperate licences will be granted to multiplex operators and broadcasters. Instead it recommends the provision of licences covering both activities and permitting licenceholders to sublicence capacity on terms approved by the Commission. Licences should be judged on the basis of proposed investment and the proposed variety of programme services. The Commission...