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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...

The Independent Television Commission (ITC) announced on 27 October 1995 that the licence for Channel 5 has been awarded to Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited. The Channel 5 licence is for a 10 year period. The service must start by 1 January 1997 in at least two transmission areas each serving a minimum of one million viewers. Channel 5 Broadcasting proposes to start its service simultaneously in all relevant areas. Full coverage of Channel 5 is expected to be around 70 per cent of the UK population, subject to final frequency clearances.

The Independent Television Commission decided on 19 October to intervene again as regards the programming of Television X - The Fantasy Channel. From June 1995, the ITC had offered guidance to the channel in respect of the nature of its proposed service. This was felt likely to be in breach of the ITC's Programme Code. The specific problem which occasioned the formal warning was the transmission of the film Requiem for a Vampire , at 02.30h. Television X showed the film including the approximately six minutes that the British Board of Film Classification had cut prior to their certificating the...