Ofcom threatens to punish ITV for ever-decreasing Scottish spend

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, May 27, 2007 | by Steven Vass

ITV faces production quotas if it does not make more network programmes in Scotland, the Scottish director of communications watchdog Ofcom has warned.

Vicki Nash said that ITV risked receiving the punishment after it emerged that the already small amount it spends on making network programmes in Scotland had fallen last year.

According to Ofcom's latest annual communications report, the proportion of all ITV network spending north of the Border was down from 3-per cent in 2005 to 2-per cent last year, while the the number of hours of programming fell from 2-per cent to 1-per cent.

This is despite the fact that Scotland constitutes almost a tenth of the population and has long been seen as underused by the London- based networks.

There were also major declines in network production from the BBC, with spend down from 6-per cent in 2005 to 4-per cent in 2006 and hours halving from 6-per cent to 3-per cent.

Five's figures were also down and although Channel 4 saw a slight increase in Scottish spend from 2-per cent to 3-per cent, it was down in terms of volumes.

Nash stressed that it was only ITV that faced the prospect of quotas, however, since it has always had higher public service broadcasting requirements than its commercial rivals.

She said: "Ofcom has previously said that quotas could be imposed if a reasonable spread of production is not achieved by voluntary means.

"What we are going to do is to wait for the data from 2007. Then we will have four years of data and we will look at what we might do." It is outside Ofcom's jurisdiction to impose quotas on the BBC, but its figures will be seen as very worrying within the Scottish broadcasting industry. The BBC has set itself a target to increase network production levels across Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales from 12-per cent to 17-per cent of its total by 2011. The latest Scottish numbers are a sign that it is moving in the wrong direction.

In response to Nash's remarks, an ITV spokesman said: "ITV has a number of major network commissions from Scotland, including high- profile dramas like Taggart and Rebus.

"In addition, we are putting GBP9 million into the Regional Production Fund to bring on-board new producers in the nations and regions, and have run training and mentoring schemes in Scotland and around the country." A BBC spokesman put the Corporation's figures down to "peaks and troughs" in network commissions, including the demises of Monarch Of The Glen and Balamory.

But he said that there were new children's shows like Me Too! and Raven in the offing, as well as more factual commissions on BBC 3 and BBC4 and high hopes for the Scottish drama slate.

He said: "Targets are all very well but we want to get as much business as we can in Scotland and take advantage of the opportunities that Pacific Quay brings us in terms of studio facilities and new ways of working." The new Ofcom report also suggested that Scottish small and medium-sized businesses were more technologically advanced than those elsewhere in the UK. They have the highest proportions of broadband, total internet, PC and mobile phone use of any of the four nations; and a correspondingly lower proportion of fixed-line telephony.

Scots, meanwhile, watch much more television than most other parts of the UK, sitting through 4.1 hours a day compared to a UK average of 3.8 hours. This was second only to the northeast of England, which watches 4.2 hours a week.