One good thing about previous ITV franchise rounds is that it kept ITV companies on their toes. .....//......(current situation)..... results in an almost pot luck situation where whatever happens at renewal time is decided almost by the whims and attitudes of whoever is Secretary of State for DCMS so it can also reduce the incentive to excel.
Possibly the licensing regime needs a big refresh.
The only services at issue are the PSBs. Perhaps each channel with a low epg number and PSB mux carriage rights should have a single licence, arrived at by they having to bid based on what elements of PSB servive they'd maintain. ITV gets its regulatory street vred by doing local news, but others may offer to as well?
The PSB slots in question are:
C3 - currently ITV and STV. Difficult to see a replacement over-reacght to be ing their PSB cover given ITV's commitment to local news. But the threat would keep them focused.
C4 (perhaps ignore for now - anyway no fully commercial organisation would ever meet their remit, a Scott Trust type body might one day)
C5 - Ought to be challengable by someone offering something including an element of local service
C6 - ITV-2, If they had to re-bid separately for this someone could overcome inertia by loading-in PSB type elements into a bid.
C7 - The "locals" ah! So, perhaps if this were bid as a network or a conceptual vision for how it could have been done better? Well, the epg number has to be worth something. Perhaps the winner would get carriage on a PSB mux, swapping out the COMUX components for use as "regional correctors" for use across all the PSBs (inc the BBC)..
C8 - C4's alternative in Wales, Alba in Scotland and ought to be TG4 in NI. Is the slot worth licencing in England though?
C9 - I wonder if they'll ever be one?
