What are the key issues facing Public Service Broadcasting in the UK Essay

What are the key issues facing Public Service Broadcasting in the UK - Essay Example â€Å"Neither commercial nor state controlled, public broadcasting’s only raison d’à ªtre is public service. It is the public broadcasting organisation...[that] develop knowledge, broaden horizons and enable people to better understand themselves by better understanding the world and others† (World Radio and Television Council, 2002). At present in this highly technological and globalised world, the system of public service broadcasting is facing â€Å"declining budgets, audience fragmentation, and debate over their proper role† (Collins, et al., 2001). In the present context, on examination we will find that the PBS in UK is facing serious challenges from the issue of substantial downgrading of support from the public funds, and the entry of competitors along with new advanced technology into the world of media and communication. We will examine these very issues and explore various subjects to find out logical and workable solutions to these imminent problems, which threat the very existence of modern day UK PBS. In UK by the regulations of the Ofcom it is mandatory for BBC to have public service addresses, for all its television and radio stations, including the ones that have digital transmission. Besides these, other stations that transmit through the terrestrial analogue television like ITV and Channel 4 whose programs are transmitted to all of UK, that includes Scotland, Northern Ireland, England; FIVE and also SC4 in Wales, are bound to transmit programs that fall under the category of public service broadcasting, since these free to air channels are available to all citizens in UK. Under the Community Radio Order 2004, it is also mandatory for the 200 community Radio services to play the role of public service providers; the only exemption in this case are the commercial radios, which are allowed to transmit nominal or