TV up Schitt’s Creek unless rules change

TRADITIONAL telly is unlikely to survive the threat posed by Netflix and Amazon without reforms to laws and regulations, the TV watchdog has warned.

Public service broadcasters (PSBs), such as the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, are at a ‘critical juncture’, Ofcom said.

It wants a shake-up of the rules they abide by, which pre-date the digital era.

Quotas are needed to protect content such as local news as declining revenue forces cutbacks, Ofcom said.

And it called for measures to ensure that public service content is readily available on digital platforms.

Netflix has won subscribers with shows such as Schitt’s Creek and Better Call Saul (both pictured).

But Ofcom said audiences highly value public service content that they are unlikely to find online, such as children’s programmes made in the UK. It pointed out Canada is considering a law to make online platforms pay towards domestic shows.

PSBs enjoy privileges such as access to prominent spots in electronic programme guides. But Ofcom said these have lost relevance as viewers increasingly shift to online streaming.

Its boss Dame Melanie Dawes said: ‘Our traditional broadcasters are among the finest in the world. But television has witnessed a blizzard of change, with audiences turning to online services with bigger budgets. For everything we’ve gained, we risk losing the kind of outstanding UK content that people really value.’ Last year only 38 per cent of viewing by 16- to 34-yearolds was of traditional broadcast content.