Commercial broadcasters give evidence on BBC charter renewal
2 November 2015
Following its evidence sessions at MediaCityUK last week, the House of Lords Communications Committee speaks to two commercial broadcasters and two news and current affairs experts, as part of their ongoing inquiry into the public purposes of the BBC.
- Parliament TV: BBC Charter Renewal: public purposes and licence fee
- Inquiry: BBC Charter Renewal: public purposes and licence fee
- Select Committee on Communications
Witnesses
The evidence sessions take place on Tuesday 3 November in Committee Room 3, Palace of Westminster.
First panel
At 3.30pm:
- Will Harding, Chief Strategy Officer, Global Radio
- David Wheeldon, Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Sky
Second panel
At 4.30pm:
- Dorothy Byrne, Head of News and Current Affairs, Channel 4
- Kevin Sutcliffe, Head of News Programming EU, Vice News
Possible questions
In the first session, the Committee investigates a number of areas including:
- their opinions on whether the BBC's current scale and scope are appropriate
- any views they have on whether or not the BBC should buy programming
- the importance of the BBC's role in the UK's creative economy.
In the second session the Committee explores various issues including:
- the importance of the role of news and current affairs in the UK, and the BBC's role within it
- the specific problems relating to engaging and attracting a younger audience for the sector as a whole, and whether the BBC should play a greater role in this area
- their opinions of the accusations made by some that the BBC is crowding out other news outlets online.
Further information
Image: PA