Bill to amend Broadcasting Act is a step towards better quality – de Marco

Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco said yesterday that a Bill to amend the Broadcasting Act was a step towards better quality providing advantages both to the public and the stations.

Introducing the second reading of the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill, Dr de Marco said this would mean that the public would be guaranteed six Maltese channels without the need of subscribing to a commercial company. Presently, televiewers received only four – Net, One, Smash and TVM – which were free-to-air.

The system would improve the visual and sound quality. Coverage would be increased and people would be able to receive these channels in all areas of Malta.

The government was always in favour of pluralism in broadcasting and the Bill was a further step towards this direction. The local broadcasting stations employed many people and had a ripple effect on other industries.

The Bill would also permit the licensing of a general interest objective network operator and general interest broadcasting content licensees. It would liberalise broadcasting in a way that companies would be able to have more than one TV or radio station.

Until 20 years ago there was only one TV channel; these had increased in the 1990s and there were currently eight channels.

Dr de Marco said the amendments were the result of a wide consultation with stakeholders aimed at having digital broadcasting to all.

Communication had developed from analogue to digital. Dr de Marco said that digital technology permitted the delivery of several channels on one frequency. This better quality benefitted both TV and radio broadcasting.

Throughout the years, digital channels were offered by commercial companies and therefore people had to subscribe to one of the two companies to receive such digital channels.

The EU had established a date by which member-states had to switch from analogue to digital communication to improve the quality of broadcasting. Meanwhile, it had also drafted policies to ensure that with the switch, people would not end up in a position not receiving channels that could have been viewed free-to-air.

Currently, Melita was delivering its channels by cable or digitally while GO used a digital terrestrial system.

With the switch to digital communication, people would need a small aerial. The proposed system was already being experimented and TVM was already transmitting digitally. While the original aim was to complete the change by the end of 2010, the government had postponed the date by five months due to contractual difficulties. However, it was still within the EU targets, which require the change to be completed by the end of 2011.

Dr de Marco argued that this change would only affect those who depended purely on the analogue transmission without payment. A study by the Malta Communications Authority showed that 10 per cent of the Maltese viewed TV in this manner. The remaining 90 per cent received channels through satellite or cable TV.

To receive digital channels, people would need a UHF aerial and a digital decoder or television set which incorporated a built-in digital decoder.

Dr de Marco argued that general interest objective service meant a television broadcasting service which took the obligation to broadcast a specified number of programmes that were of general interest. Meanwhile, general interest could either be generalist or niche.

The Bill provided six classes of licences: nationwide television services, nationwide radio services, community radio services, satellite radio services and satellite television services. There was another licence of other services that might be broadcast through electronic communications network. Regulations to establish criteria for evaluating an application for a general interest nationwide television broadcast service would have to be made after consulting with the Broadcasting Authority. The criteria would be quality programming across the full range of public tastes and interests, programming of an educational and cultural nature, news and current affairs and accurate information service.

There were two frequencies identified in Malta for the digital switch. The second frequency would be reserved for high definition programming.

PBS had subcontracted the multiplex to GO to deliver its services and thus costs would be reduced. PBS would still remain responsible for the whole operation.

While the amendments did not specify the number of channels delivered through the multiplex, it would carry six channels. This decision was taken since the present technology could not take more.

If other channels were added, quality would be reduced. However, it would not exclude future technology permitting more than six channels. Such channels would be awarded by the Broadcasting Authority. TVM, and e22 would be chosen automatically. The first call for applications for the award of the other four would be made to those broadcasting services existing on December 1, 2010. This meant , that Net, One and Smash would be given priority if they satisfied the criteria.

The system would also afford stations to reduce their costs. PBS would only cover its costs: there would be no mark ups. But stations would not need to maintain their transmitters and repeaters.

Turning to radio stations on the FM frequency, Dr de Marco said, that no private owner was to have more than one station because no more frequencies were available. Similarly, the same broadcaster using a community radio service would not be able to have more than one station.

Local councils could not have a radio station. This was already the position under the Local Councils Act, but there was the need to include such a provision in this Bill for holistic purposes, he said.

With regard to television licenses, Dr de Marco said that the government felt strict regulations were not needed for those commercial stations which did not broadcast news. On the other hand, those stations which did broadcast news were to be regulated in a stricter way. In this case, the same company could not have more than two stations at its disposal. This was being done to curb dominance, which otherwise would lead to various negative effects.

He said all those companies which were incorporated in Malta according to the Companies Act, would be eligible to obtain a broadcasting license. Private individuals who were habitual residents in Malta could apply for a community radio station.

Another amendment in the Bill would remove the national plan in the second schedule of the Broadcasting Act. The need for such a national plan was no longer felt since technology was changing radically and quickly. Dr de Marco suggested that another flexible way, such as legal notices, be made use of for such a purpose.

What was being proposed was in no way controversial and suggestions are welcome, Dr de Marco said.