The House of Lords passed the Media Bill last night meaning that the legislation still has time to receive Royal Assent before the dissolution of Parliament.
PM Rishi Sunak’s announcement of a snap General Election meant that the bill could have been delayed or dropped as there would not be enough time to complete the remaining programme ahead of the dissolution.
CEOs from many of the major broadcasters, including Sky’s Dana Strong, ITV’s Carolyn McCall and the BBC’s Tim Davie released a statement yesterday calling for the bill to be passed.
The statement read:
“As leading CEOs from the UK broadcasting industry, we call on politicians across Parliament not to let the opportunity to modernise the rules that govern our sector pass. The Media Bill as currently drafted is widely supported across industry and Parliament itself and has undergone Parliamentary scrutiny in the Select Committee and both Houses of Parliament, having completed second reading and committee stage in both houses. The reforms proposed in the Bill will update key aspects of media legislation for the online TV era, to ensure audiences continue to benefit from the highest quality UK-originated content from the PSBs, and help the UK’s content sector thrive for years to come.”
Signatories were Dana Strong – Sky, Carolyn McCall – ITV, Tim Davie – BBC, Alex Mahon – Channel 4, Sarah Rose – Channel 5/Paramount, Simon Pitts – STV, Sioned Wiliam – S4C, Domhnall Campbell – MG Alba and Rachel Corp – ITN
Jon Creamer
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