Expanding the evidence base for UK public service media policymaking

The Sandford St Martin Trust is delighted to be partnering with the University of Leeds in a research project to develop new methods to evaluate public service media provision across video-on-demand services.

It’s now been more than one hundred years since British public service broadcasting (PSB) was launched. The face of British broadcasting has changed hugely since. The UK’s public service broadcasters have now grown from one to many: BBC, ITV/STV/UTV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and the Welsh language service S4C. Technology has evolved from the wireless, through the invention of television to the development of digital and internet platforms and audiences can now consume their media in many different forms and on many different devices.

While all the PSBS are still required to provide diverse programming that represents the diversity of its audience and that will inform, educate, and entertain, the new Media Act, passed in May 2024, now allows them to meet these obligations via their online video on demand services  (VOD) (e.g. BBC iPlayer).

The new law has also simplified PSB obligations. For the first time since the invention of broadcasting, PSBs are no longer required by law to provide audiences with specific genres of PSB content. While broadcasters previously had to provide a prominent and suitable quality and range of content related to science, religion, and important international issues, the new Media Act means they now have more discretion. For organisations like the Sandford St Martin Trust, this change has raised concerns that the diversity of provision for UK citizens will decline.

Under the leadership of Professor Catherine Johnson (Professor of Media and Communication, University of Leeds) and Chris Birchall (Lecturer in Digital Media, University of Leeds), a new project will look to develop new methods to monitor the continued provision of  ‘at risk’ PSB content – including programmes about religion or belief – across VOD services to ensure that media policy remains current and practicable and is evaluated using 21st century metrics.

Their research is one of a series of projects which will address media policy challenges across local, regional and national levels. It is funded by the Research England Policy Support Funding.  The University will also be working in collaboration with the International Broadcasting Trust, Campaign for the Arts and the PSM Forum as well as the Sandford St Martin Trust, and is due to be completed by July 2025.