Hunt in call for PSB commitment to local TV

UK culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has used his speech at today’s Royal Television Society conference in London to tell commercial public service broadcasters to deliver local TV and online services as part of their public service broadcast obligations.

Hunt also asked regulator Ofcom to create a definition of public service broadcasting that encourages local content to be delivered by commercial broadcasters. Currently, only ITV is required to produce regionally focused content. The licences held by ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 are due for renewal in 2014.