EPG slots could be used to incentivise PSBs, says Vaizey

UK culture minister Ed Vaizey has told the Oxford Media Convention that a green paper trailing a new communications bill would raise the issue of incentivising broadcasters to produce public service programmes.

Vaizey said that the government could use the position of slots on the EPGs of platform operators Freeview, BSkyB and Virgin Media to give broadcasters an incentive to deliver public service programming, given that the regime by which broadcasters undertook public service obligations in exchange for terrestrial broadcast licences was now outdated.