Channel 4 and ITV challenge Sky over data it gleans about their shows

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Channel 4 and ITV challenge Sky over data it gleans about their shows

Channel 4 chief executive David Abraham calls on government to intervene

Channel 4 and ITV are challenging BSkyB over the viewer data it gleans about their programmes, calling on the government to address the issue in the next Communications Act.

The Channel 4 chief executive, David Abraham, speaking as part of a panel session at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival on Friday, said the broadcaster intends to make a submission about the issue to the government ahead of a green paper on the scope of the Communications Act.

"If our content is being watched behind a pay wall and that data is used to negotiate advertising deals for the owner of that platform it is an issue," he said. "As a public broadcaster I would say that information should be made available to the provider of that content."

He added that he was "not specifically talking about Sky", saying his view on data usage applied to "all platforms that can extract behavioural information".

Abraham said that, as public service broadcasters, Channel 4 and the BBC had a responsibility to lead the way in being clear with how their data is used. Abraham is on a mission to make better commercial use of audience information about Channel 4 output ? he has previously called such data "the new oil" for broadcasters in the digital era.

Fru Hazlitt, managing director of commercial and online at ITV, said that the broadcaster "of course" supported Channel 4's view.

"Sky make most of their money because most people want to watch our free-to-air content," she said. "Actually the most important thing is both David and us pay a fortune for that content. Our duty as a commercial broadcaster is to see what consumers will pay for and that comes down to data. It has got to be a huge mission for us."

Ed Vaizey, the culture minister, speaking more generally on the issue of data and privacy, said he did not want to "set any hares running but it is a major issue".

Vaizey added that the upcoming green paper is a "blank sheet" and welcomed Abraham's intention to make a submission on data usage.

He described the government's focus for the next Communications Act, which the government plans to introduce before the next general election in 2015, as "privacy, pipes, porn and piracy".

Vaizey said he wanted to see transparency in how data is used. "My instinct is for self-regulation, for solutions to come from the industry," he added.

He went on to talk about the issue of media plurality and market dominance in the internet era. "Media plurality on the web is a huge question," he said. "It is a big issue, to a certain extent it seems exempt from these [existing rules that apply to normal world]. It is an interesting question."

He said there is a need to separate the issue of market dominance and abusive dominance by technology companies such as Google. "In theory web dominance, if it is abusive, shouldn't be exempt," he added.

? To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

? To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook.