BBC chief warns over Murdoch dominance

net1

The BBC will be left to fight a lone battle against Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB if the government does not intervene to prevent the collapse of ITV as a public service broadcaster, the corporation's director general Greg Dyke warned yesterday.

Mr Dyke warned of BSkyB's dominance of the digital TV world, and said five years of management failure at ITV had allowed the satellite broadcaster to forge ahead, opposed only by the BBC.

He expressed concern about Sky's position as simultaneously a provider of Britain's biggest satellite television system; provider of programmes on that system; and controller of the price paid by other broadcasters who want to use it.

"A healthy broadcasting market in the UK needs a third gorilla alongside the BBC and Sky," Mr Dyke told the Media Guardian Edinburgh international television festival.

Mr Dyke believes that, having seen off the threat of ITV Digital, BSkyB has the corporation in its sights. He believes the digital terrestrial TV service Freeview, launched out of the ashes of ITV Digital with the BBC's backing, will provide an important bulwark against BSkyB. But he is concerned that ITV's woes will strengthen Mr Murdoch's influence in the British media.

He catalogued the failings of ITV managers, listing the collapse of ITV Digital, the overpayment for Premiership football highlights rights and the axing of News at Ten. All had contributed to ITV's decline: "Some senior people in ITV have blamed the BBC for their plight. My answer to that is they should look much closer to home," he said.

Mr Dyke warned of a worst-case scenario in which ITV would be forced to slash its programme budget to stay afloat. He predicted that, when most viewers had switched to digital television, ITV could choose to give up its analogue television licences and broadcast on satellite and cable only.