TV3 head calls for a 'level playing field' between stations

The absence of a "level playing field" between public and commercial broadcasters is impeding the development of home-produced programming, the chief executive of TV3 claimed yesterday.

Mr Rick Hetherington criticised the existing regulatory environment, saying "unregulated competitors fuelled by unrestricted State aid" made it impossible for companies like TV3 to attract investors.

This alone, he said, should be a wake-up call for the industry before it "simply becomes a State-supported broadcaster with a host of offshore broadcasters, and I do believe that is where we are heading". Mr Hetherington denied claims that TV3 was refusing to co-operate with independent producers, saying it met its regulatory responsibilities on home-produced content. He was responding to a number of critics of TV3, including Ms Joan Egan of Tyrone Productions who said the broadcaster had yet to "engage seriously" in the market.

Earlier, in a debate on "Culture and Community", Ms Eve O'Kelly of the Centre for Contemporary Music warned that if public service broadcasting was lost now "we will never get it back".

She cited a number of recent cutbacks in the area of music, including the loss of outside broadcasting concerts, the cancellation of RTÉ's Musician of the Future competition, and the "dumbing down" of Lyric FM. She added Ireland was in danger of losing some of its cultural reputation if services continued to be watered down.

Prof John Coulihan of NUI Maynooth called for a national policy on educational broadcasting, as an element of public service broadcasting.

He criticised RTÉ for presiding over 40 years of "missed opportunities" in the area of educational broadcasting, citing its failure to produce programmes on recent major changes in the national curriculum, among other educational developments.

RTÉ's director-general, Mr Bob Collins, said he agreed the absence of a comprehensive range of educational programmes was a serious deficiency. Meanwhile, RTÉ's director of programming, Mr Cathal Goan, rejected suggestions that the RTÉ Concert Orchestra should be removed from the broadcaster's control, saying the orchestra formed an intrinsic part of RTÉ's service.

Also calling for more resources for public service broadcasters was TG4 ceannasai Mr Pól Ó Gallchóir .

He noted that the Irish language channel received annual funding of €22 million.

This compared to annual funding of £105 million for the Welsh channel S4C, which also benefited from significant free programming arrangements with the BBC and Channel 4.