'A shrinking iceberg travelling south'

摘要

For over fifty years, from its inauguration in the 1940s until the end of the 1980s, the television industry was a stable and relatively unchanging environment, with few channels and separate sources of revenue. The last ten years, however, have seen rapid change. Partly through technological innovation and partly through political fiat, the industry today is characterised by channel proliferation and intense competition for commercial revenue. The political philosophy of the 1980s became enshrined in the 1990 Broadcasting Act, which replaced the IBA with the 'light touch' ITC, introduced an Independent quota (25 per cent), obliged Channel Four to sell its own advertising, and auctioned ITV franchises.