In a recent statement published by Ofcom, the regulator outlined its new regulatory fees regime for on demand programme services ("ODPS").
Ofcom has been the sole regulatory authority for editorial content on ODPS since 1 January 2016, having taken over from the Authority for Television on Demand (“ATVOD”). Since then Ofcom has not levied any fees to cover the costs of discharging its regulatory duties given the ATVOD surplus passed to Ofcom covered Ofcom’s planned ODPS costs for 2016/2017. However, Ofcom now intends to do so for the fiscal year 2017-18.
Ofcom consulted on four different fee structure options and took account of stakeholder responses to these. The preferred structure envisages:
- smaller ODPS providers (with an annual turnover of less than £10 million) will not pay any fee
- costs will be shared between larger providers on a tiered basis, linked to their turnover
Ofcom states that the estimated fees under the new regime are lower in many cases than providers paid in ATVOD's final year of operation. In particular, providers who previously fell into the largest "Super A" category under ATVOD's regime are estimated to pay "substantially less" under the new regime.
The new fees regime will be introduced with immediate effect. However, given that the ODPS sector is still developing, as well as the varying numbers and types of ODPS providers within the sector, Ofcom will monitor the operation of this new regime.
Click here for Ofcom's statement on regulatory fees for on-demand programme services can be found.
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