Denis Forman argues that while technology has created the new broadcast delivery systems of cable and satellite, these developments are unimportant compared to the quality of the programming which they deliver. It is time we ‘directed our attention not so much to the messenger as to the message’. It is crucial to persuade politicians, with their privatising ambitions and monetarist policies that ‘the true value of our business lies in our programmes’.

The collapse of the plan to cable Britain offers testament to this view: ‘not many people are willing to pay … for a service that … is made up of the cheapest television programmes’. Direct broadcasting by satellite (DBS) will eventully be a success, but the rate of penetration will be slow until ‘you decide on the programme policy’.

Consequently, the future of broadcasting seems to rest ‘in the hands of the duopoly’. But there are problems here: sins both of commission and omission. First, senior managers seem more concerned with profits above programming, but ‘efficiency is the enemy of originality’. Second, idolatry and the worship of false gods such as ratings. Third, the sins of omission exemplified by timidity and cautiousness in programme-making. Finally, the failure to confront government challenges to freedom of expression such as the Official Secrets Act, as well as governments’ increasing commitments to news management.