Media Bill: CMS Committee publishes Government response to pre-legislative scrutiny reports

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee has today published the Government response to its reports on the draft Media Bill.

The Bill was introduced to Parliament last week after its inclusion in the King’s Speech. The Secretary of State confirmed that the Government has accepted the majority of recommendations made by the Committee after its pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill.

The Committee’s first report relating to radio called for measures to address the risk to the industry of larger platforms controlling access to stations and driving listeners elsewhere. A further report on the wider provisions in the Bill included the recommendation that obligations on smart TVs, firesticks and set-top boxes to ensure public service broadcasters are prominent on their platforms should be strengthened.