BAI launches public consultation on three-year strategy statement.

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland(BAI) opened the public consultation on its three year strategy statement on Wednesday 2nd December 2016.  Opening the public consultation, the Chairperson of the BAI, Professor Pauric Travers said : 'Our ambition for 2019 is a broadcast media that offers a range of voices and opinions, and that the public has an excellent choice of services from which they can choose to tune into.  We want to empower audiences to understand and connect more to broadcast media, and we want to use our voice as a regulator and a support-structure to influence public policy, when it comes to determining the shape of the Irish media landscape.  On this basis, we are inviting broadcasters, the public at large and other interested parties , to think about the kind of broadcast media landscape they would like in 2019, and to feed into our public consultation. 

'In developing our draft strategy, we have reflected significantly on our future role and relevance'  With the proliferation of social and online media, there are significant challenges for us as broadcasting regulator, in terms of both our relevance and our adaptability' he added. 

The BAI's draft strategy sets out its vision as 'an Irish media landscape that reflects and who we are'.  Its vision is anchored in effective regulation, supporting the broadcasting sector in the public interest, as well as the promotion of pluratity and diversity. 

The BAI said that one of its key activities over the lifetime of its new strategy is to work with the broadcasting sector to support the achievement of greater sustainability. CEO, Michael O'Keeffe said: 'the opportunities for the broadcast sector in a growing online media context need to be sought out.  Collectively, we need to examine ways to enable the broadcasting sector to thrive: Irish people like Irish content, so this, for one, offers a clear pathway for broadcasters who want to stay relevant.

While the broadcast media is understandably concerned about the potential negative impact on its sources of revenue, due to online competition, there is also a challenge and opportunity for the sector to identify and demonstrate the ways that it uniquely serves audiences, in a way which online simply cannot'

Full details of the consultation are available on www.bai.ie/consultations and submissions can be made by email to strategy@bai.ie.  The deadline for submissions to the consultaiton is nnon on Thursday 1st December 2016.