The Stage

Campaign demands government covers cost of digital switchover for entertainment sector

Published Friday 13 November 2009 at 14:43 by Matthew Hemley

More than 20 arts and entertainment bodies, including Equity, Bectu and the Society of London Theatre, are calling on the government to cover the costs of replacing wireless microphones following digital switchover.

The organisations have launched a campaign called Save Our Sound, following concerns that users of wireless microphones - which are vital in live events and musical theatre productions - will need to replace existing equipment after 2012, because the spectrum the equipment currently operates on is going to be auctioned off by Ofcom.

Although Ofcom is retaining a proportion of spectrum specifically for wireless microphone users in the programme-making and special events sector, the campaigners have claimed this will require new equipment and that users should not have to pay to provide this.

They claim replacement will come at a cost of millions of pounds to those working in the entertainment industries and have written to Peter Mandelson, secretary of state for business, innovation and skills, calling on him to intervene to make sure users are properly compensated for their “enforced migration”.

In the letter, the groups involved in Save Our Sound - of which there are 21 in total - tell the secretary of state: “If Ofcom’s current proposals are implemented, all productions and businesses that depend on use of the radio microphones and in-ear monitor systems will be under threat.”

The letter says that a proposed funding package of between £15 and £30 million put forward by Ofcom to help businesses replace equipment will only partially cover some of the costs associated with buying new equipment.

In addition, the campaigners complain that the spectrum they are being moved to has not yet been determined, and add that replacement equipment “cannot be manufactured until the new frequencies are precisely specified”.

National Campaign for the Arts director Louise de Winter, who has signed the letter, said: “We see this as a matter of moral obligation as well as public policy. It would not be right for those affected, which includes charitable organisations, to effectively pay for their own eviction.”

She added that Ofcom’s auctioning of the spectrum would “generate significant sums for the government” and said the government should therefore “put aside a fraction of those proceeds to fully compensate those forced to move”.

A spokesman for Ofcom said the regulator’s proposed funding package would “significantly assist” users who have to buy new equipment, but said anything outside of this would be a matter for the government.

He added: “Ofcom recognises the significant contribution the PMSE sector makes to the social, cultural and economic well-being of the UK and would not do anything that threatened its future.”

The government had not responded as The Stage went to press.