AS04: Media wins it

Broadcasters can change the world

With the BBC's Ashley Highfield taking the top spot on this year's Agenda Setters poll, Will Sturgeon looks at the influence broadcasters have on technology - and vice versa.

There is a variety of reasons why media figures, predominantly from broadcasting, make it onto the Agenda Setters list.

This year those figures range from Andy Duncan (number 48) who, at the helm of Channel 4, can play a part in driving interactive media and blurring the lines between television and online, to Rupert (18) and James Murdoch (16) who literally have the power to change the world through their control of its media.

One end of the scale is largely about the impact the Agenda Setters themselves can have on information technology in its purest form. The other end represents the men who rub shoulders with kings, queens and politicos.

At the top of the list is a man from the former category. Ashley Highfield, director of new media at the BBC, is by far the most anonymous winner of this poll during the five years it has been running. But for the panel he is an Agenda Setter in the truest sense.

While Jobs is arguably there in second place on popularity and personality as much as anything else, Highfield lets the technology and the strategic decisions taken with it talk for themselves. The relative anonymity he enjoys and yet the impact he effects are evidence of that.

The BBC has been under fire in recent months for its online and new media operations.

Is its huge budget really justified? Is everything on offer strictly within the corporation's public service remit? The Graf report said 'no' and demanded the BBC rein in some of its services which were adjudged to be unfairly treading on the toes of commercial businesses.

Highfield has to face such issues and criticism as part of his job. But he also has to ensure the politics which come hand-in-hand with a job at the Beeb do not interfere with the need to ensure the corporation continues to live up to the expectation that the UK broadcasting giant sets a world agenda for the meeting of new media and the older order of traditional television.

Which agendas will these figures play a major role in setting? The Murdoch Empire can play a huge part in setting the world agenda. If the Sun newspaper decides it wants to take a particular stance on political issues - in the IT world or outside of it - then don't underestimate its impact.

Controversial technology issues such as biometric ID cards, chip and PIN, offshoring or RFID will enjoy a significantly smoother passage into mainstream acceptance with the backing of Murdoch and Son. The same is true in terms of effecting change where emotive issues and tabloid 'hot potatoes' such as grooming and the policing of ISPs and the internet are concerned.

Highfield's agenda setting is far more hands-on, as to a lesser extent is Andy Duncan's.

Broadcasting has become a test-bed for most interactive technologies and it's likely that if you're already frustrated with the 'press your red button now' culture you've only more of the same to look forward to.

Everything from interactive learning to e-voting is being pioneered by the television companies. It's not churlish to suggest that if you find yourself voting remotely in a general election some time in the next 10 years, via web or mobile, that its roots will have been in some way nourished by the early successes of Big Brother or Fame Academy.

In terms of driving an IT agenda, with specific reference to telecoms and mobile operators, simply look at what such shows have done for ARPU (average revenue per user) and the bottom line - voting, text alerts and all manner of downloads have considerably boosted the coffers.

But by far the most important agendas set by the BBC are its drive of broadband content and the evangelisation of the online world. More than any other power within society the BBC has the ability to move the nation online. If the government wants a digital Britain and fully virtualised government by next year it is going to rely heavily upon the efforts of the Beeb to make it happen.

And in terms of the role of government, despite a pretty volatile year in the relations between Whitehall and White City, the two have to get along whether they like it or not. The government is moving towards a switch from the analogue signal to digital by 2010 - and a subsequent sale of the analogue spectrum.

Though the sale will come nowhere near reaping the sums seen by the 3G auctions it will still be an important move.

The BBC and BSkyB are in charge of making that switch happen through the offering of Freeview digital television and radio as well as the Murdoch pay-TV model which offers digital TV via satellite.

The services to be offered via television are likely to bring a fresh wave of dot-com-style innovation. It's already possible to shop, gamble, book holidays or play games via your remote control, as well as a whole host of other services, and the impact of such a diversifying media will be considerable.

And then there is the rumoured merger of publicly owned broadcaster Channel 4 with relative newcomer 5. Andy Duncan will be the man in the driving seat if this deal ever sees the light of day and the joining of such forces will provide a larger, still youth-oriented broadcaster which likely set out its stall as a pioneer of mass-market technologies for the teen and 20-something market.

It literally is a case of 'watch this space' where televisions are concerned.