Raymond Snoddy on media: Ofcom is creating problems where none exist

She now has to use her hard-won knowledge to build up to a final aria and produce sensible legislation for the future of the BBC and the commercial sector, turning her back on the siren voices that would lead her to the rocks. Lord Birt's is clearly one such voice, but she has already seen off the great visionary on several occasions, despite his considerable influence in Downing Street. Now she must tackle the even greater threat posed by Ofcom and its vision of the future of public-service broadcasting.

To some extent we have all allowed ourselves to be duped by the new, converged, modern regulator. So rational. So hard-working. So efficient. So intelligent. Now we must add to the litany - so wrong.

With enormous energy and the best of intentions, Ofcom has come up with mistaken and potentially damaging solutions for the transitional years on the way to universal, multichannel digital television. The evidence that Ofcom has fallen in love with its own theorising and, in the process, has managed to dupe itself, is there for all to see in its two latest pronouncements: the response to the BBC Green Paper and its Statement on Programming for the Nation and Regions.

The two documents have to be read in unison to understand what Ofcom is trying to foist on us. Once stripped of its sophistry, the meaning of the circular arguments is all too clear, as one fallacy and unproven assumption is built upon another.

It goes like this: because the digital revolution is gathering pace, commercial broadcasters have to be relieved of many of their public-service responsibilities. The need is urgent, and programme-makers in Norwich and Manchester have to lose their jobs now; there is not a minute to lose. But reducing the public-service offerings of this sector - a move ITV plc is more than happy to embrace with indecent haste - has created a problem for Ofcom.

It does not want the BBC to be the sole exponent of public-service broad- casting - there must be competition, after all. The BBC should, therefore, have an 'enhanced' licence fee, so that some of the money can be given to those who have been encouraged to dilute their responsibilities. Fat chance.

The reality is that roughly the same amount of money will have to be sliced many ways. Naturally, when money is flowing in ever-more complex directions, a BBC Trust is an inadequate model of governance to cope, meaning a new external body will be needed to handle the money; that is, if you allow yourself to be sucked into a false trail of logic.

These are solutions to problems that do not yet exist and can do great damage as we await the digital nirvana. The most profound problem facing ITV is a lack of creative ambition; for Channel 4, it is finding half-sensible things to do with the tide of money being generated.

It is time to stop being nice to Ofcom and for Jowell to reject much of the nonsense it is spewing out - a task I think she is up to.

30 SECONDS ON ... OFCOM'S GREEN PAPER RESPONSE

- The Green Paper is a government review of the BBC's Royal Charter.

- Ofcom agreed with several aspects of the review, including the principle of a strong, public-service-focused, effective and politically independent BBC. It also backed the continuation of a fully funded licence fee model for the next Charter period, at a level that allows it to make the necessary investments both on-screen and online.

- Ofcom says the Green Paper falls short of satisfactorily addressing the issues of public-sector broadcasting (PSB). It points out that 'securing the BBC is not the same as securing PSB for the future'.

- Ofcom argues that as commercial broadcasters develop a full range of PSB commitments, it will become imperative to construct a new model for it, with the BBC remaining at its heart.