NEITHER Sir Ian nor Sir Robert referred to the Possibility
of 'Pay-as-you-view' television. The BBC's reticence is understandable : if we are going to pay for programmes of our own choice, we are going to resent even more paying licence money to a Corporation which thinks it knows better what we want than we do ourselves. The ITA, too, is alarmed that PAYV might become too popular for its comfort. Whereas an educa- tional service would presumably cater only for minority audiences, PAYV, if it put on My Fair Lady or the latest films, could wipe commercial television off the ratings. But this should not be the aim of PAYV. It will be a good solution to the third (or fourth) network problem only if it is kept in its place : that is, if it caters for minority audiences. This is not to suggest it should be banned from showing,. say, the Grand National; but its main object ought rather to be to show Grand Opera, or whatever types of Pro- gramme are normally denied to minorities by the cost of production. Many of these would in fact be educational; provided the technical difficulties can be overcome, the PAYV solution seems to me to be the most sensible solution to the network
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