Lay off

ITV is pretty grumpy about the planned return of BBC Three to linear broadcasting, in its response to Ofcom. 

Ofcom has provided no assurance that BBC Three will be obliged to deliver on the BBC’s own  commitments to deliver public value; and

Ofcom has provided insufficient scrutiny of BBC’s market impact model which significantly underplays the impact that the BBC’s proposals will have on rivals and hence on fair and effective competition.

In the past, US-acquired shows Family Guy and American Dad were the mainstay of BBC Three schedules, driving almost of third of BBC Three viewing. We are very concerned that the BBC is on track to go even further down this road with a relaunched BBC Three with nothing in the service licence or regulatory framework to stop them.

In the most recent chart showing weekly most-watched programmes on ITV2, American Dad takes five places in the top 50, and Family Guy occupies 19 slots.