ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses how the introduction of analogue cable and satellite channels has influenced regulation in the United Kingdom. Digital cable and satellite channels have irrevocably challenged the traditional way of regulating the new media and the terrestrial broadcasting channels at national level in the twenty-first century. The penetration of the new media and the digitalisation of broadcasting channels challenged the traditional national regulation and legislation in broadcasting in the 1990s. The 1980s represented a turning point in British broadcasting because, for the first time, regulation started to take a back seat as a matter of principle. The implications for regulation also influenced the Committee against the introduction of advertising on the British Broadcasting Corporation while the present system of broadcasting was retained. Autonomy needed to be restored not to the regulator but to the industry in order to give it more say in defining the public interest, rather than leaving this task to the regulator and to the politicians.
