Explanatory note

This Order raises the maximum shareholding which a producer may hold in a broadcaster and which one broadcaster may hold in a producer from 15 per cent to 25 per cent and provides that two or more broadcasters may hold up to 50 per cent of the shares in a producer, without, in any of those cases, the producer thereby losing his status as an independent producer.

The Order enables a producer established in the European Economic Area to hold any quantity of shares in a broadcaster outside it without losing the status of being an independent producer.

The Order also excludes the providers of teletext and similar services from the definition of “broadcaster.”