United Kingdom: BBC 'Public Value Test' Underway for HD

The BBC Trust is now conducting a Public Value Test for an HD channel being proposed as part of the long-range plans of the BBC.

The purpose of this formal "consultation" with British viewers (as the Trust puts it) is to serve as part of the overall Public Value Assessment of proposals that the BBC Trust will be seeking from the public. The official document is available online for British citizens (although the PDF file is accessible to anyone).

The Trust is inviting responses from the public online (or e-mail and regular post) through June 19 as to the value of a BBC proposal to operate an HD channel that would be readily accessible to all viewers with the necessary HD equipment. The BBC Trust is assuring Britons that "individual representations will not be published. However, they will be used to inform the PVA and may be quoted from in the PVA report."

On its Web site, the BBC Trust also makes a point of saying it operates totally independently of BBC broadcast operations and, therefore, "is able to consider potentially confidential or market-sensitive information which would not be shared with the BBC Executive."