Broadband will dramatically change the way in which audiences consume the moving image, says UK Film Council head.

Building on options already outlined by Ofcom, in his speech to the Media Festival in Manchester about Cultural Convergence John Woodward, chief executive of the UK Film Council. outlined a vision for a new system that would allow the work of the UK’s greatest cultural organisations, as well as new entrants, to be shared via universal broadband with the public giving them unprecedented access to the UK’s best culture and art.

He argued that until now there has been a mismatch between what audiences might wish to see and what could be made available, but fast broadband delivery changes that.

John Woodward said: “Imagine, for a moment, a world in which it becomes possible to view, on-demand, thousands of hours of material from national and local archives, to watch plays from anywhere in the UK, to call up moving image content about art exhibitions of every size and shape across the UK – all with supporting editorial content and context. And all giving audiences the chance to comment and supply their own context via wikis and blogs.

“Then imagine, this content is actually created by partnerships between arts and cultural organisations working with independent production companies. In other words, you marry the world-class cultural expertise that already exists in public sector brands - like the Tate, the Royal Shakespeare Company et al - with the dynamism of our independent production sector.”

Acknowledging universal access to broadband as a prerequisite for the delivery of such public service content, Woodward painted a picture of a world in which children in Llanelli would have access to art in a Liverpool gallery while residents in an Altrincham care home could watch archive material about growing up in Manchester 70 years ago.

Praising the UK as possessing some of the richest cultural and artistic collections and resources in the world, ranging from the BFI National Archive to the Welsh National Opera, Woodward said that the organisations themselves have to play a crucial role in breaking down barriers to promote their content using their established brands, recognisable to consumers.

Woodward said that if a competitive fund for public service content were to be made available, then the BBC and Channel 4 should offer their public service platforms to facilitate distribution.

He raised the idea of a “contestable fund which drives innovation in content – precisely because it sits outside the structures of traditional broadcaster business models.” Woodward proposed that in order to receive funding, programme makers would be required to meet simple objective criteria, in order to automatically unlock funding for public service content.