The initiative is supported by Chris Smith, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Now a glitzy launch is one thing, achieving real change on the ground is another. We will have to wait and see if this initiative really delivers. However, it is interesting to note that the Cultural Diversity Network was not set up because of a desire by all these organisations to make some comforting, politically correct statement. It has been set up for the clearest, and coldest of commercial reasons.
Ethnic minorities make up seven per cent of the UK population.
In the Midlands it will be 12 per cent. At the same time, black and Asian viewers are deserting terrestrial television in record numbers. With the fastest growing section of the audience rapidly turning away from terrestrial television, broadcasters have realised that they must adapt, or risk becoming increasingly irrelevant. And if they become irrelevant, if they lose their audiences, they also lose their advertising revenue and right to demand a licence fee. It is a simple commercial choice.