BBC - Penalised For Success
This week's BBC strategy review proposing a wave of closures and cuts in its online, television and radio services has left me somewhat perplexed.
Surely this great institution, envied throughout the world, is flourishing in the digital age? Against the odds, the dinosaur seems to have successfully embraced new media, finding additional outlets for its programming and innovative add-ons to its offering.
From a plethora of websites to the iconic iPlayer which in January celebrated a record 120m requests for TV and radio shows, the corporation has established itself as a dominant force in 21st century communications. That, it seems, is just the problem. The BBC is doing 'too well' and its dominant position is making it too touch for the competition.
As a result of criticisms levied at the Beeb over the past few years, a strategic review of the public broadcaster's remit and services has been undertaken ahead of 2012 when all households will own a digital television. Its proposals put forward to the BBC Trust include:
- Closing down digital radio stations BBC 6Music and the Asian Network
- Shutting down half of all BBC websites and cutting both online staff numbers and the �112m online budget by 25 per cent
- Axing teen offerings BBC Switch and Blast!
- Capping sports rights spending at 8.5 per cent of the licence fee (about �300m)
- Reducing the �100m budget for foreign broadcast acquisitions by 20 per cent
The argument is that with its huge guaranteed income, the BBC represents unfair competition to its rivals who are struggling to survive in the face of falling advertising revenues. The corporation has come under fire from beleaguered commercial rivals and senior politicians alike as the power of its online and expanding digital TV and radio channels has continued to grow.
An attack by James Murdoch, head of News Corporation in the UK, claimed that the BBC's position made it impossible for rivals to make online news a viable business.
I'm sorry, but I find it difficult to sympathise with the current plight of commercial TV stations and traditional media. When revenues were booming in the 80s (and I was a lowly BBC researcher), I remember the chaos caused by huge cuts at the BBC with staff axed and programme commissioning moved to independent production companies.
Might it be that the BBC is actually better than its rivals and has simply out-performed its commercial competition? Looking at my own viewing habits, I probably choose BBC TV or radio programmes 80 per cent of the time. As a nation, the British are very good at mocking themselves whether it's our incompetence in Olympic ski jumping (does anyone remember Eddie 'the Eagle'?) or our less-than-memorable Eurovision song contest entrants, we seem to take a strange pride in being the underdog.
In contrast, we have a British institution which, despite criticism and whinging, has continued to produce probably the best programming output in the world (in fact, BBC Worldwide generated annual revenues of �1 billion in 2008). Why can't we just be glad and celebrate our success in leading the world in quality broadcasting?
What's more, I was even more incensed to see that the corporation's plans to launch news and sports iPhone apps (what a fantastic idea!) were being opposed by the Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA), again because it might 'hinder competition'. Come on, this really is pushing things too far - surely, if the BBC is able to successfully harness technology in order to deliver something for which there is a real demand, than we, the licence payers, have a right to benefit from it?
With the thorny issue of BBC funding once more at the top of the agenda, it seems that as a public service broadcaster, the corporation is in a no win situation - it would be slated for wasting licence payers money if it wasn't doing well and now it's being attacked for being too good at its job!
There's no doubt that the Beeb enjoys widespread public trust and affection and, in my view, deservedly so.