BBC rules out licence fee cash to aid rivals

chris

The BBC yesterday outlined a series of ideas to help its broadcasting rivals, but emphatically rejected the idea of handing them a portion of the licence fee or a stake in its profitable commercial arm.

Outlining its contribution to Ofcom's review of public service broadcasting, the BBC's director general, Mark Thompson, and the chairman of the BBC Trust, Sir Michael Lyons, promised to share its resources more widely and floated proposals including an internet TV version of Freeview.

But insiders at rival broadcasters said most of the cooperative ideas, due to be hardened up into firm proposals by the autumn, were either happening anyway or would be of marginal assistance. The funding models that historically underpinned ITV, Channel 4 and Five are coming under increased pressure due to global competition and technological change.

Channel 4 has consistently argued it will face a funding black hole of between £100m and £150m as Britain switches to digital television and is lobbying for some form of public subsidy. But the BBC yesterday again rejected the idea of "top slicing" the licence fee and went further by also rejecting the idea of Channel 4 taking an equity stake in burgeoning commercial arm BBC Worldwide. The money from BBC Worldwide, which exploits programmes such as Doctor Who around the world, had already been earmarked for BBC projects, said Thompson.

Instead, he said the BBC could help in a variety of other ways that would not involve taking money from the licence fee. ITV, for example, could take advantage of the BBC's network of regional studios and correspondents to boost its news provision as it came under financial pressure.

Thompson also suggested the BBC's experience in slashing a fifth from its TV production costs over the next five years and moving to a fully digital environment could be shared with rivals. He said the BBC could coordinate an effort to establish a "new open standard" for a broadband internet version of Freeview.

The success of catch-up service iPlayer in taking shows like The Apprentice and Gavin & Stacey to a broader audience highlighted the potential of internet TV for all public service broadcasters, he said. He thought the BBC was the natural institution to take forward Ofcom's idea of a portal to link contributions from other public bodies, such as museums and galleries.

By the autumn, he promised, BBC executives would outline "a tangible, deliverable list of ways the BBC could materially shift the dial not only for the BBC and licence payers but for the whole PSB [public service broadcasting] sector".

The 88-page submission to Ofcom from Thompson and Lyons, accompanied by a book culled from a recent series of lectures by broadcasting heavyweights such as Stephen Fry and Sir David Attenborough, is the BBC's latest attempt to frame the debate. In a shot across the bows of Ofcom, Lyons warned against the dangers of over-regulation and said he wanted to avoid it "becoming the editor in chief of news and content".

Channel 4 this year launched a bold manifesto designed to secure public funding as a competitor with the BBC. It has warned that advertising revenues are already down 2% this year, which will have an impact on its public service content.

"We welcome the BBC's comments today about partnership and will study their proposals in more detail," said Channel 4's chief executive, Andy Duncan. "To be meaningful, these proposals need to be more than warm words and make a material difference to our funding model."

Ofcom will use the BBC's response and those from other broadcasters and stakeholders to inform the next stage of its public service broadcasting review, to be used as the basis of a new Communications Act some time after 2010.


BBC rules out licence fee cash to aid rivals

* Owen Gibson, media correspondent
* The Guardian,
* Tuesday June 24, 2008
* Article history

The BBC yesterday outlined a series of ideas to help its broadcasting rivals, but emphatically rejected the idea of handing them a portion of the licence fee or a stake in its profitable commercial arm.

Outlining its contribution to Ofcom's review of public service broadcasting, the BBC's director general, Mark Thompson, and the chairman of the BBC Trust, Sir Michael Lyons, promised to share its resources more widely and floated proposals including an internet TV version of Freeview.

But insiders at rival broadcasters said most of the cooperative ideas, due to be hardened up into firm proposals by the autumn, were either happening anyway or would be of marginal assistance. The funding models that historically underpinned ITV, Channel 4 and Five are coming under increased pressure due to global competition and technological change.

Channel 4 has consistently argued it will face a funding black hole of between £100m and £150m as Britain switches to digital television and is lobbying for some form of public subsidy. But the BBC yesterday again rejected the idea of "top slicing" the licence fee and went further by also rejecting the idea of Channel 4 taking an equity stake in burgeoning commercial arm BBC Worldwide. The money from BBC Worldwide, which exploits programmes such as Doctor Who around the world, had already been earmarked for BBC projects, said Thompson.

Instead, he said the BBC could help in a variety of other ways that would not involve taking money from the licence fee. ITV, for example, could take advantage of the BBC's network of regional studios and correspondents to boost its news provision as it came under financial pressure.

Thompson also suggested the BBC's experience in slashing a fifth from its TV production costs over the next five years and moving to a fully digital environment could be shared with rivals. He said the BBC could coordinate an effort to establish a "new open standard" for a broadband internet version of Freeview.

The success of catch-up service iPlayer in taking shows like The Apprentice and Gavin & Stacey to a broader audience highlighted the potential of internet TV for all public service broadcasters, he said. He thought the BBC was the natural institution to take forward Ofcom's idea of a portal to link contributions from other public bodies, such as museums and galleries.

By the autumn, he promised, BBC executives would outline "a tangible, deliverable list of ways the BBC could materially shift the dial not only for the BBC and licence payers but for the whole PSB [public service broadcasting] sector".

The 88-page submission to Ofcom from Thompson and Lyons, accompanied by a book culled from a recent series of lectures by broadcasting heavyweights such as Stephen Fry and Sir David Attenborough, is the BBC's latest attempt to frame the debate. In a shot across the bows of Ofcom, Lyons warned against the dangers of over-regulation and said he wanted to avoid it "becoming the editor in chief of news and content".

Channel 4 this year launched a bold manifesto designed to secure public funding as a competitor with the BBC. It has warned that advertising revenues are already down 2% this year, which will have an impact on its public service content.

"We welcome the BBC's comments today about partnership and will study their proposals in more detail," said Channel 4's chief executive, Andy Duncan. "To be meaningful, these proposals need to be more than warm words and make a material difference to our funding model."

Ofcom will use the BBC's response and those from other broadcasters and stakeholders to inform the next stage of its public service broadcasting review, to be used as the basis of a new Communications Act some time after 2010.




Source: guardian