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I do have my own “issues” with the BBC but today in the Independent, Raymond Snoddy wrote an interesting piece on the relatively new BBC Trust which replaced the old “Board of Governors” being under attack by both Labour and the Conservatives:

“First, Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw decided the Trust, whose job is to represent licence payer’s interests and defend the Corporation’s independence, should be abolished. Never mind that it was the work of his colleague, former Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, or that the body was designed to be more independent of BBC management than the Board of Governors it replaced.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/raymond-snoddy-the-case-against-has-not-been-proven-1805626.html

The problem is not a simple one to resolve

The heart of the problem probably lies in BBC programming and the Licence Fee rather than whether it is “The Board of Governors” or the BBC Trust. This is also compounded by a “Media Business” (in the broadest sense but think of News Corporation as a good example), who are crying foul because they haven’t developed a new commercial business model to replace the one that has fallen apart. I have written on this before, if interested see: http://baldysblog.co.uk/2009/08/29/a-murdoch-moan/

I am not an avid TV watcher likely because I spend a lot of the time staring at computer monitors but recently laid up with a bacterial infection, I was obliged to watch a fair amount of TV and came to the conclusion that on all channels, the news coverage was somewhat infantile and lacking in depth. Perhaps it was only then that I realised that like many people and likely many contributors to the Indy, I rely for news and comment not on one source but on many and almost exclusively accessed via the Internet and in fact the BBC has probably one of the best web sites going.

The bottom line for me is that I would not be in too much of a hurry to change anything here overnight and without very careful thought and discussion except for one thing, I would reduce the BBC’s income from the Licence Fee by a percentage using top slicing (£10 ?), and for that to be ploughed into upgrading our national broadband infrastructure way beyond 2Mbs which would benefit the “commercial media” as well but without cost to them.

There are a lot of people who object to the Licence Fee which like Council Tax is not “means tested on ability to pay” but for now, leave it be, like a Sky package, you can pay for the TV Licence monthly and it is a lot cheaper than Sky. I don’t have a hang up about Murdoch, I admire him as the ruthless businessman he always has been and in that context, the BBC is a very good check on both him and any other Media Mogul.

Some years ago and being no admirer of TV Soaps, I was chatting to a BBC chap at a social event and asked “Why East Enders etc…?” His reply was interesting:

He said that the Licence Fee was always controversial with many people so if all they did was Period Drama, Natural History and the Proms, they would be accused of being “Elitist” and “poor people subsidising the tastes of the better off…” Therefore and although they weren’t chasing ratings for advertising revenue as commercial TV had to, they had to chase the ratings with popular programmes if only to prove they are delivering value to all in exchange for the Licence Fee they get.

It was an interesting view that I had never previously considered. My view to all the “Politicos” is shut up, make a reasoned case but always hasten slowly with any change, it really isn’t as simple as it seems, the BBC does not sit in isolation, you also must consider the commercial interests whereby they might think “damaging the BBC” might serve their interests but the real question is, does it serve ours as taxpayers and consumers ?

Another Comment

A Regular contributor pointed out that in Australia they had abolished the Licence Fee and absorbed it into general taxation… After some thought, it deserved a reply:

I hear where you are coming from but disagree, despite being in the Anglo-sphere and in terms of a sense of humour at least, very close to us the physical circumstances are totally different. They have a Continent with only 21,000,000 people, we have an Island with 60,000,000 people there are also other political constraints in Australia bought about by the Federal system.

The problem with the BBC being absorbed into a general taxation model is that then, who controls it ? Does it in fact then become the mouth piece of the Government of the Day ? Of course it does.

When OAPs reach 80 or so, they do not pay for TV Licences that principle could be extended to single Mums and so on via “credits” using the Benefits System if desired so why absorb the TV Licence into “general taxation”, sorry but a silly idea, just how much of your Road Tax gets spent on roads ? Correct, very little, a tax by any other name is just a tax, at least the Licence Fee is ring fenced, does what it says on the tin ?