Regulating the BBC
15/03/06 10:15 Admin
notes
Been a little quiet over the last couple of days - a
bloke's got to work sometimes!
The big noise in the media at the moment is the regulation of the BBC. The regime is going to change as it does every few years, and as a publicly-funded body it's right that the thing should be kept under some scrutiny.
The problem is how you define public service broadcasting. My favourite programmes on the BBC currently include The Apprentice, I'll be missing watching Dick and Dom in da Bungalow with my family and of course there's the one-off plays that are coming back. (I knew I could make that list without mentioning Doctor Who somehow!) I'd be distressed if they were all taken off the air tomorrow, but I honestly can't think of a single reason they should be paid for by the public rather than the private sector. Stuff like Question Time, Planet Earth and the superb news services are different; they serve a distinct function.
My guess is that it will become increasingly difficult to justify a license-fee-funded BBC that entertains rather than informs as time goes on. The only justification at the moment seems to be that the BBC is damned good at it and the competition, for the moment, has fewer hits. For me that's good enough, and I regard the license fee as good value, but I'm acutely aware that 'Guy doesn't think it needs to change' isn't a great argument when it comes to public finances!
The big noise in the media at the moment is the regulation of the BBC. The regime is going to change as it does every few years, and as a publicly-funded body it's right that the thing should be kept under some scrutiny.
The problem is how you define public service broadcasting. My favourite programmes on the BBC currently include The Apprentice, I'll be missing watching Dick and Dom in da Bungalow with my family and of course there's the one-off plays that are coming back. (I knew I could make that list without mentioning Doctor Who somehow!) I'd be distressed if they were all taken off the air tomorrow, but I honestly can't think of a single reason they should be paid for by the public rather than the private sector. Stuff like Question Time, Planet Earth and the superb news services are different; they serve a distinct function.
My guess is that it will become increasingly difficult to justify a license-fee-funded BBC that entertains rather than informs as time goes on. The only justification at the moment seems to be that the BBC is damned good at it and the competition, for the moment, has fewer hits. For me that's good enough, and I regard the license fee as good value, but I'm acutely aware that 'Guy doesn't think it needs to change' isn't a great argument when it comes to public finances!
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