MGEITF 2003: Jowell Defends Core Value Of Repeats
Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell, has called on British broadcasters to re-run more classic programmes in an unexpected defence of the repeat as a cornerstone of public service broadcasting.
Making her first ever appearance at the Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival last weekend, Jowell claimed that “golden nuggets” such as Pride And Prejudice, The Office and classic Coronation Street were an example of the best of public service broadcasting and should be shown more often.
She said: “It’s fashionable, almost compulsory at the TV Festival, to knock the number of repeats on TV, and blame the laziness of broadcasters. But I believe there is real public service in keeping these memories alive, just as in creating new memories by commissioning new programmes.”
In a move likely to anger those who feel the schedules are already too crowded with repeats of old programmes, Jowell added: “There is real value in re-showing dramas such as Cathy Come Home, or documentaries as enlightening as the Ascent of Man. Taken together, the archives of the broadcasters are as much a part of our post war popular culture as the Beatles or Harry Potter.”
Turning her attention to radio, she said: “The success of BBC7 shows that there is a real appetite for a second chance to see or hear some of the thousands of hours of world class, original programming public service broadcasters have produced.”
Jowell tempered her comments with a warning against “lazy scheduling” and broadcasters that make “TV on the cheap”, but said: “I do applaud the mining of the archives for golden nuggets from the past.”
The Culture Secretary then went on to address the contentious issue of the regulation of the BBC and insisted the forthcoming charter review would be: “Wide-ranging, open and transparent, with extensive public consultation and appropriate parliamentary scrutiny.”
She refused to comment on the ongoing Hutton enquiry, or the BBC’s dispute with the Government, but said: “However wide-ranging and however radical, there is one thing that I’m certain of, that at the end of the process the independence of the BBC from Government will remain.”
Jowell also revealed that the Government’s review of the BBC’s online services will begin under the direction of former Trinity Mirror chief executive, Philip Graf, who will examine the impact of the Corporation’s £111 million internet services on the commercial market.
The review, which will run until 17 November, will also feed into the BBC charter renewal process and will examine how the online services fit within the Corporation’s general public service obligations.
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