BBC Should Sell Its Most Popular Programmes
The BBC would be forced to sell its most popular programmes to rival commercial broadcasters and concentrate more on its public service obligations, under radical new proposals put forward by BSkyB chief executive, Tony Ball.
Delivering the MacTaggart Lecture at this year’s Edinburgh International Television Festival, Ball said the Corporation should offer at least six of its highest rated programmes, such as Fame Academy, The Weakest Link and Holby City, to the commercial sector in a competitive auction.
The plan, which is being seen as the first major attack on the BBC in the run up to charter renewal, is designed to help the Corporation realise the value of its assets and plough money back into developing new public service programming.
Ball said: “The proposal would free up time in the BBC1 and BBC2 schedules and ensure that the licence fee was put to the most creative use possible. It would encourage the BBC to focus on innovative and risky programming, exactly as they should be doing.”
In what was a wide-ranging speech, he also suggested the BBC should be banned from using licence fee payers’ money to buy US imports and Hollywood movies, such as Harry Potter, which it secured as the centrepiece of its Christmas Day schedule in a package worth around £10 million.
Ball described the move as “a clear example of executive vanity supplanting public service ethos” and said: “I really cannot see why public money is being diverted to those poor struggling Hollywood studios in this way. BBC resources should be redeployed to commission more independently produced UK programming.”
The final stage of the three part-plan, which stunned television executives at last weekend’s festival, called for all BBC channels to have a specific remit and a set of measurable criteria against which it could be judged on a regular basis.
Ball said: “Too often the debate about whether the BBC is overstepping the mark is utterly nebulous, because nobody has defined where the mark is. The Government has already decided to impose a clear remit on BBC3. There is no logical reason why we shouldn’t be equally clear about what we want other channels to do as well.”
The BBC’s £116 licence fee, which currently generates around £2.5 billion a year for Corporation, also came under fire. Ball released the findings of an opinion poll commissioned by Sky, which shows that 51% of respondents claim the licence fee does not provide good value for money, compared to 42% four years ago.
Ball said: “The licence fee is a regressive, hypothecated tax. Such taxes can only ever be justified if they are set at a reasonable level, and if the services they fund are highly appreciated by the people who pay for them. It is clear that those who ultimately own the BBC, the British people, are becoming less and less convinced.”
The BBC was quick to dismiss Ball’s comments and issued a statement saying: “We are flattered that Tony Ball should be so preoccupied with the BBC, but his comments have to be seen in the context of Rupert Murdoch’s long and hostile campaign against the BBC.”
The Corporation also claimed: “This speech clearly reflects BSkyB’s view that programmes are merely a commodity to be bought and sold. The BBC, and probably the majority of British broadcasters and producers, believe that programmes are about creativity, talent and broader cultural and social influences.”
However, Ball defended his hard-line stance, saying: “The BBC will no doubt argue that depriving it of some popular shows will cause viewing share to decline, undermining its ability to serve the public. But if all that is underpinning support for the Corporation are old programmes or bought in US shows that would not be out of place on a commercial channels, then, frankly, in my view, the BBC is already failing in its mission.”
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