Commercial Broadcasters Say BBC Should ‘Live Within Its Means’

The Commercial Radio Companies Association (CRCA) and ITV have today submitted a letter to the secretary of state for culture, media and sport, Chris Smith. Both are voicing a shared view as regards the future funding of the BBC.

The two bodies feel that the BBC Funding Review Panel, which is asking for money for further services, should initially identify what core public services the BBC should and does provide, and the licence fee can then be costed on that basis.

Both the CRCA and ITV claim that the BBC is already well-funded, and should be required to live within its means. The parties also recommended that the BBC’s commercial services be separated from its publicly funded operation.

At present, the BBC’s commercial interests include UKTV, which is a joint venture with Flextech (see Newsline), its magazine arm BBC Magazines, a division of BBC Worldwide, and Beeb.com.

The broadcasting bodies also recommend that BBC Worldwide should be managed and housed separately and regulated by an independent, external regulator.

Paul Brown, CRCA chairman and chief executive, commented: “The fact that the CRCA and ITV have written jointly to the secretary of state shows the importance of the issues currently being debated. The BBC’s public service remit must be made clear by the Government or an independent regulator and any commercial competition should only take place in a culture of transparency where there is clear separation between the BBC’s public and commercial services.”

BBC: 0181 576 7789 CRCA: 0171 306 2603 ITV: 0171 843 8000