The Stage

Growing revenues

Published Tuesday 13 March 2007 at 11:50

The government deal for the BBC continues to cause concern. Yet when the Corporation makes plans to do something about it, and make the best of a bad deal, they (the BBC) are accused of trying to have their cake and eat it.

The BBC has announced plans for a new online media player that could rival Apple’s iTunes. Called iPlayer, the Corporation’s service is expected to appear in two forms. The first will proffer a free seven-day catch-up service for BBC programming.

The other, from BBC Worldwide, will charge viewers - either through pay-per-view or subscription charges - for the Corporation’s back catalogue of audio and TV programming. While the iPlayer will not offer a massive catalogue of music downloads - as iTunes does - there is a huge potential overlap, eg, iTunes offers a large range of TV shows including CSI and Lost, as well as A-class movies, audio books and podcasts.

Here’s the fly in the proverbial ointment. As an alternative revenue source, the Beeb is planning to run adverts. And BBC bosses are presently attempting to persuade other broadcasting rights owners to use the service, which is expected to begin in the autumn as a platform for selling their programmes.

The Beeb has serious concerns over the below inflation licence fee settlement (announced in January 2007) on the ability of the BBC to make world class drama entertainment. A six-year deal that leaves the Beeb some £2 million plus short of the funding it explained to the government is necessary to cope with an era of rapid change in all aspects of electronic media.

Furthermore, taking some £600 million out of the BBC’s operating budget, in order to help viewers move to digital runs, is risking further damaging its second to none programme-making abilities.

All this (and more) is why BBC Worldwide has been charged with growing revenues to support BBC services. Politicians, such as the ill-informed Tory MP David Davies, may catcall and remind us of the Corporation’s charter and accuse the Beeb of “creeping commercialism”, but at the end of the day, does he, or any other uniformed politician have better suggestions as to how the BBC can continue without enough cash to support its future?

Footnote: The annual licence fee will rise from £131.50 to £151.50 by 2012, breaking the historical link between the licence fee and inflation. Full details of Equity’s concerns regarding the BBC’s hope to increase its borrowing capacity and the ring-fencing of £600 million appear in the Equity Journal spring edition, 2007, page 5.

Faith Hines

Old Court

Long Melford

Suffolk