Former culture secretary warns Netflix revolution has made BBC licence fee unsustainable
Sir John Whittingdale has responded to a new report which suggests that viewers have turned off from the BBC and moved to streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon...
The former Tory minister said: “The broadcasting landscape has changed dramatically since the last BBC charter review with more and more people choosing to subscribe to streaming services. At the same time, the number refusing to pay a licence fee is growing each year putting increasing pressure on the BBC’s finances.
“It is plain that the compulsory licence fee model cannot be sustained for much longer and that we need to begin the debate now about the role of the BBC going forward and how best to fund it."
Translation -
You are stuck with the state broadcaster and you will be made to pay for it, whatever you think of the quality, because that isn't the point. We don't know what the point is yet, but we do know that your opinions don't come into it.
Oh - and you are stuck with government culture secretaries too.
3 comments:
I have argued for some time that we should defund the BBC as a counter woke activity. I now realise that it could also be the start of abolishing all independent bodies (NGOs, QUANGOs, Arts Councils etc.).
And yes, there will be stiff resistance by the people making a living in those “independent bodies” but Milei and Trump show it can be done if the ‘ordinary man’ is fed up enough with being farmed for tax and being told what it is permissible to say.
The BBC is rather like some big arts and news and entertainment collective, made up of Oxbridge graduates with a passion for self-promotion and technology. They seem to have met at Uni and then decided to work together, promoting their own and each others' opinions by broadcasting them. A mixed bunch, and the techie aspects are usually good, and there is some genuine talent among the whole lot.
How, though, did they get into this privileged position, protected and promoted by the state?
Break the whole thing up into rational and manageable chunks, each of which could charge a subscription. 20 years ago, I would have happily paid for Radio 3, as I like classical music. Now, though, it's all mixed in with jazz and ethnic nonsense, and slathered all over with glossy self promotion, and besides, I already subscribe to Spotify.
I'm sure, though, that some would pay for it. And for news and current affairs commentary. And some like the sport. And apparently there are some good wildlife programmes for those that like that sort of thing. And maybe there are a few midwit student types who want to hear snide left-wing humour along the lines of "That Trump, though - he's a fascist, isn't he!" with some canned laughter. You never know what people like to listen to and watch, but let the market decide.
DJ - I agree and Milei and Trump have shown it must be done quickly and decisively on the back of a mood change and before the usual suspects can get their act together. One possible advantage to the current situation is that Starmer and co. are so useless that a major mood change may be building.
Sam - that could work, although the audience for those rational and manageable chunks may not be large enough for a subscription format to work without advertising. BBC bods would probably see it as much the same as a sell off because slimming down would have to be drastic.
The sticking point seems to be that the BBC has many influential friends and doesn't feel the need to compromise anywhere.
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