BBC Chief Outlines Need for Public-Service Broadcasting

LONDON, July 11: In a speech at the QE2 Conference Centre in
London, the BBC’s director-general, Mark
Thompson, said public-service broadcasting in the U.K. would be more
necessary than ever by 2012 as a result of “market failure” in comedy, drama,
news and kids’ programming.

Thompson began by laying out the expected landscape in July
2012, with the London Olympics weeks away and digital switchover soon to be
completed. “This is a world of intense experience, open all the time, 24/7. The
days are full—competition, the hunger for growth and success, mean that
work itself has a new intensity. But busyness stretches far beyond the
workplace. Family, voluntary work, above all play—everything intensifies.
Less downtime, fewer compromises, fewer restraints. A world, if you want it, of
a hedonism never seen before. It's the most truly global world there's ever
been. Information, investment, careers, cultures—for big companies, for
the capital markets, for the educated, for the privileged, national boundaries
matter hardly at all. And modern media matches this world step for step. Open
all hours. Portable. Personalized. Any fact at your fingertips. Any piece of
information or music or entertainment ever created.

“And it's exactly when contemplating this world—the
world of Facebook and YouTube and Second Life and Skype—that some people
find themselves scratching their heads about the future BBC and PSB
[public-service broadcasting] more generally.”

Thompson continued: “Public-service broadcasting is not a
piece of arid theology. It's a passion—a passion which I believe you can
see in Planet Earth and hear in Alan
Johnston's voice.

“Public service broadcasting is broadcasting that seeks to
do more than satisfy immediate consumer demand. It seeks to promote a wider
good for individuals, for households, for the public at large. Public service
broadcasting is the reason—the only reason—why the BBC exists.”

Thompson then noted that market failure was the only
economic justification for the BBC. “If purely commercial media can adequately
deliver all of the public value that the public actually want, you don't need a
BBC or a Channel 4. You don't need a license fee. You don't need to intervene
at all in the commercial objectives of ITV or Five or anyone else.”

Thompson stressed that in the U.K. in 2012, that need for
public-service broadcasting would be more important than ever. “This is not
just a brave new world of personal digital empowerment. Despite the myriad
theoretical points of contact between individuals, it's paradoxically a rather
lonely world, a world in which true moments of connection—perhaps the
Olympics will be one of them—feel more precious than ever. It's also the
age of uncertainty. Uncertainty about security and identity. About
globalization and our climate. About our children's diet and health. About
democracy and civic engagement. All not just worthy of public debate, but
demanding it. My question is: where exactly in 2012 will these debates take
place? Some, of course, in the margins of MTV and MySpace. But given the scale
of the debate, the challenge in terms of public information and understanding,
are we really certain that, five years from now, commercial media will be
enough?”

Thompson is particularly concerned about the state of news
provision. “Around the world, including in markets like the U.S. with no
tradition of public intervention like ours, investment in news is undergoing a
crisis. In virtually every country I know, newspapers are cutting back their
spend on foreign reporting and on investigative journalism as well. Market
failure in the supply of quality news and current affairs is growing.

“And it's not just news. Skills and knowledge will be vital
if Britain is to succeed in the world of 2012. Yet millions of Britons leave
our education system with a deficit which the BBC and other PSBs could help
address. For the disenfranchised and economically marginalized, market failure
isn't a term of art— it's a personal tragedy.”

On comedy, meanwhile, Thompson noted that some of Britain’s
most famous comic talents—including John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson and Ricky
Gervais—“could only have been nurtured by British public service
television and radio. Nobody else in U.K. broadcasting invests significantly in
scripted comedy. Nor is there any evidence that they would do so in 2012 or any
other year in the future, even if the BBC and Channel 4 ceased to exist. … If
Channel 4 and the BBC ceased to exist, every independent comedy producer in the
U.K. would go bust.

“News. Learning. Comedy. I could have mentioned U.K. drama,
children's programs, documentary, science. It's the same trend in every
developed media market in the world. If you want to see what 2012 would look
like without the BBC and PSB, surf through your Sky or cable EPG beyond the
public service channels. You'll find some good programs there. But there are
yawning gaps as well—and it is through those gaps that much of our talent
and nearly all of our production base would fall. So too would much of the
content which our audiences love most.”

Thompson also addressed the ways in which the BBC needs to
adapt for the challenges of 2012. “Modern Britain demands a more open BBC. It
demands a BBC which is more willing to admit its mistakes and imperfections. A
BBC which is still proud of its excellence but less arrogant with it. A BBC
which is up for being a partner rather than a privileged competitor. To me,
responding to this demand is not a sign of weakness, but of confidence and of
respect for our audiences.”

Thompson also said that the pubcaster needs to become
smaller; by the end of the year, at least 6,000 people will have left the BBC
since 2004 through redundancy, outsourcing or the sale of businesses. “Between
now and 2012 the search for greater productivity, for greater value from the
license fee, must go on. This year's settlement and the Government's goal for
the BBC to achieve net efficiency savings of 3 percent per year for the next
six years demand it. But more importantly, we will not be able to afford our
own future unless we free up substantial resources from existing commitments.”

He concluded: “If we use the coming years to focus our
energies and creativity; to set a distinctive course; to listen and respond to,
but also to challenge and surprise our audiences; then we will also remain at
the heart of British national life. Not just today. Not just in 2012. But for
decades to come.”