Tony Hall: ‘BBC on Top Creative Form’

LONDON: In a statement issued alongside BBC's Annual Report today, Director-General Tony Hall said that the debate about the organization's future should be rooted not in "ideological arguments," but rather in the "great programs and great services" the pubcaster delivers.

"When I look back at last year’s output, I see a BBC on top creative form….It’s a year we can be proud of," Hall said, referencing highlights like Wolf Hall, Our World War One, the FA Cup and "consistently brilliant and brave coverage of the Middle East."

Pointing to the BBC's high-quality output, Hall said, "That’s why people like the BBC. That’s why they enjoy the BBC. That’s why they trust the BBC. That’s why they value it. That’s what they pay us to do…. We enhance the lives of everyone in the U.K., in more ways than ever before, and more often than ever before."

He continued, "When people have so much to choose from, it’s testament to the quality of what we produce that 46 million people in the U.K. choose to use the BBC every day. And they choose to stay with us for over 18 hours per person, per week, on average."

Following the recent news that the BBC will have to pay for the license fee for Britons over the age of 75, "The debate now moves on to what kind of BBC we want in the future," Hall said. "And I’m much happier starting that debate from a shared agreement around flat cash funding for BBC services, rather than starting off down around three-quarters of a billion pounds. This debate matters hugely because we face a big choice about the kind of BBC we want in the future."

Hall noted the challenges the broadcaster is facing, among them that "our competitors are now global media giants, who own more and more of the U.K.’s media sector."

He also referenced changing consumption habits, stating "we must reinvent public-service broadcasting for young audiences, whose behavior is changing the fastest. We must make the transition to an internet-first BBC, across all our genres and services. This is vital if the U.K. is to continue to punch above its weight as one of the most creative nations in the world. And grow Britain’s commercial success, and its global influence. These are the questions the Charter process must answer."

Hall went on to note that some of the BBC's critics, who want a "much diminished" organization, have their own "narrow commercial interests or ideological preconceptions."

Among the things Hall sees as being "non-negotiable" is that the BBC must be "for everyone. The BBC is a profoundly democratic force. Universal usage of BBC programs that inform, educate and entertain is central to our democracy and our shared culture. It is part of what makes Britain, Britain. No other country in the world has anything like it—and the rest of the world envies the U.K. for having the BBC. And because we all pay, we all pay less: the cost for each one of us falls to the lowest it can be for the best and most universal service."

He also noted that the BBC's independence must be protected. "From my perspective, I believe in giving creative people creative freedom, and trusting them to get on with it. I have real difficulty with the idea of artificial restrictions on creativity—after all, the last time politicians tried to be creative, we ended up with the Millennium Dome. So it will be hard to support any proposal that stops us finding the next Strictly, the next Bake Off, or—dare I say it—the next Top Gear."

Also non-negotiable, Hall says, is the relationship between BBC and BBC Worldwide. "To fund great programs in an era of global competition for talent and ideas, we must work even harder at the partnership between the license fee and our commercial arm, BBC Worldwide. Seventy-one per cent of the funding of BBC One’s Life Story was commercial funding. The license fee paid for less than half the budget of some of our biggest dramas last year. Worldwide makes its money by taking BBC programs and exploiting them commercially. It’s an integral part of the BBC and gives license fee payers better content for less investment. So, any proposal to remove it from the BBC simply doesn’t make economic sense."

Hall went on to say, "Our audiences are not asking for a significantly smaller BBC. Properly tested, the public shows no appetite for that. Top of mind, the great majority are happy to pay the current license fee, or more—and we know when they experience life without the BBC the great majority of those who don’t want to pay change their minds. The BBC does not belong to its staff. The BBC does not belong to the Government. The BBC belongs to the country. The public are our shareholders. They pay for us. So it is their voice that will matter most in this debate. And what the public wants is a continually better BBC. So that will be our test for any future proposals. Will audiences be even happier with what they get from us? Is the BBC still able to give them the best output in the world? Have we helped the creative industries grow? That, to me, is the real debate—and the only debate that really matters."

The BBC's total income for the year ended March 31, 2015, was £4.8 billion ($7.5 billion), down from £5.1 billion ($7.9 billion). The group deficit for the year was £125 million ($196 million), as compared with a surplus last year of £150 million ($234 million).