The opportunity to be a global television powerhouse is there for the taking - but only if the BBC urgently reforms itself
he magic of television” is a phrase almost as old as television itself, spoken by Leslie Mitchell as he opened the BBC’s very first public television broadcast. Whilst eighty years later it still very much rings true, in recent years it has become somewhat less applicable to the institution that coined it.
The announcement this week by the culture secretary Nadine Dorries that the current licence fee funding model would end in 2027 has been roundly criticised by those who saw a change to its funding as a threat to its very existence.
Such a reactionary stance has arguably been a contributor to the cause of the BBC’s decline, resting on the laurels of the licence fee its viewing figures and reach steadily declining as consumers choose a plethora of alternative platforms that are more convenient and offer greater choice.
The reaction to the announcement saw a predictable roster of BBC stars launch a querulous defence of their employer, explaining how the range of services provided by the BBC presented outstanding value. BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker explained (for anyone unable to divide the £159 licence fee by 365) that it was just “43p per day” — Scant consolation to the 11,000 licence fee payers who pay for Gary Lineker’s £1.75m salary to present Match Of The Day. Unsurprisingly the former England striker was adamant that a proposed changed to the funding model was a bad decision.
But if the licence fee represents such outstanding value, why are we not letting the market decide? If the BBC is capable of competing with the fledgling upstarts of the streaming world, why are we not using it as the most contemporary of tools to exert soft power?
The BBC’s sclerotic response to the changing fortunes of the way that we consume our television has been magnified by the events of the past two years. The impact of the pandemic on our collective behaviours has shone a light on how competitive the BBC’s offering is compared to other leading platforms, all of which have grown significantly as a result of the understandable global demand for entertainment at home. It has failed to capitalise on the launch of Britbox in the United States over four years ago with only 2 million subscribers, 25% of which are here in the UK.
By comparison, in 2020 Netflix grew by a staggering 36 million subscribers, taking it to over 200 million subscribers worldwide. Amazon Prime too has surpassed the 200 million subscriber mark and Disney+ announced at the end of last year that it had over 118 million global subscribers. At £13.25 per month the licence fee costs more than any one of these platforms but in comparison is funded by only 25 million licences. If the BBC were able to turn its significant library into a globally accessible platform, even at a reduced cost, the revenue generated should easily be able to match its current funding and handled adeptly should be able to significantly increase it.
It stands to reason that the BBC has the opportunity to create the biggest and most comprehensive streaming library of any broadcaster. The educational resources available via generations of children’s television programming would be a resource valued by countless households worldwide keen to teach their children English. Nearly ninety years of television broadcasts, documenting some of the most important events in world and national history would allow today’s audiences to experience events as they were reported at the time, from the Second World War to the Apollo landing and the fall of the Berlin Wall, yet the BBC’s famed coverage remains confined to the archives.
Beyond that there are decades of documentaries, classic dramas and comedies and a sporting archive that would be the envy of even the wealthiest satellite broadcaster, all of which could allow the BBC to launch its archive offering without incurring the significant debts faced by other streaming platforms.
The opportunity to restore the BBCs fortunes from the faded glamour of its heyday into a global television powerhouse that fills a gap the current streaming giants could never hope to compete with is there for the taking. If we are confident that the BBC is a jewel in the crown, the envy of broadcasters the world over, why not let the world decide that for itself?
With five years until a potential sea-change to its funding model the BBC stands on the precipice. Fulfil its potential as a serious rival to the global streaming giants, or fail to evolve and be remembered as a great institution allowed to wither on the vine.
