Michael Darlow, The Voice of the Listener & Viewer Ltd

11 March 2005

Chaired by Donald Lovell

The meeting opened with an apology, read by the Chairman, from Don Foster MP, who was involved in an extended sitting of the House of Commons on the Prevention of Terrorism Bill. He had sent a written copy of his paper but as he could not take part in the discussion it was decided to invite an alternative speaker. The main points in his paper were:

• we should all recognise the benefits this country and its citizens get from the BBC — its freedom from advertising; its trusted websites; its range of music; the World Service and its accurate, authoritative and impartial news and current affairs programmes.
• 24% of the license fee is spent on radio
• it is recognised world-wide as the pre-eminent public service broadcaster
• it has trained many of those who work in other broadcasting organisations
• huge changes are taking place in broadcasting technology
• the Reithian principle that it should educate, inform and entertain should be retained
• changes are being made in BBC Worldwide and some of the magazines being sold off
• I welcome the retention of the licence fee; in Australia there is a campaign to bring it back
• I am delighted the Green Paper rejected 'top slicing' the licence fee
• I would prefer an independent regulator for all public service broadcasting and Trustees independent of the BBC

Michael Darlow is on the Speaker's Panel of The Voice of the Listener and Viewer Ltd, an organisation that represents the 'customers' of the BBC and commercial TV and radio stations (see www.vlv.org.uk) and which is organising a number of meetings over the country under the heading 'Broadcasting Matters'. Mr Darlow is a director, writer and producer for TV, theatre and cinema and author of four books including Independents Struggle: The Programme Makers who took on the TV Establishment, an insider's history of TV over 40 years,

When the BBC was formed in 1923 it was decided that broadcasting was too important to be left to commerce, the opposite of the opinion taken in the USA. In the 80s Mr Darlow told the head of Mrs Thatcher's policy unit "if you damage or destroy the BBC your Government will go down in infamy for ever around the world, you will be defacing a national monument."

Mr Darlow then reviewed the past and present relationship between the Government and the BBC. The Government appoints the Chairman and Board, which he felt was as inappropriate as them appointing the Archbishop of Canterbury; they ought to be independently selected. They (Mrs Thatcher, Harold Wilson and others) have often interfered by appointing Government supporters to the Board in an attempt to influence the output. Similarly, the licence fee is set by the Government who reduce the increase if they are displeased with the output. The Blair government has not done this as they want the BBC to pay out of the licence fee for the switch-over to digital broadcasting, a large expense arising from what is really a Government policy.

He then discussed the changes that digital transmission introduces and had found that people who paid for 300 satellite channels via Sky TV continued to spend most of their time watching the usual 5 (BBC 1,2, ITV, Channels 4 & 5) and perhaps BBC 3 & 4, even though subscribing to Sky costs 3 to 4 times the licence fee. It is interesting that after 15 years Sky TV get only 1/8^th of the number of viewers for their most-watched programmes compared to BBC or ITV's most-watched programmes.

In peak time people spend 80% of their time watching the 5 free channels even when they have 295 others to choose from; in off-peak hours this percentage drops.

The other point to remember is that satellite and digital terrestial (Freeview) transmissions are only received on sets with the additional equipment to receive digital, and that is generally only one set (and no programme recorder) in the house. All the others will have to be similarly converted or replaced when the digital switch-over comes in the next few years — and the BBC, not the Government, may have to pay reluctant viewers to switch, which will increase the licence fee.

The Green Paper, which is splashed with White as ministers say some decisions have already been taken before the consultation was started, retains the licence fee for 10 years as the 'least bad' method of funding, with more efficient collection. It replaces the Board by a Trust to regulate the BBC, which should mark a clearer division between the day to management of the BBC and its regulation.

Ofcom, The Office of Communication, has also recently published its Review of Public Service Broadcasting; they wanted the BBC to concentrate more on 'worthy' programmes, leaving entertainment to the commercial channels. This would be disastrous as has been demonstrated in Canada and Australia, where NBC and ABC have withered by doing so. The 'public service' channel must be able to show 'good' entertainment, including re-runs of favourite old programmes — Fawlty Towers, The Blue Planet, Morecame & Wise — although the copy-cat programmes of garden re-design and house decorating can go.

Ofcom’s regulatory powers are weak, it was set up as a DE-regulatory organisation, and it is reducing the amount of public service obligations on ITV and commercial broadcasters. It is halving the number of regional non-news and current affairs programmes and will reduce them further. They claim they will insist on network programmes being made in the regions to provide experience and employment for programme makers.

Ofcom has special responsibility for children's programmes. There are 20 children's channels, many not producing new programmes but mainly providing cartoons and foreign imports.. Ofcom recently allowed ITV to cut their children's programmes from 11½ to 8 hours per week and have also halved the time for religious programmes, saying the BBC should do them.

They have licensed 162 new channels in 12 months — one is the Adverts Channel (all adverts), another Your Destiny TV, which if you phone them on a premium line will flash up on the screen a psychic message to you! That's their idea of regulation.

Similarly, out-sourcing production to independent companies must be limited so that the BBC maintains in-house production to train and develop personnel and artistic talent. Fewer and fewer people working in TV are permanently employed now, they are on short contracts or self-employed and often on lower than standard fees and for longer hours. The regulators are not controlling this situation.

People have until the 31^st May to express a view on the Green Paper, please do so. Ofcom boasted they had 80 responses to their proposals, 80 out of 56 million! If the 25 people in this room all wrote comments they could have a considerable influence. Do write on the following points:

• That you want to keep the BBC
• That you want to keep the licence fee
• That the Governors should be independently appointed, not by the Government
• That the fixing of the licence should not be done by the Government
• That the BBC is not forced into a ghetto where it and Channel 4 are the only proper public service broadcasters. Commercial channels should be required to produce some public service programmes and the BBC allowed to provide some entertainment programmes.
• That Ofcom should be given powers to regulate the new channels and should do so
• More regulation, not less is necessary in broadcasting. ITV made £325M profit; it is not going broke because of the amount of regulation. New channels are already being floated on the Stock Exchange, not a sign of poverty.

The necessary addresses are:

OFCOM BBC DCMS

Email

contact@ofcom.org.uk bbccharterreview@culture.gsi.gov.uk

Post

Riverside House PO BOX 125 DCMS

2a Southwark Bridge Road GLASGOW 2-4 Cockspur St

London G2 3WD LONDON SW1Y 5DH

SE1 9HA

Peter McGee, Head of WGBH Boston said:

"Television enters our people and our body politic not as food for thought but as embalming fluid" — let's get off the mortician's slab before they do the same to us.

Discussion

What is the purpose of the BBC?

'Inform, Educate and Entertain' was the summary of the purpose of the BBC from 1923 and it has never been better expressed although many committees have tried. The one recently produced by Ofcom has 170 words of which 'educate' is not one.(see www.ofcom.org.uk)

Why should I pay the licence fee when I never watch BBC?

You could also ask why should I pay for schools as I have no children; for libraries as I never read a book, etc. These services are for the common good and so is the BBC.

Is an antagonistic interview acceptable?

Sometimes, but it is possible to get the same result by guile by the questioner.

Is it correct that if the BBC receives complaints about bias from both sides it is doing the right thing?

Probably 'Yes'..

Who are Ofcom?

Ofcom was intended to amalgamate the regulators like ITC, and to reduce regulation. The senior people appointed by the Government are mainly economists and advertising people, not broadcasters. It is supposed to have a Content Board with 'teeth' but which can be overruled by the main Board. The balance of power is with the commercial, de-regulationary side.