The Demise of BBC 3?
Posted: 06/03/2014 | Author: The Political Idealist | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: BBC, broadcasting, education, Media, PBS, Save BBC 3, television, youth |Leave a commentIn Britain, we are fortunate to have strong public institutions woven into our culture. Though governments, societal changes and prevailing economic conditions have resulted in their transformation- typically for the worse, in recent years- we still boast some world-class public service organisations. Compare our National Health Service and the BBC to the United States’ Medicare and PBS. There’s no comparison, and in the former case, that’s a consequence of political conditions. In the latter, historical cultural differences between Britain and the US have played the greatest part.
The BBC and PBS both produce high-quality programing as a result of their people-not-profit commitments. Both broadcasters are valuable ad-free islands in the commercialism-saturated world of television. Yet one dominates the decent television and radio services, and the other is a small operator that is drowned out by populist, profitable competitors. The fact that the BBC levies a £142-a-year charge on households with access to live TV broadcasts helps: with a budget above £1 billion, it can afford to run 4 full-time, 2 children’s, and 2 part-time television channels; 8 national radio stations, several dozen local radio stations and one of the largest and most content-rich websites on the Internet. It is the largest news organisation in the country. Or rather, it used to be able to afford all that.
Media barons like Rupert Murdoch are appalled by the scale of the BBC. They have lobbied governments to shrink the BBC to avoid direct competition with commercial broadcasters; to force the sell-off of key stations; or to share License Fee revenue between broadcasters. Unfortunately, they succeeded in forcing an effective reduction in the BBC’s spending power of £200 million. Let’s be clear: the BBC is widely supported because about 30% of its content is worth having, compared to 5% for commercial TV and radio… and 0.02% for Channel 5. Therefore, any reduction in BBC output is a huge blow to British broadcast media.
So when plans to close BBC Three and move “choice” content onto the BBC’s “on demand” service, iPlayer, were made public yesterday (despite assurances made as late as last October that no channel would close), there was widespread condemnation. The youth-centred channel has a daily audience of 4 million and is seen as key to reaching an age group (16-30 year olds) that is viewing less and less television. Furthermore, the channel has proved invaluable in providing educational content about current affairs, other cultures and science in an accessible way. Programmes like Free Speech and Conspiracy Theory Roadtrip should be recognised for the value they provide. Similarly, edgy satirical comedies such as The Revolution Will Be Televised, whilst clearly not to everyone’s taste, helps encourage political engagement in a very apathetic age group.
Yes, there is some total rubbish on the channel. Yet taking the whole channel online will result in only a small saving on BBC Three’s £90 million budget and will exclude the “digitally excluded”: those who cannot afford or use internet access. Not everybody is on the Internet, and should not be marginalised for that.
And of course, if BBC Three were closed, what would BBC Four be called? We can’t have BBC 1, 2 and 4! That would be hugely untidy.
