Why I love the BBC

I note that the BBC has been denied the licence fee income that it wanted. I am saddened by this as I personally am willing to tolerate some inefficiencies in the BBC if allowing some inefficiencies to exist means the BBC can focus on making programmes and not playing politics with the latest government fashion for consultants and targets.

We in Britain have this curious system of licence fees. If you own a television in the UK, you have to buy a licence for it, at an annual cost of GBP 135.50. This is used directly to fund the BBC, without going through a central slush fund the way our car licences do. Many people resent paying this, especially those on lower incomes who are less likely to watch as much BBC output as the intelligentsia. I think they have no idea what good value for money it is. For this fee, we get four main television stations, a suite of stations for kids (meaning that parents can park their kids in front of the TV in the knowledge that the kids aren’t being sold to by advertising). We get seven national radio stations, from the wonders of radio 4 (talk radio as it ought to be) to pop music. There is a network of local radio stations, which I’m not interested in but I’m glad they’re there. We get the outstandingly excellent BBC online, which I notice is most people’s home page, throughout the world. Per service provided per day, it’s amazingly cheap.

The BBC works out therefore at GBP 11 per household per month. Many, many people pay over three times that for satellite channels which are, in my opinion, rubbish. I’m glad that the choice exists but we need to remember that illusion that commercial channels are free really is an illusion. Commercial channels make revenue from advertising. Coca Cola, for example, must match the commercial spend of Pepsi to stay alive. Hence companies have to pay lots of money on advertising, which is passed on through the cost of their products. It’s a form of indirect tax. I believe that studies suggest that the true cost of commercial television is at least three times higher than the cost of the BBC.

I take heart from the fact that political parties all accuse the BBC of bias against them. This means the BBC is doing its job of investigating and not pandering to power. This is in marked contrast to American news stations, about which I have nothing much good to say at all.

I really believe that the BBC sets the standard in broadcast journalism. We Brits are no better than any other nation at believing our own propaganda and so we should be sceptical about generally touted views such as this. For example, my travels around the world have confirmed for me once and for all that Britain’s NHS resolutely is NOT the envy of the world, despite what people and politicians say. Indeed, most countries are somewhat bewildered by it. I’d take the Australian or French health care systems any day. The BBC really does stand for the best of British though; sometimes the received wisdom is actually wise. When big news breaks (and I mean news that people actually deep down believe is news, not missing kids in Portugal), they all switch to the BBC. BBC America enjoys a similar effect in the USA, I’m told. News and current affairs are the raison d’etre of the BBC. I’m awfully glad that more lowbrow channels exist, for I love my dose of Big Brother, but the BBC stands unique.

I believe that the licence fee is unfair and I think it creates an annual public relations nightmare that the BBC ought to live without, although this doesn’t mean the BBC ought to take any advertising. The BBC ought to be funded out of general taxation, with fees set by an independent board of governors with limited ability for the government of the day to resist this. It’s right that the government of the day has little control over the BBC’s policies but has control of the purse strings with the annual fight over setting licence fees. The BBC ought to be entirely independent of government, guaranteeing its constitutional place as the core of the independent news media. Partiality becomes obvious when compared with the litmus test of the BBC’s coverage.

So I do wish that we’d stop making the lives of those who run the BBC so bloody difficult. We seem to mourn the BBC rather than celebrate it. Sure, the BBC is occasionally politically biased. Sure, it can sometimes be a bit smug. Sure, I’ve met some people whose puffed up “I work for the BBC” manner does little to make up for their actual unendurable mediocrity. Overall though, the BBC is a thing of wonder. It’s always the thing I miss most when I’m out of the UK. Please let’s keep it special and realise how much value it gives to our society. Without recognising its value, we might lose it. Trust me, once it’s gone, you’ll miss it more than you’d ever imagine.