BBC loses licence fee monopoly
By Ian Dunt
The BBC will lose its monopoly over the licence fee after 2013, the government has announced in a wide ranging review on media and telecommunications.
The proposal was formalised in Lord Carter’s long awaited Digital Britain review, which was hyped as the most important document on the country’s media for a generation.
From the provision of public service broadcasting, to broadband speed, to online piracy, the report outlined the next few months, if not years, of telecommunications strategy.
Gordon Brown said: “This report shows how we will ensure we have a world-class digital and communications infrastructure, that we promote and protect talent and innovation in our creative industries, that we modernise our TV and radio frameworks and support local news.”
The BBC’s grip on the licence fee will be broken by making some of the £3.6 billion it generates available elsewhere, almost certainly to regional news teams on ITV.
The corporation will bitterly oppose such a move, which could well signal the beginning of the end for the national broadcaster.
Last month, Sir Michael Lyons, chairman of the BBC Trust, said: “People would do well to remember that licence fee payers give us their money in good faith, believing it will be spent on BBC services and content.”
Liberal Democrat media spokesman Don Foster said: “Maintaining the strength and independence of the BBC is vital. Top slicing – in whatever language – sets a precedence that undermines that independence.
“What guarantees can we have that future governments will not take more money from the licence fee to fund their pet projects, especially when they are unhappy with what the BBC is doing?”
Longstanding concerns about Channel 4’s survival were also addressed, with Lord Carter suggesting a merger between the state-owned company and BBC Worldwide.
The company will face an annual funding gap of £150 million from 2012 and analysts are unconvinced it can survive off its own back. A vigorous promotion of a merger between Channels 4 and Five was proposed by Dawn Airey, chairman and chief executive of Five several years ago, but it failed to drum up much support.
Britain’s fifth channel is suffering a 30 per cent drop in advertising revenue year-on-year.
Lord Carter’s views on broadband were already well understood and were merely confirmed again today. He previously said he wanted all British households to have internet access capable of streaming live television by 2012 and that goal still stands.
Online piracy caused the communications minister several headaches over the last few months.
Content providers such as movie studios and the record industry have lobbied the government for tough sanctions against those who access illegal versions of their material.
But with internet service providers (ISPs) unwilling to take up the cost of policing their users, and the government loathe to criminalise nearly seven million Brits in the run up to an election, really tough action was not expected.
But the rhetoric on the issue was stronger than many had predicted, with new duties on Ofcom to issue notification of unlawful activity and release the identity of repeat offenders for targeted legal action. Those individuals could face having their bandwidth reduced.
Digital radio would be upgraded by 2015, and Ofcom will have to carry out a full assessment of the UK’s communications infrastructure every two years.
A three year national plan to improve digital participation will be implemented, while Martha Lane Fox will become the new ‘digital inclusion champion’.
Culture secretary Ben Bradshaw said the report would be “key to our economic growth, social inclusiveness and well-being as a nation”.
He added: “Britain’s digital industries are among the most successful in the world and a major part of our economy. We need to make the right decisions now to make sure they continue to grow and prosper. We need to make the most the most of the opportunities today and in the years to come, exploiting the world’s ongoing technological revolution.”
But shadow media secretary Jeremy Hunt called the package a “colossal disappointment”.
Lord Carter unveiled the report this afternoon, alongside Gordon Brown, culture, media and sport secretary Ben Bradshaw and business secretary Peter Mandelson.
He announced he would step down as a junior minister yesterday, the first post-reshuffle resignation from the Cabinet.
