Post by Teddy Bear on May 17, 2015 14:30:08 GMT
This story shows the lack of ethics held by the BBC in the performance of their remit.
So long as they receive the licence fee they should be mindful of the private sector and not be seeking to unfairly impact on them. But they show they have no compunctions whatsoever if they feel they can get away with it.
I would love to see the BBC competing with other media organisation, by privatising them and forcing them to have to make it in the real world.
What changes we'd see then watching them drown while making all the excuses they can think of.
So long as they receive the licence fee they should be mindful of the private sector and not be seeking to unfairly impact on them. But they show they have no compunctions whatsoever if they feel they can get away with it.
I would love to see the BBC competing with other media organisation, by privatising them and forcing them to have to make it in the real world.
What changes we'd see then watching them drown while making all the excuses they can think of.
BBC faces illegal state aid backlash from producers over expansion
Director-general's plan to compete for commissions from other broadcasters comes under fire
By Christopher Williams
The BBC faces a major backlash from independent television producers over plans by director-general Tony Hall to compete for programme commissions from other broadcasters and internet services such as Amazon and Netflix.
A group of Britain’s biggest independent producers is preparing a complaint that the expansion will distort competition and amount to illegal state aid.
The legal groundwork is being laid by PACT, the production industry trade association, whose members include the makers of Downton Abbey, Sherlock and The Island with Bear Grylls.
John McVay, chief executive of PACT, said the plans were a significant threat to commercial producers.
He said: “It would completely distort the market and damage an independent sector that is recognised as a world leader if the BBC was allowed to use public money to compete against commercial producers.
“The BBC is already a huge state intervention in the broadcast market. If they are now allowed to enter the production market in the way they want to that would not be right under state aid rules.
“This is a huge shift they’re proposing. We and others are now looking very closely at the hurdles the will have to meet because it’s very important that the BBC Trust and the British Government do the same.”
The threat of a legal complaint to European competition authorities comes as a blow to Lord Hall’s plans for the BBC.
Lord Hall says BBC Studios will be more efficient and creative
Last year he put entering the commercial production market at the centre of his strategy. The plans are already being put into action with Lord Hall launching proposals to spin off BBC production into a wholly owned subsidiary, BBC Studios, and arguing that “the current model just won’t last”.
The director-general has claimed that by competing for work from commercial broadcasters and internet services, BBC Studios will become more efficient. He said the BBC could contribute more to the 'golden age of television’, a reference to the US-led boom in big-budget, critically acclaimed drama series such as Game of Thrones and House of Cards.
Lord Hall’s plans have led to suspicions from commercial players that the BBC is seeking to build up its global presence with the help of taxpayer support.
Independent producers are more immediately concerned about the relationship between BBC Studios and BBC commissioners, who control the biggest budgets in British television. Any advantage for BBC Studios when competing with outsiders to make programmes would be especially damaging to the market, Mr McKay said, in spite of a plege to abandon a quota that guarantees half of programmes are made in-house.
A commercial BBC Studios would at least be expected to feed profits from programme-making for other broadcasters back into the BBC to supplement the licence fee. The £3.7bn per year in taxpayer funds are already bolstered by more than £1bn from commercial operations such as international licensing of BBC programmes.
Taxpayer funding of the BBC was frozen by the last Government and is due for renegotiation this year in the once-a-decade charter renewal process. The election of a majority Conservative government and appointment of John Whittingdale, a longstanding critic of the BBC’s funding model, is expected to put the broadcaster under more pressure to justify a tax backed by the threat of prison.
Mr McVay said: “The BBC are not being transparent about what they are planning. I can’t imagine that John Whittingdale will be lackadaisical about this.”
A BBC spokesman said: “We are very aware of the regulatory requirements surrounding setting up BBC Studios. The proposals will be designed to ensure compliance with State Aid and competition law and the BBC’s fair trading guidelines.
"Plans are still being developed and we will continue to work closely with the industry on this.”
Director-general's plan to compete for commissions from other broadcasters comes under fire
By Christopher Williams
The BBC faces a major backlash from independent television producers over plans by director-general Tony Hall to compete for programme commissions from other broadcasters and internet services such as Amazon and Netflix.
A group of Britain’s biggest independent producers is preparing a complaint that the expansion will distort competition and amount to illegal state aid.
The legal groundwork is being laid by PACT, the production industry trade association, whose members include the makers of Downton Abbey, Sherlock and The Island with Bear Grylls.
John McVay, chief executive of PACT, said the plans were a significant threat to commercial producers.
He said: “It would completely distort the market and damage an independent sector that is recognised as a world leader if the BBC was allowed to use public money to compete against commercial producers.
“The BBC is already a huge state intervention in the broadcast market. If they are now allowed to enter the production market in the way they want to that would not be right under state aid rules.
“This is a huge shift they’re proposing. We and others are now looking very closely at the hurdles the will have to meet because it’s very important that the BBC Trust and the British Government do the same.”
The threat of a legal complaint to European competition authorities comes as a blow to Lord Hall’s plans for the BBC.
Lord Hall says BBC Studios will be more efficient and creative
Last year he put entering the commercial production market at the centre of his strategy. The plans are already being put into action with Lord Hall launching proposals to spin off BBC production into a wholly owned subsidiary, BBC Studios, and arguing that “the current model just won’t last”.
The director-general has claimed that by competing for work from commercial broadcasters and internet services, BBC Studios will become more efficient. He said the BBC could contribute more to the 'golden age of television’, a reference to the US-led boom in big-budget, critically acclaimed drama series such as Game of Thrones and House of Cards.
Lord Hall’s plans have led to suspicions from commercial players that the BBC is seeking to build up its global presence with the help of taxpayer support.
Independent producers are more immediately concerned about the relationship between BBC Studios and BBC commissioners, who control the biggest budgets in British television. Any advantage for BBC Studios when competing with outsiders to make programmes would be especially damaging to the market, Mr McKay said, in spite of a plege to abandon a quota that guarantees half of programmes are made in-house.
A commercial BBC Studios would at least be expected to feed profits from programme-making for other broadcasters back into the BBC to supplement the licence fee. The £3.7bn per year in taxpayer funds are already bolstered by more than £1bn from commercial operations such as international licensing of BBC programmes.
Taxpayer funding of the BBC was frozen by the last Government and is due for renegotiation this year in the once-a-decade charter renewal process. The election of a majority Conservative government and appointment of John Whittingdale, a longstanding critic of the BBC’s funding model, is expected to put the broadcaster under more pressure to justify a tax backed by the threat of prison.
Mr McVay said: “The BBC are not being transparent about what they are planning. I can’t imagine that John Whittingdale will be lackadaisical about this.”
A BBC spokesman said: “We are very aware of the regulatory requirements surrounding setting up BBC Studios. The proposals will be designed to ensure compliance with State Aid and competition law and the BBC’s fair trading guidelines.
"Plans are still being developed and we will continue to work closely with the industry on this.”
