Post by Teddy Bear on Sept 17, 2009 18:19:45 GMT
I can only wonder how much of this is posturing by the government that will amount to little a the end of the day, and what will ultimately transpire.
BBC expansion should stop, says minister
The BBC should not expand further, needs stronger regulation and should cut its licence fee, the Government admitted last night.
By Andrew Porter, Political Editor
Published: 7:01AM BST 17 Sep 2009
It comes after months of criticism that the BBC is paying its top stars too much and is unable to discipline them.
Other media organisations have also strongly opposed the way the public-funded BBC has forced out commercial competitors in television, radio and online.
Last night Ben Bradshaw, the Culture Secretary, said: “I happen to think the BBC probably has reached the limits of reasonable expansion. I believe the corporation is right to be looking more carefully at what it pays its stars and executives.
“It is time for the BBC to allow the National Audit Office access to its accounts.”
Jonathan Ross is paid £6m a year. He was suspended by the BBC for his role in a radio show stunt with Russell Brand in which Andrew Sachs was subjected to abuse over his granddaughter, but allowed to return on full pay.
His return prompted calls for a tougher regime at the corporation.
Mr Bradshaw, speaking at the Royal Television Society, raised the prospect of the BBC Trust being replaced by a more searching regulator. He said it was wrong for the Trust to be a cheerleader and regulator.
It would represent an embarrassing admission for both the Government and the BBC if the Trust was broken up. It has only been in place for less than three years and was supposed to offer more stringent oversight than the Board of Governors in the wake of the Hutton Inquiry.
Mr Bradshaw said: “I’m also concerned about the regulatory structure of the BBC. Although the Trust has performed better than its predecessor, I don’t think it is a sustainable model in the long term.
“I know of no other area of public life where – as is the case with the Trust – the same body is both regulator and cheerleader.”
The next BBC Charter will be reviewed in two years time. Mr Bradshaw said it could lead to a lower licence fee. It is currently £142.50.
The Culture Secretary said: “There may indeed be a case for a smaller licence fee.”
Commercial broadcasters and the opposition have argued that the BBC has repeatedly done very well from the Labour government. Mark Thompson, the BBC director general when he was head of rival Channel 4, accused the corporation of “basking in a Jacuzzi of spare public cash.”
The intervention of Mr Bradshaw will be seen by the Conservatives as a belated realisation by Labour that the issue of future funding is politically sensitive.
Last night Jeremy Hunt, the shadow culture secretary, said: "Labour has taken yet more Conservative policies, and of course we welcome that. But people will ask if there is any consistency whatsoever in media policy when the culture secretary has proposed abolishing a body set up by his own government less than three years ago."
Last month James Murdoch, the Chairman of News Corporation, Europe and Asia and chairman of BSkyB, launched a scathing attack on the BBC and industry regulators.
He warned the dominance of the BBC risked creating the type of media industry in Britain which George Orwell described in his novel 1984.
Mr Bradshaw, opening a potentially damaging front with Mr Murdoch’s media empire, hit back. He said profit could not be seen as the only guarantor of independence.
He said: “I challenge James Murdoch’s use of the term Orwellian to describe Britain‘s media landscape. Being publicly funded or subject to statutory regulation does not equate with state control. East German TV was state controlled.
“That’s why those East Germans valued the BBC – it was free, diverse, self critical. And the British people understand the distinction between publicly funded and state controlled too. Otherwise they would not consistently say they trust the BBC more than any other media organisation – more than ever according to the latest survey, in spite of the summer media onslaught on the corporation.”
He added that Mr Murdoch did raise “legitimate questions and raising genuine concerns” about the BBC’s size and impact on the rest of the media in Britain.
The BBC should not expand further, needs stronger regulation and should cut its licence fee, the Government admitted last night.
By Andrew Porter, Political Editor
Published: 7:01AM BST 17 Sep 2009
It comes after months of criticism that the BBC is paying its top stars too much and is unable to discipline them.
Other media organisations have also strongly opposed the way the public-funded BBC has forced out commercial competitors in television, radio and online.
Last night Ben Bradshaw, the Culture Secretary, said: “I happen to think the BBC probably has reached the limits of reasonable expansion. I believe the corporation is right to be looking more carefully at what it pays its stars and executives.
“It is time for the BBC to allow the National Audit Office access to its accounts.”
Jonathan Ross is paid £6m a year. He was suspended by the BBC for his role in a radio show stunt with Russell Brand in which Andrew Sachs was subjected to abuse over his granddaughter, but allowed to return on full pay.
His return prompted calls for a tougher regime at the corporation.
Mr Bradshaw, speaking at the Royal Television Society, raised the prospect of the BBC Trust being replaced by a more searching regulator. He said it was wrong for the Trust to be a cheerleader and regulator.
It would represent an embarrassing admission for both the Government and the BBC if the Trust was broken up. It has only been in place for less than three years and was supposed to offer more stringent oversight than the Board of Governors in the wake of the Hutton Inquiry.
Mr Bradshaw said: “I’m also concerned about the regulatory structure of the BBC. Although the Trust has performed better than its predecessor, I don’t think it is a sustainable model in the long term.
“I know of no other area of public life where – as is the case with the Trust – the same body is both regulator and cheerleader.”
The next BBC Charter will be reviewed in two years time. Mr Bradshaw said it could lead to a lower licence fee. It is currently £142.50.
The Culture Secretary said: “There may indeed be a case for a smaller licence fee.”
Commercial broadcasters and the opposition have argued that the BBC has repeatedly done very well from the Labour government. Mark Thompson, the BBC director general when he was head of rival Channel 4, accused the corporation of “basking in a Jacuzzi of spare public cash.”
The intervention of Mr Bradshaw will be seen by the Conservatives as a belated realisation by Labour that the issue of future funding is politically sensitive.
Last night Jeremy Hunt, the shadow culture secretary, said: "Labour has taken yet more Conservative policies, and of course we welcome that. But people will ask if there is any consistency whatsoever in media policy when the culture secretary has proposed abolishing a body set up by his own government less than three years ago."
Last month James Murdoch, the Chairman of News Corporation, Europe and Asia and chairman of BSkyB, launched a scathing attack on the BBC and industry regulators.
He warned the dominance of the BBC risked creating the type of media industry in Britain which George Orwell described in his novel 1984.
Mr Bradshaw, opening a potentially damaging front with Mr Murdoch’s media empire, hit back. He said profit could not be seen as the only guarantor of independence.
He said: “I challenge James Murdoch’s use of the term Orwellian to describe Britain‘s media landscape. Being publicly funded or subject to statutory regulation does not equate with state control. East German TV was state controlled.
“That’s why those East Germans valued the BBC – it was free, diverse, self critical. And the British people understand the distinction between publicly funded and state controlled too. Otherwise they would not consistently say they trust the BBC more than any other media organisation – more than ever according to the latest survey, in spite of the summer media onslaught on the corporation.”
He added that Mr Murdoch did raise “legitimate questions and raising genuine concerns” about the BBC’s size and impact on the rest of the media in Britain.