Further delay on BBC Three not in the digital interest
The Chairman of the BBC Gavyn Davies - speaking at the Westminster Media Forum today (12 March 2002) - expressed concern that every month that the decision on BBC Three is delayed, is another month when the BBC cannot begin spending £80 million on original British production or promote the coherent portfolio of channels and help the Governments objectives towards analogue switch off.
"Without BBC Three our digital proposition looks that much less compelling, and analogue switch-off looks that much further off," he said.
He added that while the BBCs competitors have suggested that BBC Three would cost them £25 million a year in lost revenue, the BBCs own estimates, based on independent research by Oliver and Ohlbaum, suggests that any loss would be only a tiny fraction of this figure, perhaps about £4 million. He added that the BBC could not be blamed for the recent decline in the advertising market.
In the discussion of how the broadcasting industry can serve the public interest in the digital future, Gavyn Davies pointed out that, as a publicly-funded public service broadcaster, the BBC is for everyone.
"In terms of audience figures, whether measured by reach or share, our performance has been strong, across all of our services," he said.
With the BBCs television services currently reaching 87.1% of the population, Davies acknowledged that it was not just about ratings.
"Distinctiveness and near universal reach are both critical objectives for us. But I do want the BBC to remain, in the digital age, a mass market public service broadcaster, not one confined to a tiny corner of the market," he said.
On the subject of regulation in the forthcoming Communications Bill, the Chairman said the BBC did not wish to stand aloof and separate from Ofcom and that for most purposes the BBC should and would come fully within the Ofcom regime.
However, in relation to the BBCs own public service remit, the Board of Governors retained a vital role. This was why he had recently introduced a series of reforms to the BBCs accountability and governance system which gave greater clarity and understanding of the Boards role and addressed concerns raised as UK broadcasting entered the Ofcom era.
He said: "In future, both the BBC and private broadcasters will be primarily subject to self-regulation in relation to their own remits. The only difference is that back-stop powers will rest with Ofcom for the private broadcasters, while they will rest with the Secretary of State for the BBC."
Davies roundly dismissed recent press comment suggesting that appointments to the BBCs new Governance and Accountability Office would be from "political cronies".
He said: "Last week we advertised for the post of Head of this new Objectives and Compliance team. The advert and the job description is more like a lawyers job than that of a political special adviser - Jo Moore need not apply!"
In response to claims that the BBC is "dumbing down", the Chairman said: "The debate about dumbing down should be about how to ensure quality and enrichment for all our licence fee payers, and not about skewing our services to appeal to a small minority. Some people continue to argue that we must choose between mass audiences and programme quality. But at our best, we can achieve both, after all, 80 million people watched the eight episodes of Blue Planet last year. Unless we can achieve quality for all, we will not deserve the licence fee."
Notes to Editors
Speech in full
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