The BBC has responded to a government report suggesting that it should axe long-running shows like The Apprentice, Casualty, Country File, and others, to make room for new programming.
In a statement, BBC director of policy James Heath dismissed the proposals as a non-starter:
Despite this clear trend, the O&O report concludes that requiring BBC One to commit to a wider range and significant number of new titles in its schedule could reduce BBC One’s audience share of viewing to below 20% (from 22% in 2015); and therefore might increase commercial advertising-funded rival income by £33 to £40m a year.
Let’s be clear what such proposals would mean. On a first analysis, this would mean, for instance, cutting a very long list of long-running shows like Silent Witness, Countryfile, The One Show, Casualty, Holby City, Masterchef, Pointless, The Apprentice, Watchdog, Who Do They Think They Are?, Songs of Praise, Have I Got News For You, The Antiques Roadshow and all their associated shows. Replacing all these shows with new titles, as the report suggests, would be impossible given the £700m savings the BBC has to make over the next few years, and which the report makes no reference to.
Heath continued:
So the result would be to reduce what all audiences get from the BBC, for a gain to commercial television of around a quarter of one percent of total TV revenues.
Taken together with O&O’s recommendations for BBC Radio, the net gain would be less than 1% of total TV and radio industry revenues.
We share the ambition of a BBC that should be even more distinctive so that we can build on our strong record, but it’s an odd ambition to want fewer people to watch great TV. On the same day as this report was published, the Government published the results of their public consultation into the BBC and its Charter. Over 80% of people responding to the Government’s consultation said the BBC is serving audiences well. Almost three quarters said the BBC’s services are distinctive and about two-thirds think it has a positive wider impact on the market.
So we don’t believe in reconfiguring the BBC to maximise commercial profits rather than asking how can the BBC be improved to best meet audience needs. This report proposes a BBC designed for the convenience of its competitors not the enjoyment of audiences, to the long-term detriment of both.
Stay tuned as we continue to monitor the cancel/renew status of all BBC TV shows…
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