The battle for the soul and future of the BBC is clearly under way. It’s charter decision year; Trump is after the corporation’s scalp; parliamentary committees are embroiled in the vexed questions of how to pay for public service broadcasting and what to do about the relentless expansion of streamers; and the new director general is imprisoned in yet another round of cuts. Oh, and the Doctor Who Christmas special has been junked this year. Just to spice things up, Michael Grade has peppered this newspaper with the old charge that the BBC is part of the London metropolitan elite.
It’s not looking good for Auntie. Where is the love? Why is this great British institution not in the same position as the NHS – criticised of course, but revered in a way that means no political party – not even Reform or Restore – would think of advocating abolition?
Maybe we are looking in the wrong place. The debates about the BBC are necessarily being conducted in parliament, the media, academia and among pundits and media analysts. The BBC did ask the public for their views on itself last year; more than 800,000 people replied, but in its overcautious way the Beeb didn’t trumpet the results of Our BBC, Our Future – so we know that people valued BBC independence above anything else, but not much more than that.
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Step forward the Radio Times, venerable publication inexplicably sold off by the BBC some years ago to private equity. It has a substantial circulation of about 300,000 and a readership for whom the word devoted is too mild. Late last year, readers were asked for their views on the BBC – did they love it, what could they do without, what could be done better, how should it be paid for? This week’s entire issue is given over to the results of this conversation.
And there’s the love. The more than 700 replies cover the widest range of views, feelings, suggestions and criticisms. “May the glorious BBC continue its great work. What it presents and creates is priceless”, writes a viewer in Derbyshire. “I think the current [oversight] structure at the BBC is lacking – but we must be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater,” writes a viewer from Staffordshire. “I could live without it (the BBC), I just don’t want to,” says one viewer and listener in an unpublished email.
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The replies come from all over the country – no metropolitan elite here – and the level of trust is very high: 88% said they still trust the BBC with 10% experiencing loss of trust.
The importance of the BBC for the Radio Times respondents is overwhelming – but there is real anger and disappointment, too, when the BBC is perceived as departing from the standards the respondents expect. Its a meaningful strain in the ongoing relationship. The criticisms are detailed: the Panorama edit of the Trump speech hit home hard, but viewers trusted the BBC to make the right amends. Who else, they inquire, has such an openly accountable system of repair? There are some criticisms of wokery, but the battering ram of many a Daily Mail editorial does not get much backing from these respondents.
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A listener from Edinburgh criticises the Six O’Clock News for inadequacy, but recognises that there is also intent to undermine the BBC from certain groups.
Paying for the BBC has become another battleground. But for Radio Times readers, the licence fee is fair and affordable – and many reference the fact that they are not particularly well off. The alleged public fury at the licence fee is certainly not here. But respondents want true independence for the BBC – an independent body to set the licence fee is one suggestion. Adverts are universally hated and there is trenchant advice to think of the quality of programming if a universal charge is abolished.
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There are dissenters: “I love the BBC but don’t think the licence fee model fits any more. Be warned though, if the BBC goes, I believe the other UK channels, ITV, C4 and C5, won’t survive and will be swallowed up by the US broadcasting giants.”
And a reader from Suffolk gives the BBC a helpful communications tip: “The public needs to be reminded of the … great things the BBC does … Bitesize, helpline for parents … funding orchestras and choirs, roadshows, supporting aspiring new musicians of all genres, working with the Open University, fundraising for charities and so much more.”
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Without a political agenda, and with a great if critical love, this is the constituency that holds up the BBC. They must not be ignored.
