The BBC should be slimmed down to just one television and one radio channel, the co-writer of the “Yes, Minister” political satire said today. As it is funded by a tax on all television-owning households, the BBC should focus on BBC1 and Radio 4 to produce more distinctive programmes, Sir Anthony Jay said in a report for the right wing think-tank the Centre for Policy Studies.
“The only possible approach is zero-based reconstruction,” said Jay, who co-wrote the 1980s TV hit series about a dithering minister and later prime minister that was much admired by former premier Margaret Thatcher. “The BBC spends more than four billion pounds every year, most of it on programmes indistinguishable from what is available on competitive channels,” Jay said.
“The principal reason why so much of the BBC’s output is so undistinguished is lack of money. Its resources are too thinly spread over too many channels. A new, much smaller, self-funding public service broadcaster, consisting essentially of one television channel and one speech radio channel, would have a unique role in our national life.”
With younger people spending more time on the Internet and turning away from traditional sources of entertainment and information such as the BBC, Jay also predicted the licence fee would eventually have to be abolished. “Once viewers receive all their programmes on their PCs, the licence fee will be gone,” said Jay.
(Source: Reuters)
on Jul 4th, 2008 at 18:26
Without saying too much, that is quite a short sighted view. It could be a reflection of the personal viewing/listening habits of Sir Anthony Jay, but it seems clear the man is unable to distinguish the BBCs offerings from those by commercial broadcasters in the UK..
on Jul 5th, 2008 at 04:04
Ironically, Yes Minister was originally commissioned by BBC2.
on Jul 7th, 2008 at 10:10
I think the relevant fact is that he wrote this report for a Quote- right wing think tank- Unqote. The Tories have never liked the BBC, or indeed any other organisation that they cannot make money out of!
on Jul 8th, 2008 at 09:19
I fully agree with the comments made by Antony Jay. It is not the duty of a public broadcaster to compete with the commercial channels for bothTV and radio.
I made similar suggestions to the Public Submissions made to the Department of Culture and Sport for the licence review although slightly less drastic than those of Sir Antony.
on Jul 9th, 2008 at 07:51
The present problems started to occur when 1Xtra, BBC 6 Music, BBC 3 and BBC 4
all came to air.
on Jul 10th, 2008 at 19:24
Anthony Jay is putting forward a sensible proposal, that attempts to find a balance between those who believe that the BBC should only intervene where there is market failure (as is the case with most public funded services) and those who believe in the untenable status quo.
This is not a Tory plot. The license fee is a regressive tax. In countries like Germany, trade unions have voiced concerns over their ‘tv tax’. In the UK, the unions and ’socialists’ remain silent.