Modest Mandate For New BBC Boss

Michael Hedges July 4, 2012 Follow on Twitter

This age of austerity is, if anything, a call for modesty at public broadcasters. Commercial broadcasters want less competition while the digital dividend promises more. And politicians of a every stripe have their wants and needs. The viewers, of course, just want good television.

The next BBC Director General will be insider George Entwistle, announced the BBC Trust. He will replace Mark Thompson after the London 2012 Olympic Games. He was always on the short-list of candidates to lead the world’s best-known public broadcaster and was considered Mr. Thompson’s preferred candidate.

“George is a creative leader for a creative organization,” said BBC Trust Chairman Chris Patten in a statement (July 4). “Above all George is passionate about the BBC, is committed to its public service ethos and has a clear vision for how it can harness the creativity and commitment of its staff to continue to serve audiences in ever more innovative ways.”

Mr. Entwistle commenced his BBC career in 1989 as a journalism trainee and moved through the ranks in television news and management. He was named director of BBC Vision, the TV and multi-media division, in April 2011. Last month he was named a non-executive director of BBC Worldwide, the broadcaster’s commercial arm. Journalism and television experience seem to be prerequisites for the top job at the BBC.

While the initial job advertisement stressed new media knowledge and mentioned global experience, Mr. Entwistle lacks both. He’s considered a rather “low-key” guy. Most comments about his appointment mention that his salary package will be considerably lighter than Mark Thompson’s and his expenses claims have been minimal.

UK media regulator OFCOM recently released (June 27) its 2011 annual report card on public service television broadcasting; the BBC plus “commercial” PSBs ITV1, Channel 4 and Channel 5. Taken together, UK PSB TV broadcasters spent 8% less in 2011 on programming than in 2010, continuing “the historic trend between 2005 and 2009 of year-on-year annual reductions in expenditure on content, after the 2% rise seen in 2010.” The BBC spent GBP1.36 billion in 2011, 10% less, and the others spent GBP1.49 billion, 5% less than in 2010. In five years total spending on programming has dropped 20%, from GBP3.5 billion.

First-run originated programming accounted for 86% of all program spending in 2011 and decreased 6% year on year the GBP2.4 billion. Sports origination in the “quiet year” dropped by 23%. With the London 2012 Olympic Games and much more, 2012 will hardly be a quiet year for TV sports programming. Overall spending on arts programming fell 15% and educational programming fell 12% year on year.

Taking the very long view, the commercial PSBs have been spending more on original programming – 36% in 1998 vs. 54% in 2011 – while the BBC has been spending less – 62% in 1998 vs. 56% in 2011. In the five years between 2006 and 2011 only spending on feature films increased, 41% to GBP228 million.

“These trends partly reflect the fact that the BBC’s license fee rose in real terms during the early part of the decade, while leveling off in later years,” observed the OFCOM report. “For the commercial PSBs, television advertising revenue underwent a structural decline early on in the period, recovering somewhat in 2010 and 2011.”

Viewing has hardly changed, said the OFCOM report, quoting BARB data. Daily TV viewing in 2011 was 4 hours, same as 2010. What has changed, unsurprisingly, is the sharp rise in viewing digital channels, from 9% in 2006 to 19% in 2011. The aggregate share of the five main PSB channels in 2006 was 67%. That has dropped to 54%.

The BBC “should be 10 or 20 percent better than it is,” said BBC Trust Chairman Lord Patten to a press gaggle with Mr. Entwistle after the announcement, a fairly modest assessment. BBC COO Caroline Thomson, short-listed for the director general job, is expected to leave the BBC, reported the Guardian (July 4). Another on that short-list, OFCOM chief executive Ed Richards, still has a job, complicated slightly because the agency holds some regulators authority over the BBC. The “mystery” fourth short-listed candidate has never been identified, probably a secret kept forever.

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