In my last post I talked about the importance of access to archive programming. Here I would like to take a closer look at a the BBC drama Christopher and His Kind (2011), an adaptation of the famous Christopher Isherwood novel, which was last broadcast on July 2011. On the official BBC website there is no information on when it will be broadcast next and only 4 short clips are available to watch (BBC). It can’t even be purchased through the BBC Store and is only available on Amazon for £11.25 (as of 25th Feburary 2015). The economic argument is reasonable and DVD sales provide an extra stream of revenue for this organisation already making tough cutbacks but they also have a successful online platform and with DVD sales declining (Dekel, 2015) it could be argued the fact the BBC doesn't have a service (whether subscription, advertising or one-time rental based) to legally view their archives is a disservice both them and to the licence fee payers. It seems to me that already marginalised audiences should be provided access to the content they they have helped to pay for, audiences that are frequently required to view content that reflects their lives in inconvenient time-slots already.
A Still from Christopher and His Kind
While Channel 4 might offer previous series of Queer as Folk for free the economic pressures placed on them to collect advertising revenue from their popular 4OD service has meant that outside of the 30-day window you must sign up to an account with them, handing over your personal details. For many closeted young people, as well as closeted adults, this is problematic. Yet of course they must fund their programmes and an increasingly important way of doing this is through the collection of user data which can then be sold on to advertisers (Channel 4, N.D.) and the recent select committee report on the future of the BBC recommended new privacy invasion measures to catch Licence-fee evaders (Swinford, 2015). They may also adopt another 4OD tactic of not allow their content to be played though a private browsing tab, which is because computer cookies and browser history can't be accessed this way, again opening the gate for more sensitive and personal information to be sent to Google and ISP providers, which Snowden helped reveal is being collected in alarmingly high rates (Kobie, 2015) without people's consent or knowledge by governments around the world.
In his book 'The Business of Media Distribution', Jeffrey Ulin states in regard to Intellectual property rights and the internet (pg. 31):
4OD Interface
In his book 'The Business of Media Distribution', Jeffrey Ulin states in regard to Intellectual property rights and the internet (pg. 31):
Everyone in a segment is fearful of a different right cannibalizing its space, and accordingly the language of windows and distribution is all about holdbacks, exclusivity, and the term to exploit the rights.The is the heart of the clash with Internet opportunities, for the greatest successes of the Web tend to be tied to free and ubiquitous access.
Of course the BBC need to take advantage of all potential revenue streams but just maybe we should consider the effects and repercussions of not allowing an already marginalised and often invisible community access to the small amount of content targeted to them and we should also consider the problems that not being able to watch this content privately also throws up. Despite the BBC's transparency when it comes to it's finances it is not clear how much revenue is actually generated through DVD sales as their 2014 financial statement places it under 'other income' which they state includes (pg. 17),
Revenue recognition in BBC Worldwide is complex, with a number of different revenue streams including sale of content to global broadcasters, subscription income, carriage agreements with cable operators and revenue from the sale of physical and digital products.
Maybe this is one area on which we need more clarity from the BBC and when young people are still committing suicide at alarming rates for fear that they might be gay (Youth Chances, 2014) then access to content that shows them they aren’t alone is of the utmost importance and it is time for the BBC to not let IP, copyright and the potential for economic gain to stand in the way of their duty as a PSB.
Bibliography:
Dekel, J. All formats must die: How home video is dealing with the decline of DVD and the rise of streaming. National Post. February 20 2015. [Online]. Available at: http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/02/20/all-formats-must-die-how-home-video-is-dealing-with-the-decline-of-dvd-and-the-rise-of-streaming/. [Accessed 28/02/15].
Kobie, N. (2015). From GCHQ to tech giants: why the fight for your personal data matters. The Guardian. March 3 2015. [Online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/03/gchq-tech-giants-fight-for-personal-data. [Accessed 03/03/15].
Swinford, S. (2015). BBC could get power to access private data. The Telegraph. February 12 2015. [Online]. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/11409883/BBC-could-get-power-to-access-private-data.html. [Accessed 02/03/15].
Youth Chances. (2014). Summary of First Findings: the experiences of LGBTQ young people in England. [Online]. Available at: http://www.youthchances.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/YC_REPORT_FirstFindings_2014.pdf [Accessed 02/03/15].
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