PSB Archives

With the BBC future report just recently released (Plunkett, 2015) and with the licence fee coming under increasing pressure to provide ‘value for money’ (Aitken, 2015) this report has highlighted key areas that require reform, which includes the loophole allowing homes to watch television via the iPlayer and avoid paying the licence fee, legally - an option that according to Ofcom nearly a million homes have opted for (2014). Yet, on the whole it seems like a positive outcome for the corporation and the director general Tony Hall has welcomed the report, claiming that the committee has given the licence fee at least another decade (Martinson, 2015).

The BBC is a world-renowned service that caters for many tastes and while it is important that the important work the BBC does is not lost, it can be helpful to look at alternatives to this model particularly when the people who provide the most funding to the BBC, the licence fee payers, are not provided with access to the content it produces. This is particularly important for LGB audiences and the fact that LGB programming is shown with little regularity and often pushed to the fringes of the schedule, access to that content online post-broadcast is vital for this community. It is commendable that the BBC have just introduced a new iPlayer policy that opens up a window of 30-day catch up but they are yet to go as far as channel 4 who have, with 4OD, created a catalogue of programming, stretching back many years, all accessible for free (Khan, 2009).

Personally, I can remember the impact that secretly accessing an episode of Queer as Folk had in helping me to discover my sexual identity. I didn’t watch it on television, not just for fear of being noticed but also because the re-runs were on after 11pm. I could, in the privacy of my room, view a programme that I felt connected to in some way, despite the sensational and dramatic characters whose lives were far removed from my own. That is why access to the LGBT content outputted by the BBC is vital for this community. The BBC is being squeezed, cut backs are being made and it isn't an organisation without controversy (Martinson, 2015) but this is affecting the access licence-fee payers have to content. After a programme is broadcast and the 30-iplayer window is over, it must be bought either through a VOD service or on DVD/ Blu-ray. This is what we need to reconsider. There is so much interesting content that licence fee payers have missed, didn’t get a chance to see and must now pay extra because they didn’t make the time slot.

Bibliography:

Aitken, R. Why the BBC doesn't deserve to have the licence fee increased. The Telegraph. February 28 2015. [Online]. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/bbc/11442130/Why-the-BBC-doesnt-deserve-to-have-the-licence-fee-increased.html [Accessed 28/02/15].

Khan, U. (2009). Channel 4 creates 4oD online back catalogue free of charge. The Telegraph. June 8 2009. [Online]. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/5476217/Channel-4-creates-4oD-online-back-catalogue-free-of-charge.html [Accessed 01/03/15].

Martinson, J. (2015). BBC licence fee good for at least another decade, says director general. The Guardian. March 2 2015. [Online]. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/mar/02/bbc-licence-fee-10-years-director-general-tony-hall [Accessed: 02/03/15].

Ofcom. (2014). Infrastructure Report 2014. [Online]. Available at: stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/infrastructure/2014/infrastructure-14.pdf. [Accessed 01/03/15]. 

Plunkett, J. (2015). BBC future report: no long-term licence fee; end of the trust; less content is more. The Guardian. February 26 2015. [Online]. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/feb/26/bbc-future-report-no-long-term-licence-fee-end-of-the-trust-less-content-is-more. [Accessed 26/02/15].