Armando Iannucci: BBC should be less averse to making money

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/aug/27/armando-iannucci-bbc-mactaggart-lecture

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Armando Iannucci said the BBC should be more robust in its own defence and get over its “aversion to making money”.

The Thick of It and Veep creator said the corporation should look to other ways to boost its own finances, such as charging people to use the iPlayer or access its archive.

Speaking the morning after his MacTaggart lecture at the Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, he said the government needed to give the television industry the same level of support it had given the film industry.

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“I don’t think people want to see the licence fee going up. If there is this pressure on the licence fee why don’t we go absolutely hell for leather to look at other opportunities to make money?” he told the festival on Thursday.

“There is a tremendous reluctance [at the BBC] to explore or talk about the money-making aspect. I don’t know whether it’s slightly sordid to talk about money or whether they are under pressure not to say they make money abroad because it might lead to headlines in the Mail or the Telegraph.

“Maybe we can use this review to change that and have absolutely no qualms being how aggressive you are selling British television abroad if you have to hire badass agents, PRs and distributors. We are sitting on something which is of so much value.”

Iannucci suggested people could pay more to use the BBC’s on-demand service, the iPlayer, and access the BBC’s archive, and said its websites could be able to take advertising as well as the BBC – echoing plans unveiled by director general Tony Hall – being allowed to make programmes for other UK broadcasters.

“There is a culture within the BBC that is slightly averse to making money and they need to get over that,” he said.

Iannucci said uncertainty around the future of the British television industry, not just the BBC but ITV and Channel 4, created a “frightened atmosphere that you have to do something to address sooner rather than later”.

Citing the possibility of a foreign buy-up of ITV and privatisation of Channel 4, neither of which were ruled out by culture secretary John Whittingdale on Wednesday,, Iannucci said there were “now several more question marks hanging over the whole industry”.

Iannucci said he was “frustrated” the BBC did not make a better case for itself.

He added that it was partly a result of the corporation having to remain impartial, which meant it could not be seen to criticise the government, but said it was also down to a fear of making the “wrong headlines”.

“There is a tremendous amount of frustration among people who feel the counter argument is not being broadcast as vociferously as the anti-BBC argument is discussed in the media,” he added.