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BBC is one of the UK's greatest assets, says Arts Council chair BBC is one of the UK's greatest assets, says Arts Council chair
(35 minutes later)
Arts Council chairman Sir Peter Bazalgette has described the BBC as this country’s greatest asset “after the English language and Shakespeare”.Arts Council chairman Sir Peter Bazalgette has described the BBC as this country’s greatest asset “after the English language and Shakespeare”.
Bazalgette said the BBC had to do more to work in partnership with other creative organisations, and face the prospect of the licence fee being “top-sliced” for commercial operators if it failed to do so.Bazalgette said the BBC had to do more to work in partnership with other creative organisations, and face the prospect of the licence fee being “top-sliced” for commercial operators if it failed to do so.
He said the BBC had to do more to reach out to parts of the community which would not typically consider working for the corporation, including improving its representation and employment of black, Asian and minority ethnic people.He said the BBC had to do more to reach out to parts of the community which would not typically consider working for the corporation, including improving its representation and employment of black, Asian and minority ethnic people.
Bazalgette, the former TV producer who began his career at the BBC and later brought Big Brother to the UK on Channel 4, said whenever he was rung up by a researcher from the Today programme they would typically be called Piers or Jemima.Bazalgette, the former TV producer who began his career at the BBC and later brought Big Brother to the UK on Channel 4, said whenever he was rung up by a researcher from the Today programme they would typically be called Piers or Jemima.
“There’s nothing wrong with those two names,” he added. But he said the BBC had to be “almost Jesuitical” in going to every corner of the land to ensure that its staffing and on-screen talent properly reflected its audience.“There’s nothing wrong with those two names,” he added. But he said the BBC had to be “almost Jesuitical” in going to every corner of the land to ensure that its staffing and on-screen talent properly reflected its audience.
“After the English language and Shakespeare it is the greatest asset this country has around the world,” Bazalgette told members of the House of Lords communications committee on Tuesday.“After the English language and Shakespeare it is the greatest asset this country has around the world,” Bazalgette told members of the House of Lords communications committee on Tuesday.
“It doesn’t reflect the nation well enough and it shouldn’t take comfort from the fact it’s not alone,” he added.“It doesn’t reflect the nation well enough and it shouldn’t take comfort from the fact it’s not alone,” he added.
He said the BBC was “crucial to the health of the creative industries which are of national importance, 5% of the national economy”, and should continue to do more in partnership with other creative organisations, such as the Arts Council, with which it partnered on The Space online arts project.He said the BBC was “crucial to the health of the creative industries which are of national importance, 5% of the national economy”, and should continue to do more in partnership with other creative organisations, such as the Arts Council, with which it partnered on The Space online arts project.
“In terms of partnerships it is a work in progress. It is a much more open organisation but it has further to go. In terms of how easy a partner they are, you are dealing with quite a few different points of view and quite a few committees,” he said.“In terms of partnerships it is a work in progress. It is a much more open organisation but it has further to go. In terms of how easy a partner they are, you are dealing with quite a few different points of view and quite a few committees,” he said.
“I would urge the director general [Tony Hall] to redouble his efforts to make it an easier partner to deal with. It is a positive work in progress.”“I would urge the director general [Tony Hall] to redouble his efforts to make it an easier partner to deal with. It is a positive work in progress.”
On the issue of top-slicing the licence fee, Bazalgette said: “It is an important issue. If the BBC can continue to demonstrate how open it is and form new partnerships there is no need for contestable funding. If it was judged it was not taking that seriously then contestable funding would be a perfectly reasonable proposition.”On the issue of top-slicing the licence fee, Bazalgette said: “It is an important issue. If the BBC can continue to demonstrate how open it is and form new partnerships there is no need for contestable funding. If it was judged it was not taking that seriously then contestable funding would be a perfectly reasonable proposition.”
The Arts Council chief also said the BBC had a crucial role to play by investing in original content and training the next generation of talent. He said investment in original content across all UK broadcasters had fallen in the last five years while the amount of money which went on sports rights had rocketed.
“Our investment in original programming, that’s not the same as sport or bought-in movies, it has declined over the five years from 2008 to 2013 from £2.6bn to £2.4bn and I view that with concern,” he said.
“The new Premier League deal, because of the competition between BT and Sky, the cost of the rights went up above £5bn. The new Premier League deal will represent 25% of all the money spent on broadcast programmes, it will attract 0.6% of the audience because it’s on a pay [TV platform].
“Now I yield to no one in my admiration for the game of football and the Premier League but in terms of the disposition of our investment and in terms of its relevance to the whole of the population and its universality, those statistics I just quoted should concern us.”
“It has such significance for our culture, our democracy and our economy, I am concerned about it.”
Bazalgette said the BBC had to retain an online presence if it was to remain a provider of independent and impartial news and information to the country.
“In the internet age it is inconceivable that it could carry on that task without having an online incarnation,” he said. “It’s ambit is a different question.”
He said the BBC should not be criticised for doing shows like Strictly Come Dancing and should be able to make popular entertainment shows as long as the licence fee was still compulsory.
“I would only say, I think shows on the BBC have an additional onus to be original and to take the story forward, not merely to replicate what’s elsewhere,” he said.
Bazalgette appeared alongside Cerys Matthews, the singer and presenter on the BBC’s digital radio station, 6 Music. She said the government was “fiddling with a success story, even [culture secretary John] Whittingdale said the BBC was at the heart of Britain and we are fiddling with it and putting it at risk”.
Matthews said it was “classist” to suggest the BBC should not do Radio 1 or Radio 2 – singled out in last week’s government green paper on the future of the BBC – and concentrate on Radio 3 and Radio 4. “I think that’s quite ageist in a way, or classist,” she said. “When we are paying a TV licence they should serve everybody.”
Asked whether the BBC could do what it does for less money, she said: “I don’t have the purse strings. When I work for ITV I earn a hell of a lot more than when I work of the BBC, twice as much.”
Matthews told the committee she left the United States because she missed the BBC. She said she left in 2007 because she wanted her children to have access to advert-free public service broadcasting and described the BBC as a “true window on the world”.
It was during her time in Australia and the US, where she spent six years, that she said she “truly felt the true value and extent of what the BBC gives us culturally.”