The BBC holds a special place in the world of broadcasting. It derives its funding from a compulsory levy on people who may not even use the service. The protection it receives is justified on the grounds that it contributes to national welfare because of its role in ‘public service broadcasting’. The authors of this book argue that the BBC’s funding model is becoming untenable as technology changes. Furthermore, technology has also undermined the justification for government support for public service broadcasting.
There is also major concern about bias at the BBC. However, the book concludes that bias is not confined to the BBC, but is common to all media providers. The problem is not bias as such, but the link between the BBC and the government, together with the compulsory funding model which does not allow people to not fund content of which they disapprove.
Various options for reform are presented, concluding with a proposal for fullblown privatisation. It is concluded that this is the only way to realise the potential of an organisation that should be international in scope and which, under the current funding model, will become marginalised by media players operating worldwide across a range of platforms.
This book is essential reading for anybody involved in public policy or the economics of broadcasting.
About the author
Cento Veljanovski is Managing Partner of Case Associates, and IEA Fellow in Law and Economics. He was previously Research and Editorial Director at the IEA (1989–91), and held academic positions at University College London (1984–87), Oxford University (1974–84) and other UK, North American and Australian universities. He holds several degrees in law and economics (BEc, MEc, DPhil). He has written many books and articles on media and broadcasting, industrial economics, and law and economics, including Selling the State: Privatisation in Britain (Weidenfeld: 1988) and, for the IEA, Freedom in Broadcasting (1988), The Economics of Law (1990; second edition, 2006) and, together with Cambridge University Press, Economic Principles of Law (2007).
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