Jowell confirms NAO role on BBC funding
''Another report on this subject''
Culture secretary Tessa Jowell says the National Audit Office will be involved in looking at the BBC's future efficiency and will examine the corporation's bid for an above-inflation licence fee settlement to meet its costs in the era of digital-only broadcasting.
In a Commons debate which ratified the BBC's next 10-year charter, running to the end of 2016, Jowell said the principles of responding to the public, achieving greater efficiency and investing in Britain's digital future would underlie the licence fee settlement, due to be agreed by the end of the year. "We are in discussion with the National Audit Office about how we examine the BBC's future efficiency, as part of the licence fee settlement, so that we can get an established baseline against which to judge the BBC's future efficiency programme," confirmed Jowell.
Jowell's department is currently negotiating the licence fee with the BBC, having rejected the corporation's opening claim of inflation plus 2.3% for seven years from April 2007.
In the debate Jowell said the UK had moved in just a few years "from a four-channel nation to a 500-channel nation".
She went on: "The mass-market water cooler moments of the past, with audiences of 30m for a single programme, are being replaced by niche TV. In 1995, 225 programmes had audiences of 15m or more; in 2004, only 10 did. More money is now spent on multi-channel TV subscriptions than on paying the licence fee. Just as we are all absorbing the impact of the BlackBerry and the internet, other changes in new technology, such as high-definition television, are approaching fast and will transform picture quality for ever.
"Yet, throughout all the change and choice, the public remain firm in their affection and respect for the BBC and the services that it delivers. They know instinctively that the bigger the change, the greater the need for a benchmark of quality—a brand that they can trust and a guiding hand through the thickets of the digital age."
Jowell said digital terrestrial television and digital radio had both developed rapidly because of the BBC's commitment and investment.
"Commercial companies have also innovated and invested, but it is the BBC that has the reach and the duty to ensure that new technology does not lead to a new divide. The BBC's enormous contribution to digital take-up through Freeview has led to increased competition, choice for the viewer and innovation. The BBC also has the trust of people, who are more prepared to get interested in new technologies if they know that the BBC is their guide.
"The Government are committed to full switchover by 2012 because we want the benefits of digital, including increased choice, to be available to everyone and to enable the British economy to benefit from a more efficient use of spectrum."
Jowell said there was "no organisation better placed than the BBC to demonstrate the advantages of digital and to ensure its availability on a universal basis".
Jowell said the licence fee settlement was a "sum that is greater than its parts". "The future of the complex ecology of the media industry depe*** on getting that right, and we will announce the outcome later this year and in good time for the new licence fee to be in place by April 2007," she added.
The BBC's annual report, published last week, said the future of broadcasting "looks increasingly to lie in 'on-demand'—the provision of programmes and other material when, where and how audiences want them, often with an inbuilt interactive element".
Regards Satdude.
''Another report on this subject''
Culture secretary Tessa Jowell says the National Audit Office will be involved in looking at the BBC's future efficiency and will examine the corporation's bid for an above-inflation licence fee settlement to meet its costs in the era of digital-only broadcasting.
In a Commons debate which ratified the BBC's next 10-year charter, running to the end of 2016, Jowell said the principles of responding to the public, achieving greater efficiency and investing in Britain's digital future would underlie the licence fee settlement, due to be agreed by the end of the year. "We are in discussion with the National Audit Office about how we examine the BBC's future efficiency, as part of the licence fee settlement, so that we can get an established baseline against which to judge the BBC's future efficiency programme," confirmed Jowell.
Jowell's department is currently negotiating the licence fee with the BBC, having rejected the corporation's opening claim of inflation plus 2.3% for seven years from April 2007.
In the debate Jowell said the UK had moved in just a few years "from a four-channel nation to a 500-channel nation".
She went on: "The mass-market water cooler moments of the past, with audiences of 30m for a single programme, are being replaced by niche TV. In 1995, 225 programmes had audiences of 15m or more; in 2004, only 10 did. More money is now spent on multi-channel TV subscriptions than on paying the licence fee. Just as we are all absorbing the impact of the BlackBerry and the internet, other changes in new technology, such as high-definition television, are approaching fast and will transform picture quality for ever.
"Yet, throughout all the change and choice, the public remain firm in their affection and respect for the BBC and the services that it delivers. They know instinctively that the bigger the change, the greater the need for a benchmark of quality—a brand that they can trust and a guiding hand through the thickets of the digital age."
Jowell said digital terrestrial television and digital radio had both developed rapidly because of the BBC's commitment and investment.
"Commercial companies have also innovated and invested, but it is the BBC that has the reach and the duty to ensure that new technology does not lead to a new divide. The BBC's enormous contribution to digital take-up through Freeview has led to increased competition, choice for the viewer and innovation. The BBC also has the trust of people, who are more prepared to get interested in new technologies if they know that the BBC is their guide.
"The Government are committed to full switchover by 2012 because we want the benefits of digital, including increased choice, to be available to everyone and to enable the British economy to benefit from a more efficient use of spectrum."
Jowell said there was "no organisation better placed than the BBC to demonstrate the advantages of digital and to ensure its availability on a universal basis".
Jowell said the licence fee settlement was a "sum that is greater than its parts". "The future of the complex ecology of the media industry depe*** on getting that right, and we will announce the outcome later this year and in good time for the new licence fee to be in place by April 2007," she added.
The BBC's annual report, published last week, said the future of broadcasting "looks increasingly to lie in 'on-demand'—the provision of programmes and other material when, where and how audiences want them, often with an inbuilt interactive element".
Regards Satdude.