Caution in the air as BBC and Channel Four mark their big anniversaries

Half a century ago, the BBC chose a satirist to deliver a history of its first 50 years. John Bird called his talk ‘We Seem to Have Lost the Picture’ and began it with a recording of the first television transmission from Alexandra Palace.
23rd August 1936:  D G  Birkinshaw operating the Marconi-EMI instantaneous TV camera transmitting the view from Alexandra Palace, the BBC's first high definition TV station. In the background are the mast and transmitting aerials of the Palace.  (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)23rd August 1936:  D G  Birkinshaw operating the Marconi-EMI instantaneous TV camera transmitting the view from Alexandra Palace, the BBC's first high definition TV station. In the background are the mast and transmitting aerials of the Palace.  (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
23rd August 1936: D G Birkinshaw operating the Marconi-EMI instantaneous TV camera transmitting the view from Alexandra Palace, the BBC's first high definition TV station. In the background are the mast and transmitting aerials of the Palace. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

That inaugural programme, explained a dinner-jacketed announcer, had been transmitted earlier in the day on John Logie Baird’s mechanical apparatus, and would now be seen again on the electronic system devised by Marconi EMI.

“It was the first television programme in the world – and it was a repeat,” observed Bird.

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It was a demonstration that the BBC of 1972 could afford a little levity at its own expense. Its TV service was holding up well against its only competitor, ITV, and it still enjoyed a radio monopoly. Few if any viewers were demanding it be shut down.

As it prepares to celebrate its centenary in the coming year, the broadcasting climate is far less hospitable. The Government is considering decriminalising or even abandoning the licence fee, and the argument persists in some quarters that in an age of satellite and internet TV, a publicly-funded broadcaster is simply an anachronism.

Today’s BBC is not the cottage industry of 1922 nor even 1972 but a £5bn-a-year operation that runs eight national TV channels, more than 50 radio stations and an online platform – and the scale of its activities has caused even some of its own staff to complain that it is bloated and out of touch. The former news presenter John Humphrys said in 2014 that while it remained “a profound force for good”, it was also too big.

Yet few have argued that the institution be dismantled completely, and for its supporters 2022 will present an opportunity to sing its praises.

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Catherine Johnson, professor of media and communication at Huddersfield University, whose book, Online TV, charts the changes to the medium since the arrival of the internet, says the new Netflix landscape serves only to underline the BBC’s continued relevance.

“The BBC has been a template for public service broadcasters around the world, and while there is lots more media available today, the domination of a small handful of US platforms means there is even less being produced solely in the public interest,” she said. “That makes an organisation whose only function is to serve the British public more important than ever.”

However, she acknowledges that the Corporation is less relevant to some younger viewers, for whom watching TV is now an online activity rather than a shared family experience.

But while that risked making the concept of a licence fee – a tax on owning a TV set – seem anachronistic, it did not remove the need for a ring-fenced funding system, she added.

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“If you believe in the value of public service broadcasting, you need to have a funding mechanism that protects it from too much political interference and from being too commercial.”

The same was true, she added, of another broadcaster with a public service remit, which is also celebrating an anniversary in 2022. Channel Four will turn 40 in November and, like the BBC, is facing calls for a wholesale restructuring of its finances. The channel, though funded by advertising, is not run for profit – but the Government has suggested it be fully privatised.

It would be a slippery slope, Prof Johnson said. “If Channel Four were to be privatised we would see a significant reduction in its public service remit. Look at what’s happened at ITV, which has campaigned tirelessly over the last 20 years to have its public service obligations reduced. Today that commitment is minimal compared to the BBC.”

Channel 4 went on air with Countdown, produced by Yorkshire TV in Leeds. It was among many shows to be made for the new service by the existing ITV companies, who had the exclusive rights to sell advertising on it in their region. It took another decade for the channel to become completely independent.

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The campaign for a fourth channel had been hard fought, and both ITV and the BBC argued that they should control it. In the end, the solution was a compromise. But a key commitment was an increase in the number of programmes made by companies outside the existing broadcasting system.

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