Assess the capacity of an online BB3 to meet the requirements of a Public Service Broadcaster (as laid down in the BBC charter) in relation to that

of the current digital channel.

By Natasha Bolger

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Contents Page1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………32. Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..33. About the BBC……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..4

3.1 What is the BBC? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….43.2 How it is Funded………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..43.3 BBC Trust – Royal Charter and Agreement…………………………………………………………………………43.4 Television Channels……………………………………………………………………………………………………………5

4. Digital Channel Vs BBC 3 Online…………………………………………………………………………………………..54.1 Digital Channel Benefits……………………………………………………………………………………………..……..54.2 Digital Channel Drawbacks…………………………………………………………………………………………………54.3 Online BBC 3 Benefits………………………………………………………………………………………………………..64.4 Online BBC 3 Drawbacks……………………………………………………………………………………………..…….6

5. PSB Situation…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………75.1 Percentage Shares of Television Channels from December 2013 – February 2014…………….75.2 The Success of the iPlayer………………………………………………………………………………………………….85.3 Is Axing the BBC the Right Decision? ………………………………………………………………………………...95.4 Further Views on the Debate…………………………………………………………………………………….……….9

6. Conclusion of Findings………………………………………………………………………………………………………..107. Recommendation………………………….……………………………………………………………………………………108. References………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….11

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IntroductionThis report will assess the capacity of an online BB3 to meet the requirements of a Public

Service Broadcaster (as laid down in the BBC charter) in relation to that of the current digital

channel. The investigation will also specifically focus on the BBC trust - its Charter and

Agreement, the model of existing BBC channels and the dynamics between the current

debates surrounding its future alongside the PSB. It will look closely at the annual figures of

2012/2013 report and identify a relationship between the three elements. The research

undertaken for this report will include an evaluation of what has been found.

Executive SummaryThis report has explored the capacity of both the differences and similarities of an online

BBC3 and its current digital channel. Alongside this, it has looked into the Royal Charter and

how these requirements are met by the Public Service Broadcaster both as a digital channel

and an online BBC 3. It has focused on the history, funding, debates on ‘axing’ the digital

channel and the current success of iPlayer. Also, it has provided a conclusion of findings and

a recommendation. The report has concluded and gave an unbiased detailed account of

both the benefits and drawbacks of the debate in regards to the capacity of an online-only

BBC 3 in comparison to its current digital channel.

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About the BBCWhat is the BBC?

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a public service broadcasting provider in

Britain, which is for the public of the United Kingdom, Canary Islands and Isle of Man. Their

mission is to “enrich people’s lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and

entertain.” (BBC - Inside the BBC, 2014). For almost a past century, the BBC has continued

to be at the front of innovation of new technology. Today, viewers can watch they want when

they want across multiple platforms.

The BBC all began in October 1922 as a radio service. Whilst a lot of amateur radio stations

closed, the BBC’s first regular broadcast occurred in London. In November 1936, the BBC

became the world’s first broadcaster that provided a ‘high definition’ service regularly.

The history of the BBC represents many ‘firsts’ in broadcasting achievements and the

Olympic Games in 1948 was one of these as it was the first televised experience of this

particular event. Carrying on in its success over the years, the BBC is one of the leading

broadcasters in the UK. In all its history being down South, the BBC moving North was one

of their most ambitious decisions.

How it is funded

The BBC is funded by the UK public via TV licences. It doesn’t have any other source of funding from i.e. advertisements as the only advertisements on their channels are of their programmes. Therefore, it is dependent on the public.

BBC Trust – Royal Charter and Agreement

“The Royal Charter is the constitutional basis for the BBC. It sets out the public purposes of

the BBC, guarantees its independence, and outlines the duties of the Trust and the

Executive Board. The current Charter runs until 31 December 2016.” (BBC – BBC Trust,

2014)

This shows that the Charter outlines the fundamentals of the BBC and ensures that it is for

the public and maintains its purpose.

The BBC consists of a BBC Trust and an Executive Board. These two fundamental bodies

have different roles within the BBC but both are as important as each other. The Trust

consists of a Chairman, a Vice-Chairman and multiple ordinary members.

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The Agreement covers numerous topics within the Charter and gives detailed accounts of

these topics. It also establishes how the BBC is Funded and the governing duties.

Television Channels

There are a variety of television channels which the BBC broadcasts which include: BBC1, BBC2, BBC3, BBC4, CBBC, CBEEBIES, BBC PARLIAMENT, BBC NEWS and BBC ALBA.

Digital Channel Vs BBC 3 OnlineThere are many benefits and drawbacks of having and keeping the current digital channel

BBC 3, but there are also many benefits and drawbacks for the argument of having an

online-only BBC 3 in order to save money.

Digital Channel Benefits

The benefits of the digital service are; that it is accessible for every viewer on Freeview,

meaning that if anybody wanted to watch it is a possibility, and also it is already established

as a channel. The channel also provides a catch-up service of some of the other BBC

channel’s programmes, i.e. BBC 1’s Eastenders. In addition to this the channel caters for the

younger adult audiences as it runs up-coming and modern series such as, Family Guy and

American Dad, which tend to orientate towards younger adults with the humour and

ideologies used in the shows.

Digital Channel Drawbacks

The drawbacks of having the digital channel are; that it is costing the BBC money as they

are trying to cut on spending, also the channel doesn’t air until 7:00pm meaning that it

doesn’t cater for audiences that are actively viewing before this time. Even though it is a

positive for viewers to be able to catch up on their favourite programmes, this can also be

considered a drawback as this content is already available online on BBC I Player.

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BBC 3 Online Benefits

If the BBC do change the service from the current digital channel to an online-only service,

there will be many benefits from this decision. Such as the fact that having the service

online, would mean that the content from BBC 3 would be available to the public, at any time

of the day, not just after 7pm. This also means that the consumers would be able to search

for their favourite programmes, rather than just having to wait for them to come on air.

Removing the service would also provide a huge step to reach the goal of reducing the

costs, a target set by Lord Hall. In addition to these, having the entire BBC 3 channel only

online would ‘super-charge the iPlayer’ for the BBC as the amount of content online would

increase, and the amount of views wold also increase. (Kanter, 2014)

BBC 3 Online Drawbacks

Even though there are many benefits to both, The BBC and the public of having the service

only online, there are also some cons against this move. For instance, not everybody who

has a television, has access to the internet. This means that for now that can watch their

favourite programmes, but when it moves, they will no longer be able to carry on doing so,

and the fact that the BBC is funded entirely by the public, seems a bit unfair and contrasts

their ideologies stated in their Charter. And in turn would make them lose some viewers and

ratings. Also, at the moment, some programmes from BBC 3 aren’t available via the iPlayer,

this means that they would have to make every single programmes from the channel,

available online, which could become quite costly in its own right.

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PSB SituationPercentage shares of television channels from December 2013 – February 2014

Figure 1: (Source: screenshot from: http://www.barb.co.uk)

(Barb.co.uk, 2014) is a website which gives the total number of viewings for each television channel in the UK and shows the total viewing summary. Between December 2013 and February 2014, BBC 1 still remains the leading TV channel broadcast in the UK with total viewing share percentage of 21.5% - Dec 13, 22.2% - Jan 2014 and 22.2% - Feb 2014. These figures show that The BBC is the UK’s leading broadcaster.

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Figure 2: (Source: screenshot from: www.barb.co.uk)

However, BBC 3 doesn’t have the same viewing percentage share as BBC 1 or BBC 2 as it

only accounts for 1.4% of the total UK. But this doesn’t mean that the channel doesn’t play a

big role in the success of the BBC, the reason that it doesn’t have as much success as the

other channels, is because of the fact that it is more catered for younger adults, and also

their budget isn’t as large as BBC 1, BBC 2. But it is still a sizable budget as if it were to be

cut, it would help reduce the BBC’s costs monumentally.

The success of iPlayer

When browsing thinkbox.tv, there are significant figures which support the debate of a BBC

3 online service only as iPlayer’s success rates are so high.

“iPlayer delivered almost 2.32 billion TV and radio streams in 2012. Its performance in

January 2013 was very strong and received 242m requests for TV and radio programming

(212m for TV). Due to it being a BBC property, there are no commercial opportunities on the

service.” (Thinkbox.tv, 2014)

Evaluation: it is evident that iPlayer has become an increasingly huge success as more and

more streams are taking place. It continued to be just as successful in 2013 so is likely to do

so throughout the current year of 2014. Many viewers agree that a televisual experience is

better without numerous advertisements which are included on other channels such as ITV

as it decreases the actual content time of when the programme is scheduled for. Whereas,

the BBC satisfies its viewers by giving them the full content of the programme without

advertisements as interruptions. Whether BBC 3 was to stay as an online and digital

channel, viewers can share this experience – the BBC is still standing by is function to “be a

body corporate by the name of the British Broadcasting Corporation” (BROADCASTING:

Copy of Royal Charter for the continuance of the British Broadcasting Corporation, 2006:9)

which is stated in the Royal Charter. Although every member of the public does not have

access to the internet, there is still a large amount of the public who view content via the

iPlayer therefore, there is potential for BBC to maintain their high ratings.

Is axing BBC 3 the right decision?

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Figure 3: screenshot from digitalspy.co.uk

Evaluation: Figure 3 shows that over three quarters of the public are against the removal of

the digital channel BBC 3 on our television screens while only 13.05% believe it is the right

decision. However, the amount of people who answered the question has not been stated,

so it might not reflect the decision of the whole of the public. Despite the fact that this is a

negative, it still remains clear that BBC 3 maintains their mission to “entertain” its audiences.

(BBC - Inside the BBC, 2014). As the percentage of the answer “No” is so distinctively high

above, BBC shouldn’t just take into account the sizeable amount that they want to cut down

but instead, see it as worthwhile amount for all of the satisfied viewers that consume the

channel. Even though the BBC provide televisual, online and radio material for the public

and the PSB situation has become a popular trend both online and via other media sources,

it is down to the BBC to decide which decision would impact its business and viewers the

most.

Further views on the debate

An article on GeekTown in relation to views on the removal of the digital channel BBC 3 and

states:

“as an online channel it can focus on producing quality shows aimed at a younger audience,

without having to create masses of ‘filler’ shows to pack out a broadcast schedule.” (Elliott,

2014)

Evaluation: Evidently, this statement gives reasons ‘for’ the removal of the digital channel

BBC 3 and having an online only version as it states that the BBC will be able to allocate the

remaining budget to focus on programmes which are more of interest to viewers rather than

just ‘filler’ programmes.

Conclusion of findingsIn summary, it is evident that this report has assessed the capacity of having an online-only BBC 3 in relation to the digital channel. It is apparent that there are many views and opinions surrounding the whole debate and the research above shows that there are many that believe that having an online-only BBC 3 isn’t the right decision and in the best interest of the viewers who pay for the service. In addition to this, it does not fully comply with the Royal Charter because it is a ‘PSB’ and not all of the public agree with this change.

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Alternatively, there are some definitive reasons why this move is the best approach. For instance, it cuts costs for the BBC and it will also make help in making BBC 3 online full of content of the viewers’ favourite shows and not the shows that just fill the space and time.

RecommendationFrom all of the research and findings which this report has covered, the recommendation

that would be best for both the BBC and its viewers, would be to not completely axe the

current digital channel, but reduce its budget so that the BBC can still cut costs. Also, to trim

unnecessary costs within the BBC from other departments even though they said they

wouldn’t do this, and put up additional content onto their BBC 3 online via the iPlayer. This is

because the iPlayer is very successful, but they shouldn’t just cut the whole channel, but

simply phase it out and gradually turn their viewers towards their online version, and when

the channel is no longer cost effective, then remove it. The BBC of course need to cut their

costs and reach the target set, but still need to stick to their Royal Charter and be a Public

Service Broadcaster which provides unbiased services for the public. The Public, whom of

course, fund the entirety of the BBC via License fees, want a service in which caters for their

needs, and not one that only thinks about the costs.

ReferencesBarb.co.uk. 2014. Total viewing summary - monthly - BARB. [online] Available at:

http://www.barb.co.uk/viewing/monthly-total-viewing-summary?period%5B

%5D=20140201&period%5B%5D=20140101&period%5B

%5D=20131201&button_submit=View+figures [Accessed: 2 Apr 2014].

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BBC - BBC Trust. 2014. Charter and Agreement. [Online] Available at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/governance/regulatory_framework/charter_agreement.html

[Accessed: 1 Apr 2014].

BBC - Inside the BBC. 2014. Mission and values. [Online] Available at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/whoweare/mission_and_values/ [Accessed:

1 Apr 2014].

BROADCASTING: Copy of Royal Charter for the continuance of the British Broadcasting

Corporation. 2006. [e-book] London: TSO. p. 9. Available through: www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/about/how_we_govern/charter.pdf

[Accessed: 2 Apr 2014].

Elliott, D. (2014). Is the removal of BBC Three as a broadcast channel a bad

thing?. Available:http://www.geektown.co.uk/2014/03/06/removal-bbc-three-broadcast-

channel-bad-thing/. [Accessed: 2 Apr 2014].

Kanter, J. 2014. BBC3 on the brink of online move. [online] 5 March. Available at:

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/broadcasters/bbc3-on-the-brink-of-online-move/

5068307.article [Accessed: 1 Apr 2014].

Thinkbox.tv. 2014. Thinkbox -. [Online] Available at: http://www.thinkbox.tv/search?

q=bbc&x=23&y=12&page=1 [Accessed: 2 Apr 2014].

Wightman, C. 2014. BBC Three is an easy target: Why its move online makes me angry.

[Online] Available at: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a555661/bbc-three-is-an-easy-

target-why-its-move-online-makes-me-angry.html#~oAsdemhCU0uyUZ [Accessed: 2 Apr

2014].

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