Bin generic programmes and read the country’s mood – the BBC must adapt to survive

Lessons are now being learnt from its failure to understand Britain during the Brexit referendum and its weak analysis of the issues, writes Roger Mosey

Audience levels are falling, most dramatically in linear television (AFP/Getty)

The reputation of many of our institutions is sinking. There are few who feel warm and loving towards the government or parliament or the Bank of England. But as it celebrates its 100th birthday, the BBC should feel proud that it is still relevant in a digital age.

It is the place where we watched Queen Elizabeth and Paddington Bear discuss marmalade sandwiches, the venue when we celebrated the Lionesses’ victory in the Euro football tournament, and our daily news source through turmoil and crisis. The new 50p coin is engraved with the words “our BBC”, and that is still true enough: it is something almost everyone in the UK uses at least once a week, and the mission of its founders to “inform, educate and entertain” continues.

That is not to say that there aren’t some signs of bombardment at Broadcasting House. Audience levels are falling, most dramatically in linear television; and surveys show that trust in the corporation’s news is being eroded too. The BBC has seldom been loved by governments, but the current administration has imposed a tough financial settlement with a zero per cent increase in the licence fee at precisely the moment that inflation has let rip.

A financial black hole looms, with the new culture secretary, Michelle Donelan, a declared sceptic about whether there should be a licence fee at all. All the time, the commercial competition increases with the international streaming services providing drama with a polish – and at a cost – that the BBC could never achieve. And then there are armies of trolls on social media challenging everything that is said on BBC News.

The corporation has been regrouping under its current director-general Tim Davie after a period of drift. As a top priority, Davie has restated the need for impartiality in news. We should ignore the yelps from current and former presenters as they are rightly admonished for advancing their personal views on air and on social media. It is part of a more thorough-going restructuring where lessons are being learnt from the BBC’s failures to read the country during the Brexit referendum and its weak analysis of the issues, which continued through recent general elections.

Metropolitan liberalism in broadcasting is fine for metropolitan liberals, but it cannot be funded by a compulsory tax on small-town Conservatives – hence the emphasis on breaking down some of the BBC’s London baronies and moving decision-makers around the UK.

Also striking is the extent to which the BBC iPlayer is now at the centre of the “television” offering. The BBC had first-mover advantage with the iPlayer more than 15 years ago, but it was slow to take advantage because of regulatory hurdles and a mindset that gave priority to the conventional television channels.

Now, the corporation talks about a “digital first” strategy which makes sense for much – though not all – of its output. The power of linear radio remains, and there will be a squall when the BBC News channel disappears in its present form early next year.

But iPlayer offers both a solution and a challenge to the BBC. The opportunity is that it need no longer worry about filling endless hours of conventional television schedules. Dip into the BBC daytime offering and it is awash with quizzes and antiques and property programmes which are supplied by the rest of the market. Even in the peak schedule, we have a direct Saturday night choice between the BBC’s I Can See Your Voice (in which the singer you see may not be the one you hear) and ITV’s The Voice (in which you can see the singer but not hear them). Away with them all! Let iPlayer showcase distinctive, high-quality programming available to everyone on demand.

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Here, though, there is a risk. The BBC’s conventional services cannot easily be converted to subscription: it wouldn’t work on Freeview or for the radio channels. But iPlayer does offer the chance to put some of the content behind a paywall, so that a basic offering could be funded by a licence fee – but premium content would be at a cost.

Centre court matches at Wimbledon could be “free”, while for the rest of the tournament you would need a digital season ticket; or a major drama could be released week by week on television, while the box set was available immediately for subscribers. These would be fundamental changes to the BBC’s proposition, but I would be surprised if they’re not being modelled by the corporation’s strategists.

The fact is that the BBC has survived everything that’s been thrown at in the last 100 years, and we still need a public investment in British content. But we should be open-minded about how that’s best delivered – as long as there is a recognisable BBC for the rest of this century and beyond.

Roger Mosey is a British author, broadcaster and current master of Selwyn College, Cambridge. He was previously the head of BBC Television News