The history of British public service broadcasting

2.6 The history of British public service broadcasting

The history of public service broadcasting in the UK is often recounted as

a history of regulation. Broadcasting in the UK was established as a public monopoly after a short trial period as private monopoly. This is clearly not the only model; in the USA broadcasting was largely left to the market, although there was still regulation on technical grounds because of the scarcity of wavelengths.

This brief history details the main developments in public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, particularly those related to television. For a fuller account see the reading list at the end of the chapter, which details a number of histories of broadcasting.

2.6.1 Context

Radio communication was developed by the military during the First World War; post-war they were reluctant to see it developed for civilian purposes. Parliament was lobbied because of concerns about interference from civilian signals affecting the efficiency of military use of the airwaves. A second factor that delayed the start of public broadcasting in the UK was the Russian revolution (1917). There was concern about the power of broadcasting to subvert the state because the new medium could be used to call people to revolt, and indeed the initial broadcasts were carefully controlled by the Postmaster General to prevent any subversive use. The consequence of these concerns was that, whilst the USA and many other countries established radio stations during 1919 and 1920, broadcasts were delayed in the UK until 1922.

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2.6.2 Regulation of broadcasting

Paddy Scannel’s writing in Understanding Television suggests that, when

considering the history of regulation 19 :

A useful starting point is to distinguish between public service as a responsibility delegated to broadcasting authorities by the state, and the manner in which the broadcasting authorities have interpreted that responsibility and tried to discharge it.

Key dates, Acts and government committees

In 1922, the British Broadcasting Company was founded as a private monopoly.

In 1923, the Sykes Committee considered the future of broadcasting (‘The control of such a potential power over public opinion and the life of the

nation ought to remain with the state’ 20 ).

In 1925, Reith was asked to submit a proposal for future of broadcasting to the Crawford Committee. He recommended a public utility. The Crawford Committee maps out the guidelines for British public service broadcasting.

In 1926, the British Broadcasting Corporation became a public utility, and John Reith became its first Director General. The BBC’s independence from the government was tested by the General Strike in the same year. All the newspapers except for the government’s British Gazette were closed down, and the Home Secretary, Winston Churchill, wanted to use the BBC to broadcast the government line. Reith wrote in his diary afterwards:

They want to be able to say that they did not commandeer us, but they know they can trust us not to be really impartial.

In 1932, the BBC World Service was established. This is the only part of the BBC directly funded by government (the Foreign Office) and not by licence fee. Ironically, it is sometimes suggested that it is the most independent service, particularly in terms of its news coverage.

In 1933, Radio Luxembourg was founded and competition arose because the BBC was unwilling to broadcast popular music, especially on Sundays.

In 1936, BBC television started, although it was only available in the South East of England and programmes and transmissions were limited (typically 20.30–22.00 hrs). The BBC management was seen as being indifferent to it, and funding continued, in the main, to be for radio.

British public service broadcasting

In 1939, the television service closed down for the war (it was seen as a luxury), although radio continued. Television broadcasting eventually resumed in 1946.

In 1950, the Beveridge Report recommended that the BBC should remain as monopoly broadcaster.

In 1954, the Television Act legislated for the creation of independent television. Only one-fifth of households had a television; this was a low percentage compared to the USA, but was much higher than in the rest of Europe.

In 1955 to 1956, the monopoly was broken and ITA was established. The first stations, including Granada, started broadcasting.

By 1957, the audience had been largely drawn to independent television –

75 per cent watched ITA and 25 per cent BBC. Reith was unable to deliver popular culture, whereas the ITA companies were broadcasting gameshows and American programmes.

In 1960, the Pilkington Report criticised the low standards on ITV, and forced companies back from mainly popular programming (‘a licence to print money’) to their public service remit. As a result of the Pilkington Report, the third TV channel was awarded to the BBC in 1964. BBC2’s charter required it to function as a minority channel.

Between 1964 and 1982, the three channels operated in equilibrium and competition. This period is now often described as the ‘Golden Age of Television’. BBC1 had a 40 per cent audience share, BBC2 10 per cent and ITV 50 per cent. It was in the government’s interests to maintain a stable audience for each, and if ITV exceeded a 50 per cent share, a government levy on advertising income would reduce profits. Instead of competition for audience, there was competition for quality – broadcasters wanted to win awards as well as ratings.

This created openings for oppositional programme makers such as Tony Garnett and Ken Loach (Cathy Come Home), Sidney Newman (Armchair Theatre , The Wednesday Play) and Peter Watkins (The War Game). There was less pressure on broadcasters to deliver ratings, and a desire to experiment with new ‘voices’. Senior management and production staff in ITV and BBC had similar social backgrounds; they shared a common culture and would not have to compete with each other, and there was a growing similarity in the ideology of both broadcasters. This all created a unique system of PSB in the UK, despairingly labelled as ‘the liberal broadcasting tradition’ by Margaret Thatcher.

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In 1967, pirate radio stations were closed. BBC started Radio 1 and renamed the other services (‘the Light’ became Radio 2, the ‘Third Service’ became Radio 3 and the ‘Home Service’ became Radio 4).

In 1972, ILR started (LBC and Capital Radio were early stations) and broke the BBC radio monopoly after 46 years. (Note that this was 17 years after the television monopoly was broken.)

In 1977, the Annan Report criticised the ‘cosy duopoly’ of broadcasters, with BBC and ITV split roughly 50/50 with little competitive scheduling. BBC2 was unable to cater for minorities, as society was now more politically and culturally fragmented, and PSB needed a new station to serve the whole breadth of population. This fourth channel was to be independent. (Initially it was funded by the ITV companies, although it is now reliant on advertising revenue.)

In 1982, Channel 4 started. This was the first national, independent television station, and it had a remit to serve minorities. Jeremy Isaacs, the first Chief Executive, claimed that if the channel reached more than 10 per cent of the audience, then it had failed. In the same year, the Hunt Report on cable was published; this aimed for a complete British network to allow for free market competition, as in the USA. Private companies were to be used to develop the network, unlike West Germany, where public funds were used to create the national system.

In 1986, the Peacock Report was published regarding the funding of the BBC and whether the licence fee should be abolished. This report was directly responsible for the 1990 Broadcasting Act, which was the key legislation for the 1990s; its fallout is still working through the broadcasting industry. This was a move away from PSB principles towards the market. The act articulated Thatcherite policy in a similar way to Health Service and Education reforms of the 1980s (although it was moderated by more than 200 amendments as it passed through Parliament). The Act led to a number of significant changes in broadcasting, including:

1 Franchise auctions for Channel 3; IBA became ITC, and Channel 3 was deregulated

2 Freeing up of radio regulations and the creation of incremental stations (e.g. Kiss FM, Jazz FM), community stations and independent national radio (e.g. Classic FM, Virgin 1215)

3 The 25 per cent rule for independent production for both BBC and ITC companies, which had implications both for employment in television (creating a tendency towards casualisation) and for programming (easier

British public service broadcasting

access to the network meant that programming could be more innovative)

4 The proposal of Channel 5 as an independent national broadcaster, although it was not required to broadcast to the whole country.

In 1995, the government published a White Paper on digital broadcasting. In 1996, the BBC charter was renewed after much debate about the

corporation’s future role (see Green Paper, The Future of the BBC, and the BBC’s reply, Extending Choice).

In 1997, Channel 5 eventually started broadcasting. In 1998, digital distribution started (Sky Digital, Ondigital). Ondigital included

BBC1, BBC2, Channel 3 and Channel 4, as well as the new BBC channels (BBC Choice and BBC News 24), Channel 4’s FilmFour, and new Carlton and Granada channels. This could be the beginning of commercial PSB or, alternatively, the beginning of the end of PSB.

2.6.3 The future of public service broadcasting

This chapter has considered the history of PSB in the UK, Canada and Germany. One conclusion that can be drawn from this is that there appears to have been a general trend during the 1980s and 1990s towards market-led broadcasting. The accusations of a producer-led, rather paternalistic, system have now given way to criticisms of ‘dumbing down’ current affairs, news and drama in order to attract more ratings. Despite the fact that the BBC might be perceived as free from chasing ratings, since its income is not directly related to them, they are still essential to the Corporation in order to prove its relevance. If audiences are fragmented by the availability of channel choice and BBC television ratings drop, then the justification for the licence fee (rather than a subscription fee) will be lost. A variety of figures have been debated, but it is often assumed that 25 per cent of the audience, on a weekly basis, is required to maintain the BBC’s position. For any government, raising the licence fee is always an unpopular measure; abolishing it, however, would

be met with delight by some. Not least of these would be subscription channels, whether cable, satellite or digital, since the licence fee is a significant brake on their expansion. Some viewers are reluctant to pay further for access to television channels, but if there was no licence fee to enter the system (as in the USA) they might well choose, and be able to afford, to subscribe to additional stations.

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The end of PSB has been forecast for some 20 years, since the advent of satellite broadcasting. Falling audience share is a major concern for broadcasters – it erodes the notion of a national broadcaster ‘speaking’ to the whole nation, and threatens programme budgets which might provide distinctiveness (as in Canadian broadcasting). However, public service broadcasters are involved in the new technologies of distribution, with new digital stations (BBC Choice, News 24) and websites (the BBC website is a highly popular and fast expanding example). Finally, as in Canada, the public’s desire (or otherwise) for a distinctive public service broadcasting system will probably determine its survival.