The BBC is planning a series of lectures fronted by the likes of David Attenborough and Stephen Fry bigging up public service broadcasting, seemingly an attempt to justify the TV licence and, some reckon, possibly an attempt to reinforce the Beeb's exclusive claim to licence revenues, something which was questioned again last week when media regulator OfCom said one solution to the fact commercial broadcasters like ITV and Channel 4 were struggling to fund their public service obligations was to give them a cut of the licence fee.
OfCom boss Ed Richards has clarified the situation slightly, saying he is a big fan of the BBC and has no desire to hinder its operations, but adding that a new way needed to be found to help the ITV and Channel 4s of the world meet their public service aims. He said last week: "I am a strong supporter of the BBC. I am very happy to get into a competition with anybody about who loves David Attenborough and Stephen Fry the most. The BBC does a lot of exceptionally good, very valuable broadcasting ... but that is not a good argument for saying let's just forget everybody else".
OfCom will consult the wider industry on the various options for funding public service broadcasting before publishing a review report later this year and final recommendations next year.