A new report from the very serious sounding Institute of Economic Affairs says that the licence fee in its current state should be axed, the BBC should become a subscription service, and any public service broadcasting organisation should be allowed to bid for government funding.
Those conclusions are reached in a new report for the IEA by Professor Sir Alan Peacock, who previously led a major government enquiry into the funding of the BBC in the mid 1980s. In the new report he argues that technological change has made radical reform of broadcasting achievable. Peacock: "We have now reached the point where the goal of an independent BBC funded by subscriptions or other means can become a reality."
Commenting on OfCom's proposals on public service broadcasting which were published last week, Peacock continues: "In some respects they are a step in the right direction. But setting up a competitor public service broadcasting channel to the BBC is not the right approach. Even after this move, in the digital age, the BBC will probably have a greater stranglehold on public service broadcasting than it currently does".
"Competition is needed in two respects. Viewers who choose not to receive the BBC channels should not have to pay for them and other broadcasters who want to produce programmes with public service content should be able to compete with the BBC for funds. Viewers should have the right of exit and broadcasters the right of entry. The BBC's virtual monopoly of public service broadcasting is inefficient, discourages innovation and leads to too much power being vested in a single institution."
Press information on the report is available from Melissa Davis at the IEA on 020 7799 8900