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MUMBAI:
A joint venture between BBC Worldwide, which is the UK pubcaster's
commercial arm, and Channel 4 is very likely. A partnership
between them would be acceptable.
BBC
Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons made these remarks when he
appeared on BBC Radio 4's The Media Show. He was interviewed
by Steve Hewlett on a range of current broadcasting issues.
He,
however, added that partnerships have to add value and don't
just transfer value.
"And
particularly what I've sought to underline in this debate
is that as far as I'm concerned BBC Worldwide is owned not
by the Government, not by Ofcom, but by the licence fee payers.
So they have to see that the value of their investment currently
coming back in the form of BBC programmes and taking the pressure
of the licence fee - they have to see that investment well
used in the future."
He
conceedes that partnerships are difficult to put together.
"Much of my adult life has been working on partnerships
of one form or another. And the distance between good intentions
and a partnership which really works and is sustainable -
there's quite a big distance there."
He
was also clear that the BBC opposes merger – as opposed
to a partnership – between BBC Worldwide and Channel
4. After all BBC Worldwide is not a self standing communications
company. It is the commercial wing of the BBC.
"All
of its value depends upon programmes - programme ideas created
by the BBC. Separating that, breaking off that lifeline, in
some way, severely risks its commercial future."
Asked
whether it was right for BBC Worldwide to buy Lonely Planet
or take stakes in independent production companies, he said,
"The BBC Trust has this year embarked upon a review around
the questions of should it (BBC Worldwide) have as broad a
commercial remit as it has at the moment, and are there risks
to the BBC's reputation and brand from exactly that type of
activity. The work isn't completely finished but the conclusions
are certainly pointing towards the fact that BBC Worldwide's
remit should be narrower, it should focus on the exploitation
of the intellectual property of the BBC."
Asked
about criticism of the governance arrangements of the BBC
– in particular that there was insufficient separation
between the Trust and the management of the BBC - he said,
"My understanding of what Parliament decided when it
created the BBC Trust to replace the Governors is that it
simultaneously wanted to strengthen the independence of the
BBC and to ensure that the management were effectively held
to account.
"And
it didn't decide to set up a regulator to do this job - the
BBC Trust isn't a regulator although it has regulatory powers.
What it decided was that if you really want to exert control
the only place to do that is through the governing arrangements...I'm
not allowed to chair the Executive Board that makes the day
to day business and editorial decisions for the BBC. (But)
we make well-informed decisions because we regularly meet
with and are informed by the Executive.
"I
don't know which decisions people feel represent too close
a relationship. I didn't hear people saying that when the
Trust turned down the BBC's Executive's proposal for local
video."
Recently
film show host Jonathan Ross resumed duties. When asked about
how much he is paid Lyons says that it is certainly a lot
of money. "I think it is proper for me to ask whether
in employing Jonathan Ross the BBC was actually making the
market or following the market. And what we clearly established
in that inquiry [the Trust's 2008 review of talent costs]
is that other people were willing to pay that sum.
"Now
we then get into a different debate about whether the BBC
should pay those sums - for somebody who's very popular. Look
Jonathan Ross came back only this last week with an audience
of over five million people. So the notion that he is not
popular, can't command a big audience, I think is far from
true."
Lyons
conceedes that although people still have great affection
for BBC programmes, they might be less comfortable with the
BBC as a institution. "I think that might be true. When
I was interviewed for this post I spent some time recounting
the history of my own life with the BBC, growing up in East
London, being introduced to the world, being introduced to
literature. Do you know if you'd said to me did I have great
affection for the Governors or the Director-Generals of the
time I'd have looked at you with the same quizzical look that
I'm giving you now.
"And
it's the same if you look across public services. People value
and cherish the services, they're not interested in the clock
workings. It's the same for any area of public service. There's
a gap between the institution and what is provided…We
live in an age where the public are quite rightly more demanding,
want to hold people to account, want to see who has made the
decision and want to hear that people were held to account
for the decisions they've made. That's entirely healthy, it's
not comfortable always but it's healthy."
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