Licence fee obsolete in 10 years if BBC doesn’t go digital, says Hall
Corporation must stay relevant to young who no longer watch television, says director-general
THE BBC will not be able to justify the licence fee unless it finds new ways to deliver news and programmes to the social media generation, Lord Hall has suggested.
The director-general warned that if the current trend away from linear television and radio continues, a “significant minority” of licence fee payers would “no longer be a part of our shared national conversation” and that would leave the BBC failing them.
He argued that within 10 years, the corporation would be unable to justify the requirement to make them pay a licence fee. In the BBC’S annual plan, released yesterday, Lord Hall specified how he hoped to see the corporation take on the challenge of the social media era, “reinventing” itself to match the new consumption habits.
As younger people watch less television and listen to less radio, the report said, the BBC must work out how to make Facebook, Twitter and the “techniques of the mobile world” keep audiences with them.
“Online innovation has slowed the decline seen across all traditional media companies,” Lord Hall wrote in the report. “It has not reversed it.
“If this trend continues, by the mid2020s a significant minority of licence fee payers would no longer be a part of our shared national conversation, and might not be getting value to justify their licence fee either. Most of all, we would be failing to give them trusted information, education and entertainment. So every major part of the BBC will need to contribute to meeting this challenge.
“But we will need to work harder to maximise the visibility and value of BBC News on third-party sites such as social media platforms. And we will need to use all the tools and techniques of the mobile world – like alerts, notifications and live feeds – to reach audiences where they are, in the way they expect it.” Lord Hall indicated an expansion of the BBC’S traditional remit of television and radio services, with a drastic extension of the BBC’S digital presence. He hopes to make iplayer the number one online television service to beat rivals including Netflix and Amazon.
Over the next few years, the report said, it seeks to double iplayer’s reach and quadruple the time each person spends on the service.
The report outlined plans to reach 20million members online, as well as conquering Facebook, Twitter and other social media.
In plans likely to worry commercial rivals, it seeks to engage third party platforms to entice new audiences to read the BBC’S content around the world.
In particular, the report said, the corporation could use social platforms to reach target audiences “including women and the young and show them that we are relevant to their lives”.
The corporation had already announced investment in children’s services, with a range of digital activities to capture them young and halt the domination of American television.
On television news, the report stated, the BBC will “refresh the tone” of its programmes on air to make it more engaging for audiences.
“We have already made significant changes to re-cast our presenter lineup and we will build on this to deliver a more modern, diverse, relaxed and engaged style across bulletins and programmes,” it said.
Its Reality Check service will expand to combat the rise of “fake news”, fact-checking the “most popular outliers on social media and refute claims if they are found to be false” and working with Facebook to build trust.
Highlights coming up on-screen include a year-long season of science and technology programming, and the relaunch of Civilisation for a new generation over a nine-part series.
Outlining ambitious plans for the iplayer, the report says the BBC’S longterm goal is to become the “number one online TV service in the face of fierce competition”, doubling its reach over the next few years.
‘Every major part of the BBC will need to contribute to meeting this challenge’