BBC told to avoid news clash with ITV at 10pm
THE BBC is under pressure to move its main news bulletin from 10pm after the Culture Secretary accused the broadcaster of stealing viewers from ITV.
John Whittingdale took aim at the Corporation over its decision to schedule its evening news at the same time as its chief rival.
His comments at the Royal Television Society convention in Cambridge last night reopen a longrunning feud between the two broadcasters over the scheduling of the flagship evening bulletin.
Mr Whittingdale said: ‘It is important to look at the impact that the BBC has on its commercial rivals and – to give just one example – whether it is sensible for its main evening news bulletin to go out at the same time as ITV’s.’
The comments come at a crucial
‘Is it sensible to go out at the same time?’
time for the BBC, which is under pressure to prove it is not damaging its commercial rivals as it negotiates with the Government over its funding.
The BBC moved its evening news from 9pm to 10pm in 2000, ending 30 years of tradition. That decision followed ITV’s announcement that it was reinstating its News at Ten three nights a week following public outcry over its axing the previous year.
The ITV 10pm bulletin was dropped again in 2004 in favour of a 10.30pm broadcast. It was not until January 2008 that News at Ten was brought back permanently.
At the time of the BBC’s decision, the then Culture Secretary Chris Smith said he had ‘considerable misgivings’ about the move and added he thought it would be bad for democracy. He called on the BBC to stick with the 9pm time slot and said: ‘My concern is that the overall audience for TV news – and the quality of the service – must not be damaged by any change to scheduling.’
However, the BBC stuck to its guns and its first Ten O’Clock News was presented by Michael Buerk on October 16, 2000. The switch freed up the 9pm slot, with shows such as Poldark and Who Do You Think You Are? airing at that time in recent months.
Mr Whittingdale also assured television executives that the Government was not planning to ‘abolish’ the BBC, despite suggestions by the Corporation that it might.
The BBC recently ran a focus-group experiment designed to see if viewers could live without its services. Surprisingly, seven out of nine families involved said they could.
Mr Whittingdale said: ‘I found it rather odd of the BBC to ask people if they couldn’t live without it. My surprise was that seven out of nine households said they would prefer to pay nothing and not receive the BBC. Had I been asked... I would certainly have said no.’