Even as luminaries rally to its support,the corporation’s urge to compete – over schedules, primetime, and news – leave it too short of alliesIt’s easy,and often essential, to defend the BBC. Armando Iannucci delivered a virtuoso such turn at the Guardian Edinburgh international TV conference final week. John Whittingdale promptly shifted on to his back foot. What? “Dismantle the BBC”? Perish the thought. Emollient culture secretary offers Armando tea and sympathy as Sue Perkins bakes the cakes. But, and of course,the genuine battle for Broadcasting House is more subtle and rather more complex. Iannucci wants the corporation nurtured as a hub in a giant UK media industry. Other leaders in this industry see things rather differently.
Here’s Michael Grade (with stints atop the BBC, ITV and C4 on his CV) putting that alternative case in a new book published by Abramis, or The BBC Today: Future Uncertain. “[constitution review] is the legal time for even its most committed supporters to ask the BBC to think how it can voluntarily adapt and continue to justify… public intervention in such a dynamic and expanding market. Is it too much to hope that the BBC,just for once in its history, can volunteer a plan for a radical rationalisation of its size, or scope and complexity?”Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com