“To Fee or not to Fee”
Public Service Broadcasting in Crisis?
You might not be aware of it, but 2023 marked 100 years of the Licence Fee. It was originally introduced in the UK, because the Government of the day didn’t want the BBC to become overtly commercial.
So, instead a licence was required, initially for just the wireless, which in 1923 was 10 shillings. In the UK, the law requires anyone who watches or records TV programmes on any device to have a licence.
In Ireland, the Licence Fee was introduced back in 1961, to fund the setup of the then Telefis Eireann, although RTE has been able to operate a dual funded model, where it gets both commercial revenue and licence fee revenue.
So, why are we talking about the licence fee?
Well, circumstances for both the BBC and RTE as State Broadcasters seem to be shifting, and at the heart of it, is the funding model.
In Ireland, RTE has seen a significant drop in licence fee compliance, of at least 13% which has had a serious impact on funding and led to a series of crises that will see a new cost cutting plan outlined by Director General Kevin Bakhurst.
In the UK, the BBC has been at the mercy of the Tory Government for 13 years now and is under increasing pressure over allegations of “bias”, including just this morning from current Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, who has been suggesting that regulator Ofcom should take a closer role in supervising the public service broadcaster.
I also stumbled across what may not be a bestseller, a book published last week called “How do we pay for the BBC after 2027”. It’s a collection of essays from various writers, including former Director General Greg Dyke. He argues that the licence fee is unfair, as a flat rate tax, and it should be free for those on benefits, while the rich should pay more, but I’m not sure how that would work.
How do we Pay for the BBC after 2027
An outdated concept?
The whole notion of a licence fee for a broadcaster does seem ridiculously quaint in an era where subscriptions are commonplace and there are frequent calls to just turn the BBC into a subscription model and let the market decide.
But the notion of letting the market decide about public service broadcasting just doesn’t really stack up.
Part of the job of public service broadcasters is to do unpopular things. That can include local radio programmes for areas where there’s no commercial option, or providing consistent and high quality news output, or making documentaries, or funding orchestras and so on.
While some of those things might be commercially viable on their own, having a single company that can manage to provide all those things, with a commitment to clarity, honesty and factual accuracy, is not something that spontaneously occurs in markets.
I think the root of the issue though, is whether a legally required licence for content is still a viable concept in 2023.
The fear of the TV Licence Inspector
I can recall the ads on TV as a teenager, warning about licence inspectors, and you still see them today but it feels like there’s a general lack of interest from the public in Ireland at least in complying in the way they used to. That probably wasn’t helped by Judge Anthony Halpin who gave out about the “freeloaders” in RTE during the summer, as he declined to jail licence fee evaders.
It does seem odd that you could go to jail for refusing to pay your licence fee, and I can count on one finger the number of times I’ve encountered an actual licence fee inspector at my door.
A Broadcast Levy?
For many years, there has been talk of a change of strategy in Ireland, with some kind of broadcast levy replacing a licence fee, to ensure better compliance and remove the choice element from public participation.
When this idea was first floated, it was potentially as an add on to the electricity bill, but with energy prices at an all time high, that probably doesn’t sound convincing. There was talk of applying a levy to mobile phone bills, but that also seems to have drifted away, with the Sunday Business Post reporting a potential broadband levy, which would target households with a monthly charge of up to €15.
However, it’s still seen as politically divisive and it’s not clear whether or not there’s an appetite to go ahead with it.
My Dad, who was a lifelong civil servant, mainly in the Department of Finance, would say, “if you’re serious about collecting a tax, give it to Revenue”, and he certainly wasn’t wrong when it came to things like the Local Property Tax.
The Value of Public Service Broadcasting
As a former staff member at RTE, I know how many people work hard to deliver high quality public service content, I also know that is not always valued. And in a time where there is unrelenting pressure on the cost of living, it’s a logical choice to cut the licence fee out of your household budget.
But, just as in the UK, there’s a greater purpose for public service broadcasting, that really does play an important role in holding society together, at a time when “fake news” and social media is full of misinformation and disinformation. Reliable and accessible news, facts and figures and an impartial tone only seem more important in a world where politicians seem to be drifting collectively towards authoritarianism.
So, whether it’s a licence fee, or a levy, this feels like a time where Government needs to take responsibility for the greater good that is strong public service broadcasting, both in Ireland and the UK.
Things I didn’t have time to mention this week…
1) The fact that RTE have decided to replace Ryan Tubridy on the radio with Oliver Callan, and thus continue the infuriatingly inefficient one hour time slot at 9am, when they should be cutting costs…
2) The drama over Apple and Podcast statistics, the short version is, podcasting needs to be more transparent about how many people actually listen, if it is to become a credible medium that attracts real commercial spend…
3) The exciting new 80’s format I’ve developed, which takes a totally different approach to the classic music library and instead slices up music by year. It creates a totally different immersive listening experience – and you can hear the last few days of our temporary Classic Hits 80’s station here - https://www.classichits.ie/player/classic-hits-80s/ 7
This has been the 30th official edition of the RAudio Newsletter.
Apart from writing newsletters, I also consult to radio stations and podcasts, so if you have a question, or a project you need help on, drop me an email liamathompson@gmail.com
I’m also attending RadioDays in Munich, so let me know if you’re going and we can catch up.
You can also send feedback, questions or potential topics – you can also get me on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/liamthompsonconsulting/ or on Twitter @Maxliam