British Broadcasting Corporation
Overview
The British Broadcasting Corporations represents a form of broadcasting which is informed by the principle of public services. It is a pioneer in broadcasting and for many years has become a public monopoly. Fundamentally, the organization embarked on the policy of giving the public what they thought is good for them rather than what they want (Eldridge et al, 1997). Today, it exists in a competitive world with its future evaluated in the global contexts.
Its domestic programmers and broadcasts generates fund from the levy of television license fees and from its commercial activities. For the license fee of BBC to be justified, it is required to produce high rating shows which are not normally broadcasted by the commercial broadcasters. The BBC management is free from direct intervention of the government with its activities supervised by the BBC Trust, the former Board of Governors. The Direct General appointed by the Trust holds the general management of the corporation (‘BBC”, 2007).
PEST Analysis
Political Factors
Ø Government restrictions on license fee agreements
Ø Government legislation on outsourcing programmed production
Ø Restrictive legislation from other governments towards the nature of new media
Ø European Union Competition Regulation prohibiting the agreements that restrict competition within the free market
Ø European Union Competition Regulation prohibiting the abuse of dominant position which may affect the trade between member states
Ø Regulatory policies promoting competition
Environmental Factors
Ø Geographical divide which limits access to technology
Social Factors
Ø Increasing consumer demand on content
Ø Disadvantage of the poor population to access different types of services
Technological Factors
Ø Innovations in new media forms and channels
Ø Digitization and Media Integration
Ø Merging of consumer devices
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Ø Global brand name
Ø Reputation in global leadership in broadcasting
Ø Global Scope in terms of audiences
Ø Massive and guaranteed funding
Weaknesses
Ø Bureaucratic management styles and practices
Ø Inability to distinguish its commitment to public service broadcasting from its commercial activities
Opportunities
Ø Increasing access to international audiences
Ø Alliances and mergers to exploit new markets
Ø Additional revenues from commercial activities
Threats
Ø Increased competition
Ø Growth of terrestrial and satellite channels
BBC’s Advantages and disadvantages
As a Programmed Producer
Over the years, BBC has earned the reputation of producing high quality and creative programmers. Its functional areas including structure, culture and the management systems are to some extent designed to support programmed making projects. Nevertheless, the company ha been faced with the risks of coming out as inflexible and bureaucratic. The recent years showed the pressure on the part of the BBC to adapt a commissioning model which makes them less of the programmed creator and more of the designer of programmers made by independent production houses. These two differs in terms of the skills, structures and cultures required. While the first needs programmed schedulers, managers and commissioning staff, the other entails the creativity and talent to make programmers (Tierney, nod, p.53).
Among the many advantages of the BBC is its inherent creativity. However, this essential element has declined and become marginalized during the past years. Historically, the BBC is run under a hierarchical and bureaucratic structure that is characterized by strong values encompassing the public service ethos. New employees adapt these working practices along with a comprehensive training period. There is also a division of labor which allows the development of creative processes.
However, these practices are changed gradually. Eventually, the BBC was described to be an elitist, expensive and lacking of customer focus. This kind of criticism led to an organizational restructuring including the adoption of a commissioning model (Tierney, nod, p.55). During the first few years of implementation, this move has caused the increased loss of key talents in all the key function areas of the organization. The staffs have undergone a culture change as they have to shift to marketing and accounting roles. Aside from this, the continuing pressure on the part of the BBC resulted in selling production facilities to concentrate more on the commissioning programmers.
With the commissioning model, majority of BBC’s producers work for a project contracts. The advantage of this set up is that the organization will pay only the time used instead of having unproductive staff idled. Producers are also free to work in different companies. In this regard, the company has taken an approach presenting the creative opportunities available to producers whilst encouraging them to also work with others (Tierney, nod p.57) Furthermore, these changes undermine the core strength of the BBC.
As a Competitor for Ratings
Prior to the complete adoption of the commissioning model, the organization is faced with the dilemma of choosing the kinds of programmers it will offer to the audience. Some events reflect the competition of BBC in ratings with other channels such as the ITV. For instance, the bidding on television rights for football highlights and the decision to move the timeslot of news programmers indicate this trend. This gesture is a clear manifestation of maximizing the audience number though justifying decisions that reaches that goal. It also suggests the importance regarded to the mass audience as compared to those of the specialist audiences.
The existence of competitors from around 200 channels poses clear threat to the BBC. The rising prices for talent and broadcasting fees make it even more difficult for the organization to keep pace with the competition. With this, the strategy was to exploit the opportunities associated with technology and the launching of new channels as well as websites. However, the revenue for talents and sporting rights was reduced by the investment on digital channels. Additionally, terrestrial channels are faced with the accusations of chasing ratings (p.59)
BBC was accused of adopting market popular programs such as those of the ITV to acquire more audiences. The popularization of the UK broadcasting industry also led to lesser ground breaking programmers because they are too risky in an industry that has become obsessed in ratings. Hence, good quality programmers are less likely to be produced.
Football is considered a potential source of ratings. However, it is catered for on other channel which questions the bidding of huge amounts of license fee money to increase the ratings. Another source of ratings is the talent pool for the broadcasting industry. During the recent years, BBC find it particularly difficult to retain its key names due to the huge payments offered by independent companies. While these companies can afford the prices of big names, BBC cannot justify the attempt to rival with the figures. Although, BBC had the advantage against other competitors in terms of the opportunities they can offer through the range of their services (Tierney, nod, p.66). Key actors have the chance to perform and develop in the various programmers and take advantage of the BBC brand. Moreover, BBC products and British talents are showcased in the new channels for UK and the global audiences.
Furthermore, the restructuring shifted the focus to cost reduction. While the retention of key talents is essential, BBC has failed to develop its stars. Conversely, it is also believed that key talents are overexposed in the organization rarely giving opportunities for new talents to emerge. The BBC Talent Campaign addressed the problem of scarce talent while it endeavors to retain its established talents as well (Tierney, nod, p.68). The uneasiness in the balance of ratings against public service appears to influence the decisions made by BBC.
As a Global Provider
The role of public service broadcasting such that of BBC is important in a world where fewer organizations dominate the global media. It maintains diversity and the independence of its news. In addition to this, the freedom from market pressures allows it produce high quality programmers to suit the range of audiences. Lastly, it ensures the free availability of quality news and current affairs programmed to the general public (Tierney, nod, p.88)
However, it becomes a problem for public service broadcasters to find a clear role in this landscape. With its massive and guaranteed funding, BBC is better positioned to succeed than others. It has expanded in the international market while operating in the national framework. One of the factors that led BBC from its niche role is the licensee fee funding mechanism. This encouraged various organizations to compete for more audiences. Therefore it needs to offer entertainment that will attract audiences, competing with other commercial organizations to reduce its public service remittance. Also, BBC promotes a worldwide respect for the quality of its programmers and its factual reporting through the World Service. This service is independent from government interference and has been the source of news in other countries.
Indeed, the global reach of the corporation continue to expand. Through the commercial efforts of the BBC Worldwide, the corporation gained access to more international audiences with its new alliances. In as early as 1997, BBC has signed an agreement with Discovery to create a strong force in factual broadcasting. The UK was also launched in Australia showcasing BBC’s entertainment and drama. Based on the BBC figures, about 280 million people around the globe are regular audiences to their services (Tierney, nod, p.70). Because of this BBC became one of the largest broadcasters worldwide.
The BBC is optimistic that these activities will supplement the revenues needed for the license fee. However the expansion of its commercial activities questions the corporation’s commitment to public service broadcasting. It is claimed by many that the management wanted to turn it into a commercial organization. Another argument was the attempt to make the corporation a public service broadcaster and commercial company all together.
Ultimately, the success of the corporation as a national broadcaster impedes its effort to penetrate the global market. For one, the commissioning in six to ten top programmers in the British tradition is against the needs of foreign buyers of 26. Additionally, the requirement from the government to include parts of the programmers to be done in the region holds back the export. This is due to the difficulty of the international viewers to understand them. In general, the media industry has failed to make use of new markets which resulted to others gaining access. The demand for content was eventually filled by US broadcasters since UK broadcasters failed to supply them. The increasingly competitive media landscape supports the expansion programmers of the BBC to sustain its existence. On the other hand, the degree of its expansion weakens the corporation’s public service role as well as its justification for the license fee.
Recommendations on the Decision Making Process for BBC
BBC has been and continues to become one of the most significant players in the new knowledge drive economy. It is rich in terms of intangible and intellectual assets; has a strong brand name at least among the older consumers; a strong culture and values which is hard to imitate for the competitors. Today, the question that challenges the organization is how to make use of these assets given that so much of its aspects is changed and shaped to the pre digital economy.
Within the next few years, the corporation will certainly face a new range of competitors. As such, the BBC must demonstrate the justification for their license fee in terms of innovation. The public investment on BBC should deliver pay off with their ability to innovate. This does not only mean innovation in the content but the creation of content which cannot be delivered by the market. The BBC can develop new forms of media and delivery through digital and broadband services that distribute the content among different platforms to the whole population (‘The BBC in the Knowledge Economy’, 2000). The digital world also offers opportunities for the BBC to become the world’s most trusted guide to information. Because of its funding, BBC can provide high quality content which helps strengthen its reputation.
Along with this, BBC will also have to innovate its business models. Thus, becoming an innovator of the media products entails the innovation of the organization to offer incentives and rewards for talents. The pay off with these innovations will manifest not only in high quality programmers but also in the creation of jobs and businesses (‘The BBC in the Knowledge Economy’, 2000)
While making the most of its reputation, it must also develop a greater capacity for entrepreneurship. First, it must develop is ability to sense opportunities that may be overlooked by other competitors. Due to the focus on the large markets, corporations oftentimes fail to notice emerging opportunities. In this regard, BBC must invest in learning systematically about the appearance of market places, technologies and customers. It must also be able to mobilize resources to embrace these emerging opportunities through funds that will back talents and ideas. Additionally, the BBC will have to rethink the kinds of rewards it can offer to its talents. The past years have indicated the failure of the corporation to retain its key talents thus leading to enormous loses. It must realize that the competition lies not on the product but on the labor market. Remembering the lessons from the past will ultimately prevent the occurrence of flawed decisions for the corporation.
The relationship between the old and the new BBC is also a crucial factor. While the old practices may guide the corporation in making decisions, it must not strangle the new ones by imposing outmoded procedures. For the management, there will be issues regarding the incentives for the staff working in the different aspect of the business. In the new business, talent will be rewarded increasingly. However if such opportunities are provided to the minority of its staff this may cause conflict with those working in the old part of the business.
Moreover, the ability to bring traditional public service using old and new formats will depend on the ability of the corporation to generate funds from its commercial activities. Critics of BBC may accuse it for using the public money in funding new businesses. This question has continued to haunt the corporation over the years. However, the future of the corporation will also depend on its ability to bridge commerce and public service which signifies the old and the new media(‘The BBC in the Knowledge Economy’, 2000).
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