Has It Taken A Global Pandemic For The Public To Be Reminded Of The BBC’s Value?

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By Heather Roy

Whilst there is no doubt that the BBC has had a place in the heart of the nation for decades, there is significant argument circulating that the BBC is becoming increasingly irrelevant. 

The rise of streaming sites such as Netflix and Amazon Prime are perhaps the biggest threat to public service broadcasters (PSBs), as the fragmentation of the media landscape results in smaller demand for public service broadcasting. There is an argument to be made that public service broadcasting’s requirement of “inform, educate and entertain” can be fulfilled elsewhere. Netflix, for example, offers us information and education in the form of documentaries, as well as providing a multitude of entertainment options. 

Telegraph journalist Allister Heath explained at the start of 2020 that “most people don’t actively dislike the BBC: they just don’t care as much about it and are increasingly unwilling to pay for it.” There is an argument to be made that the private sector can provide “public service” broadcasting just as successfully.

Back in 2018, former Daily Mail editor, Paul Dacre predicted the future of public service broadcasting when he said that the BBC would “diminish in power as the streaming giants undermine the licence fee.” 

Statistical evidence seems to support the narrative of decline as Ofcom reported in early 2018 that between 2013 and 2017, a record 3.5 million U.K residents cancelled their television licence. 

Successive Conservative governments have shown scepticism towards public service broadcasting for years, with consistent cuts to BBC funding as evidence suggests that its services are less and less required amongst the British public.  The BBC funding debate is no recent event; as far back as 2012 a report from the National Union of Journalists that sought alternatives to the BBC’s funding cuts stated that “viewers and listeners do not yet realise the full impact but the BBC as we know it, our BBC, is at risk as a result of repeated attacks on its funding.” 

Jim Waterson, media editor of The Guardian, stated in an interview this week that “there is a clear desire within Downing Street to cut the BBC down to size”, and that as a result of both the government’s impositions and changing consumer habits “whole shows [are] disappearing and large numbers of jobs [are] going.”

So; it seems as though public service broadcasting is truly on its way out, or at least in desperate need of saving. 

Enter: Covid-19. 

In the same way that the importance and value of the NHS has come to light in Britain’s darkest days, the need and desire for public service broadcasting has been highlighted since the pandemic struck the UK in March.

An Ofcom report published in early April of this year surveyed television consumption and attitudes and their findings appear to support claims that public service broadcasters, and the BBC particularly, are being increasingly relied on during the pandemic. The complexity and fluctuating nature of the Coronavirus pandemic means that an increase in the consumption of news is understandable and inevitable. Ofcom data revealed that in the first week of ‘lockdown’, 99% of the UK online population were accessing news about Covid-19 at least once a day. 

Week 1 of their survey found that 82% of those surveyed used the BBC as a source of news and information. 83% of participants reported that they considered the BBC’s reporting to be highly trustworthy and a separate Ofcom study showed that the BBC’s share of viewing increased from 21.6% in January to 24.7% by mid-March.  

The last two weeks of March saw an increase of 35 minutes per person on average, compared with the daily average of the same period in 2019. This comes as welcome news to broadcast television, which had previously been seeing year-on-year decreases in viewing statistics. 

Interestingly, Ofcom data highlighted that the public regard social media to be the least trustworthy source of Covid-19 related information, and it seems as though public service broadcasters are benefitting directly from the mistrust of social media mis-information. 

As social media often feeds on speculation and opinion, the statistics suggest that more and more people are returning to the sources they deem the most reliable. Professor Johnson of the University of Huddersfield notes that “Covid-19 has really demonstrated the value of public service broadcasting. [The BBC] have been important in providing really trustworthy news and are seen as the core place to go for information.” 

So, the value of PSBs and the BBC seems to have been reignited as the public attempt to navigate the flurry of information that has come with the pandemic. However, the question of whether this desire for the service that PSBs provide will continue or simply fade out with the gradual return to normality remains to be answered over the coming months.