Memorandum submitted by Mr Mark Damazer
and Mr Nigel Charters
THE DEVELOPMENT OF PARLIAMENTARY BROADCASTING
1. CURRENT CONTENT
OF BBC PARLIAMENT
Since BBC took on BBC Parliament from the cable
companies in October 1998, the channel has developed significantly—new
strands of coverage and programming have been introduced and total
output increased.
BBC Parliament provides 18.5 hours coverage
per day seven days a week (14 hours a week more than the Parliamentary
Channel), comprising:
— live gavel-to-gavel coverage of the
Commons;
— time shift gavel-to-gavel coverage
of the Lords;
— highlights of Select Committees;
— highlights of Scottish Parliament
and Welsh Assembly;
— policital analysis strands.
2. STATUS AND
FUNDING
BBC Parliament is one of the BBC's public services,
funded from the licence fee.
The current budget for BBC Parliament, including
production, broadcast and distribution costs, is around £2.5
million per annum.
3. DISTRIBUTION
BBC Parliament is available on the following
television platforms:
— analogue cable (available in about
12 per cent of homes);
— digital satellite (currently in 3
to 4 per cent of homes);
— digital terrestrial—but in
audio only at present (1 per cent of homes).
Both digital platforms are growing rapidly on
the back of free set-top boxes, so BBC Parliament, currently available
in around 17 per cent of homes, will become ever more widely available
over the coming months.
We are negotiating with the cable companies
to ensure that the channel will also be present on digital cable
TV when that launches later this year.
It is one of our priorities for digital terrestrial
television to find room to include full video version of BBC Parliament—likely
within two to three years.
Our distribution strategy reflects the channel's
status as a licence fee funded public service—we aim to
ensure universal access through digital TV, whatever platform
(terrestrial, satellite or cable) the consumer uses.
4. OTHER PARLIAMENTARY
COVERAGE
BBC Parliament is not the only outlet for BBC
parliamentary coverage:
— BBC News 24 carries live PMQs and
major statements;
— national opt-outs on TV services
in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will carry some coverage
of the Parliament/Assemblies;
— policital strands on core services
include reports of Select Committee proceedings.
5. FUTURE AMBITIONS
AND HOW
THE BBC MIGHT
ACCOMMODATE THEM
A number of important trends will drive the
future development of BBC Parliament and BBC's coverage of the
democratic processes in general:
— devolution to Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland;
— the increasingly important role of
Select Committees;
— moving more business away from the
floor of the Commons;
— the Greater London Authority and
any other regional fora.
The BBC will naturally, as the nation's principal
public service broadcaster, seek to provide access to all layers
of the democratic framework.
There is scope to increase the output of BBC
Parliament itself to provide extra coverage—could increase
to 24 hours, at a cost of about £0.5 million.
We are planning to harness interactive digital
technologies on BBC Parliament to extend and enhance the service
offered to the viewer.
The House could agree that live coverage of
the Floor could be broken to allow other coverage to take precedence.
As national/regional versions of our digital
public services develop, they could accommodate more coverage
of non-UK-wide fora.
BBC Online will play an increasingly important
role in providing access. Technically possible to provide near-video
quality live-archived coverage.
All such developments would, however, have to
compete with the BBC's other public service obligations, for air-time,
bandwidth and budgets. Future development of digital and online
services depends crucially on achieving some buoyancy in the current
licence fee review.
6. A SECOND DEDICATED
TV CHANNEL?
The creation of a second dedicated channel by
the BBC would raise serious issues:
— while there is capacity on cable
and satellite, it is highly unlikely we could secure space on
digital terrestrial television;
— we would therefore have to breach
the principle that new licence fee funded services must be universally
available on all digital platforms—this is a fundamental
change which would require the consent of both the Secretary of
State for Culture, Media and Sport and the Board of Governors;
— the cost of such a service would
have to be measured in value for money terms against the BBC's
other public service imperatives in the light of the licence fee
review.
A far more economical—and flexible—route
would be to provide streamed and archived video coverage via an
online website. Whether the BBC could become involved would again
have to be weighed against other objectives in the light of the
licence fee review.
July 1999
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