Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport Minutes of Evidence


Examination of Witness (Questions 100 - 107)

TUESDAY 23 NOVEMBER 1999

LORD GORDON OF STRATHBLANE

  100. That would add, would it not, to the further penalty which is really being put upon the early adopters of these premium channels? They are in fact paying for it twice because they are already paying for the premium channels and with the digital supplement they are going to be asked to pay again and they are the people who wanted the sports and film channels.
  (Lord Gordon) This is precisely the point: it is going to increase antagonism to the licence fee. If I had stumped up a year ago for these extra services and nobody had mentioned a digital licence fee to me and then retrospectively somebody imposes a digital licence fee, I am going to resent that and say, "Hold on. I'm not doing this to watch the BBC". Therefore when it comes to the charter review in 2006, your constituents will be arguing to you that the licence fee is dodgy. I think it is increasingly difficult to justify, but it is worthwhile retaining. One of my principal concerns about the Committee's recommendation is that it is going to increase opposition to the licence fee.

Mr Fraser

  101. What is your opinion about the derisory concessions given to the blind and the deaf through their licence fee?
  (Lord Gordon) I think you have used the adjective. They are derisory. The idea of £5 off if you are blind is not much. However, there is a problem and it is the usual problem linked in with definitions of blindness, disability and everything else. At the margin, if you have poor sight, you could qualify. I am quite happy if we look as generously as possible at people with any disability but to be fair it should not be the BBC licence fee that is doing that. That is what Government is there to do. At the moment the BBC is sometimes trying to be a surrogate government and it is going to do all this in education. The Government is charged with doing that and they should subsidise.

  102. Does it not become slightly party political if that happens?
  (Lord Gordon) Providing things for people who are blind or disabled or deaf is party political but I do not think any political party is against it.

  103. You talked about the remit of the public service aspect of the BBC. I actually have had two letters on the subject I am just about to mention. The people who are responsible to an extent for that public service content are the presenters and those who are fronting up programmes. You talked about one particular show which you did not like particularly. Do you think a way of overcoming this is to revisit the contracts that these presenters have and are they paid too much to do their jobs?
  (Lord Gordon) It is not presenters who are responsible for the content of programmes.

  104. They are for bad delivery.
  (Lord Gordon) It is producers. At the end of the day it is a matter of budget. You can do poor

Lord Gordon) There are also football players who attract rather a large amount of money as well.

  Chairman: Football players have fans. I do not think BBC administrators have many fans.

Mr Fraser

  106. We perform a public service here and we do it far more efficiently than perhaps some of these presenters at the BBC who make their reputation out of these programmes and then sell on their services at great cost elsewhere.
  (Lord Gordon) In a narrow market with increased number of outlets the price of talent is going to go up. We have just lost a presenter to another radio station. Clearly if you have all these channels the first thing they will do is poach the good on-air talent they know people want to watch and so the price goes up. That is inevitable in a market driven situation.

  107. More compatible with the commercial sector.
  (Lord Gordon) No, it is not. Actually the BBC set the price for a lot of things. The BBC actually pay quite a lot of money to people. The BBC cannot plead being poor mouths in this, it just is a very difficult marketplace. In a situation where people are trying to get audiences, they will overpay for things which they think will deliver audiences, whether that is football rights or presenters.

  Chairman: I should like to thank you very much indeed. We have overrun a little because the Committee was so interested in your evidence. Nevertheless we have pulled in a great deal because of the briskness of your answers. I would suggest that people screen the video of this session in order to be able to see how people ought to answer a select committee. Thank you very much indeed.


 
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Prepared 8 December 1999