Supplementary memorandum submitted by
the BBC
As you know, your Select Committee will on Thursday
be questioning the Chairman, the Director-General, Sir John Birt
and the Director-General Designate, Greg Dyke, as part of their
inquiry into the Funding of the BBC. Shortly the Government will
decide how it is responding to the key recommendations made by
the Davies team for increased funding for the BBC to develop its
digital services.
We have been asking the public what kind of
BBC they want and we have had the largest ever response to a BBC
consultation. Over 5,000 people took time to look carefully at
our proposals and 86 per cent of them have backed the key proposition
that the BBC should maintain it's current breadth of programmes
and services in the digital age. In addition, the public engaged
directly with the potential that new technology has for increasing
interactivity, giving greater control to viewers to choose what
they want to see and when, and for new mobile receiver services
such as news and travel. The full results are set out in the press
release which I'm attaching.
This also includes the results of our latest
opinion survey, carried out by BMRB, which shows widespread backing
for the BBC to be adequately funded, to play a full role in the
digital age with a digital licence supplement as the preferred
method of funding.
Also, last week Greg Dyke set out, in his first
public lecture as Director-General Designate, a clear and compelling
vision for how the BBC will serve the learning society. The lecture
was widely reported and warmly endorsed. I'm attaching[2]
it for you in the hope that you can catch up with this exciting
new area of the BBC's service for every viewer, listener and Online
user.
There is an extensive debate underway seeking
to assess the right funding formula for the BBC. We are committed
to the licence fee. In addition, we believe the time is right
for those who opt for digital services to pay a small supplementary
licence which will allow the BBC to invest more significantly
in enriching the BBC's digital channels and services. This is
a technology we cannot ignore or delay and I hope you too will
back our plans knowing that the BBC at it's best remains one of
Britain's most important national assets, and that our plans are
widely supported by the public.
2 Not printed. Back
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