BBC GROUP REJECTS ADS

A government-appointed committee Thursday came out against the introduction of advertising as a means of financing the publicly-funded British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

The committee, set up under the chairmanship of economist professor Alan Peacock to recommend reforms in broadcasting finance, said viewers might eventually subscribe directly to BBC television services.

The corporation is funded by an $89-a-year license fee payable by all television owners.

The Peacock committee recommended eventual deregulation of the broadcasting system, currently shared between the BBC and independent companies, under the control of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) and financed by advertising revenue.

While the committee was lukewarm about the benefits of advertising on BBC channels, it recommended private ownership for BBC Radio 1 and 2, the two “popular” channels of the corporation’s four-channel nationwide radio network.

The committee found that the annual lump-sum license fee was unpopular with viewers who would otherwise welcome the opportunity to subscribe directly to BBC services. The technology exists for such a system to be introduced.

It said the introduction of advertising on BBC would depress the growth of independent television revenues. Its report looked forward to a more diversified broadcasting system toward the end of the century and recommended an end to the current system of regulation and prior censorship of programming.