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Ministers should look at a permanent BBC charter to protect the broadcaster from “perpetual” government meddling, the organisation’s chair Samir Shah will say.
In a speech on Tuesday, Shah will argue against subscription and advertising models as possible means of future funding for the national broadcaster. Neither will, he will say, “pass the test” for a universal public service by shifting from serving audiences to profiting from them.
The BBC is governed by a “charter” that dictates its purpose and funding model, which is renewed every 10 years. The current charter expires in 2027.
Adopting a permanent charter would prevent the regular cliff-edge scenario and get rid of the “sense of almost perpetual government review over the BBC”, Shah will say. Early next year, the BBC will launch a public engagement process to ask British people what they want from the broadcaster.
“Putting some or all BBC content behind a paywall is simply not compatible with public service,” according to Shah. “It prioritises the needs of the better-off, and leaves behind the poorer, the more marginalised or digitally disenfranchised.”
Shah also believes that the UK’s overall rules on public sector broadcasting need a radical overhaul to help British programming fight for viewers against US streaming giants.
In the speech, Shah will call on the UK government to “regulate for growth” and say that “the fight is on” to protect homegrown programming produced by the BBC, Channel 4, ITV and Channel 5.
Shah, a former TV production executive who was appointed BBC chair in March, wants the “outdated” regulatory regime improved so that public service broadcasters (PSBs) can act with “greater agility, flexibility and pace”.
BBC executives have privately said they are frustrated, for example, by the time it has taken to gain approval for new digital radio stations while commercial rivals have been able to launch new services more rapidly.
The broadcaster, which is funded by the public and is Britain’s biggest, is typically scrutinised more extensively by Ofcom than smaller commercial rivals because its size and clout can distort the UK media market.
All UK PSBs have quotas to produce a certain proportion of programmes outside London, are governed by content rules over areas such as news output and have a requirement to appeal to and be accessible by everyone.
“Action is needed now to future-proof public service broadcasters, otherwise our very British success story will be part of our halcyon past,” Shah will say.
UK PSBs such as the BBC, Channel 4, ITV and Channel 5 are fighting for relevance in a global TV market that is moving online and is increasingly dominated by the streamers such as Netflix and Amazon.
While tech companies command huge budgets and large global audiences, the BBC is facing funding constraints after a freeze in the licence fee that pays for its programming over the past two years.
The UK’s media regulation regime is already facing pressure from privately owned broadcasters such as GB News, which is pushing boundaries over what is allowed within the impartiality rules governing broadcasting.
Shah’s speech at the Leeds Conservatoire comes after UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer insisted last month that his Labour government would “[get] rid of regulation that needlessly holds back investment”.
The BBC chair, appointed under the previous Conservative government, will also point to media legislation passed before the election this summer that is intended to secure prominent positions for UK public sector broadcasters on online TV platforms like smart TVs and streaming sticks.
He will call on the government and Ofcom to quickly enforce the Media Act to ensure homegrown broadcasters are prioritised on digital platforms.
