Category: BBC
Date: 12.10.2004
Printable version
81% of the UK population agree that the BBC is worth
£121 per year
Over half the respondents value the BBC at twice
the current licence fee
The BBC's digital services are highly valued by
audiences in both analogue and digital homes
10 million households would lose access to the
BBC under any proposed subscription-model with a resultant drop in quality
News, soaps and home-grown comedy and drama are considered the most
important genres
Overwhelming public support for the licence fee emerged
as the key finding of a survey - Measuring the Value of the BBC
- published by the BBC today (Tuesday 12 October 2004).
Commissioned from Human Capital and GfK Martin Hamblin,
a nationally representative panel of 2,257 people were questioned in
May 2004.
Following 19 exhaustive pilots this is the most comprehensive
study of the BBC since the Ehrenberg & Mills study for the London
Business School in 1990.
As well as the vast majority of people supporting the
BBC's current licence fee value, on average people think the Corporation
is worth double the current fee level.
Asked to put a value on the Corporation, respondents
valued the BBC at between £18 and £24 per month.
The BBC's digital channels were also positively received
by respondents and in particular BBC THREE, CBBC and CBeebies.
The high value that respondents placed on the BBC's
digital services was linked to both trust and quality even for those
respondents who did not have direct access to the channels.
In non-digital homes, respondents placed particular
importance on News 24.
The study also reveals the effect of introducing a subscription-funded
model for the BBC.
If the BBC was to charge a £13 fee per month,
only 14.8 million households would subscribe, leaving 9.7 million without
access to the BBC and its services.
This would not only result in the BBC losing over £500m
in revenue with the resultant loss in the quality of the services it
provides, but the BBC would not be able to fulfil its core citizenship
roles, including support for democracy, education, culture and social
cohesion.
As well as the high value attached to the BBC's services,
respondents also considered high quality programming as vital.
The highest ranking genres were news, soaps and home-grown
drama, comedy and film.
