In the last few years, the debate about the future of the BBC – and particularly the use of the licence fee model to fund it – has become one of the most prominent cultural talking points in the country.
The broadcaster’s Chief Content Officer Charlotte Moore addressed the debate in a new interview in this week’s edition of Radio Times magazine, explaining that she thinks recent global events have seen the BBC prove its value.
“I really think right now that the BBC is proving its worth,” she said. “I think we did that during COVID. There are these moments when there is a real feeling that we’ve never needed a public service broadcaster more, to inform and educate and entertain and to bring the nation together.”
Of course, the people who really need to be convinced are those currently in government, who will have the final say on the corporation’s future.
Culture secretary Nadine Dorries has been particularly vocal about the licence fee debate, but Moore revealed that Dorries had struck a more conciliatory tone in recent conversations.
“She was really interested in Countryfile, we talked about Ambulance, we talked about the breadth of what we’re making, we talked about young audiences and whether we’re doing enough,” she explained.
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And when further pressed on how to convince those young audiences that the £159 fee is worth paying – especially when so many other subscription services and channels are available – Moore was defiant in her response.
“Eighty percent of young people come to the BBC every week,” she said. “We are the biggest media brand for 16- to 34-year-olds. A lot of young people watch Call the Midwife, a lot of young people watch Countryfile.
“It’s really incumbent on us to make sure that we are relevant to their lives, which is why we’ve increased our spend on BBC Three. We’ve put BBC Three on a broadcast channel again because we recognise that there is still a percentage of people in this country who don’t have broadband.
“It’s been a good start, but we’ve got a long way to go.”
Read more:
- “This is a bad time for us at the BBC,” writes BBC News’ John Simpson
- Help and His Dark Materials writer Jack Thorne: Why we need the BBC
- BBC Three hopes to bring viewers to BBC amid licence fee plans
The full version of this interview is available to read in this week’s edition of Radio Times magazine, on sale on Tuesday 22 March – subscribe now to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times podcast with Jane Garvey.