BBC approves 'dumbing down' at expense of current affairs

By Chris Hastings
London Telegraph
Apr. 01, 2007

Lord Reith said its mission was to "inform, educate and entertain". Those who have succeeded the BBC's founding father, however, appear intent on concentrating solely on entertainment, in a shameless pursuit of ratings success.

Senior BBC bosses think that their current affairs programmes, including the award-winning Panorama, are too dull and serious. Instead, they want less serious shows which, they believe, will appeal to younger viewers.

The drive towards entertainment is borne out by figures showing that current affairs output has fallen to its lowest peak-time level in more than half a century.

Critical of the corporation's current affairs staff for producing programmes that are preoccupied with politics and news, the controllers of all four of the BBC's television channels have called for more shows in the style of controversial programmes including Fat Men Can't Hunt, F*** Off I'm Ginger and On The Fiddle.

The controversial verdict, which will lead to fresh claims that the corporation is "dumbing down" and unnerve BBC staff already concerned about the diminution of "serious" programming, was delivered as part of research carried out by the Marketing, Communications and Audiences (MCA) unit, which is charged with "inspiring audiences to love the BBC".

A senior source said: "The controllers have made their feelings known in no uncertain terms. They believe television is all about entertainment and ratings and that current affairs programmes have to fall into line with that idea just like any other kind of show."

It is understood that Peter Fincham, 50, the controller of BBC1, told the MCA unit that he did not want the corporation's flagship channel to be watched by people of his age and that any programme that attracted fewer than two million viewers would be perceived as a disappointment.

Roly Keating, the controller of BBC2, is understood to have cited Channel 4's Jamie Oliver's School Dinners as a good example of the type of current affairs programme the BBC should be pursuing.

The beleaguered current affairs unit is also believed to have been told that Julian Bellamy, the BBC3 controller who recently took up the post of head of programmes at Channel 4, did not want investigative programmes.

An analysis of output shows that the amount of time dedicated to news programmes has fallen across the four main BBC channels in the past two years. It now stands at its lowest peak-time level since 1955.

Last year, BBC2 devoted 259 hours to current affairs, down from 358 hours in 2003. In 2004, BBC3 broadcast 87 hours of current affairs programming. Last year, just 62 hours was aired.

Meanwhile, despite a pledge to expand its output, the amount of current affairs programming on BBC1 has remained static.

Within the BBC, there is mounting concern at the change of direction.

Even those who work on long-established and award-winning series, such as Panorama, feel under threat.

Despite moving the programme to a peak-time slot on Monday evening, there was criticism when it emerged that it would last just 29 minutes.

During the MCA unit research, it is understood senior BBC executives said that a programme about the July 7 terror attacks in London had failed to attract a big audience because it was "too dark".

Even hard-hitting factual programmes are struggling. The BBC recently announced the end of the award-winning Real Story, which was presented by Fiona Bruce and looked at issues such as loan sharks, to make room for The One Show, a nightly magazine programme.

A BBC spokeswoman defended the corporation's output. She said: "It is our responsibility to supply output for all our licence-fee payers and we do this by broadcasting as broad a range of programmes as possible."

Last week the BBC suffered a further blow when it lost the rights to broadcast both football's FA Cup and England home games to ITV.

The Corporation faces further controversy after Sir Michael Lyons emerged as the favourite to succeed Michael Grade as chairman of the BBC's Trust. Sir Michael, 57, is a former city broker, closely linked to Gordon Brown.