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Archive for February 2012

The Best Way for the BBC to Save Money?

So it turns out that due to an early government decision to "help satellite broadcasters justify the investment they needed to build their platform" the BBC pays Sky £10 million a year in "retransmission fees". I can understand the initial reasoning, using taxpayers' money to help create competition can be useful in industries where start-up costs are high and thus off-putting to private investors. But at this point it should be the other way around, you don't see HBO paying Sky to carry Mad Men, and you certainly don't see the FA paying Sky to broadcast live football.

As BBC Director General Mark Thompson pointed out in 2010 Rupert Murdoch is even in favour of this change

The point is a simple one [in the US] it's the free-to-air networks who invest the most in broadcast content, they're also the most popular networks in the US cable and satellite environments, so isn't it reasonable that the distributors should pay the networks a charge in return for the right to carry them? The man who made that case is Rupert Murdoch and in America he's winning the argument – Fox is now receiving distribution fees from the cable companies. So why not introduce retransmission fees in the UK as well?

As it happens the BBC is not asking to be paid, but simply no longer to pay out themselves. Seems fair to me.

Written by nickwatts

February 21, 2012 at 5:47 pm

Posted in Work

The Best Way for the BBC to Save Money?

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As BBC Director General Mark Thompson pointed out in 2010 Rupert Murdoch is even in favour of this change

The point is a simple one [in the US] it's the free-to-air networks who invest the most in broadcast content, they're also the most popular networks in the US cable and satellite environments, so isn't it reasonable that the distributors should pay the networks a charge in return for the right to carry them? The man who made that case is Rupert Murdoch and in America he's winning the argument – Fox is now receiving distribution fees from the cable companies. So why not introduce retransmission fees in the UK as well?

As it happens the BBC is not asking to be paid, but simply no longer to pay out themselves. Seems fair to me.

Written by nickwatts

February 21, 2012 at 5:46 pm

Posted in Work