The BBC is in existential trouble. There’s some recognition of this in the BBC’s annual statement which ramped up the alarm on declining youth audiences and the rise of streaming giants, but it didn’t offer much in the way of a solution. It’s one thing to say ‘we’re in trouble,’ but it’s another thing entirely to do something about it. I currently work at the BBC, and with no immediate channel for my ideas, I started writing them down. After a few weeks of thinking about it, I decided I’d publish some ideas online in the hope it starts a discussion. To be clear, in case there is anyone from The Daily Mail or The Express reading this, I’m in full support of the license fee. The ideas expressed are posted here to prompt a positive discussion.

For those that haven’t read the recently posted strategy document, the BBC said ‘ we must be ready for an internet-only world whenever it comes’. The idea that it’s only on the horizon is not a good reflection of the moment we find ourselves in. For a significant chunk of society, the internet is the only place we get our content, and the wind is entirely in the sails of digital. My professional experience is almost entirely in the digital space, so my knowledge of commissioning, broadcast and scheduling is not as strong. But it’s my firm belief that we are already in the ‘internet only’ world which was mentioned in the annual statement. As a small observation, the strategy document’s title is ‘Microsoft Word — 18–19 Annual Plan.docx’…

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In a sentence — the problem at the BBC is that we’re not responding quickly enough to the rapidly changing media landscape. We need to define the direction rather than respond to changing winds. So how do you reinvent the British Broadcasting Corporation for a world without broadcast? It’s my belief that this question needs building into everything that we create. Without this thread running through every facet of the organisation, we won’t get out of the trouble we’re in. It’s not to say that we’re making bad content, though that’s probably a problem, it’s more that we’re not culturally aligned with the online digital boom. We are certainly making some great stuff, but without our own digital destination, we’re held ransom by other platforms in terms of getting our message out there, and young audiences have fallen through the cracks. With the industry moving as fast as it is, and funding cuts to deal with, this is no time to be complacent. The internet only world is here.

The ideas I plan to post here aren’t meant to read as some anonymous person being down on the BBC. Like almost everyone, I have fond memories of the BBC all the way into my adult life. Some of the programming is simply incredible, undoubtedly the best in the world. Some might argue its unbeatable. But in 2018, the BBC is beatable. The companies flirting in our territory are going to be smashing down the walls pretty soon, and it’s not clear what plans are in place to weather the storm — let alone to plot a route out of it. There will come a time in the near future where a debate is held about value for money, and in the context of new competitors, the BBC needs to present the very best of itself.

Youth audiences have drastically dropped for the BBC. Streaming is the way media is now consumed, binge-watching is the norm, data recommends almost all online content, and crucially — what is being said in this new media landscape presents a very different world view to the one most often presented by the BBC. This is arguably our biggest challenge; not only do we have to change how we communicate — something there has at least been discussion of — we must change what we say. That will be a challenge.

The rise of YouTube, Spotify, podcasts, Soundcloud, Medium, Vice, and a long list of others, don’t just challenge our ability to command an audience — which could become a serious problem — they are challenging audience expectations on what content actually is. Without going too deep into this topic for the moment, audience expectations have changed, and continue to change. They want more provocative and outward looking ideas — things that challenge the status quo, passionate and genuine storytellers who engage the audience in their mission, they want to dive much deeper into their stories. There’s a lot to be explored here. The entire media landscape has changed in the here and now, and after making a good start with iPlayer, the BBC is falling behind. Innovating on iPlayer’s technical ability is only one part of the plan that’s needed to get the BBC way out in front again.

In a world without a broadcast schedule, content must compete with all the other content that’s ever been made. Ever. So when we’re making content, does it stand up against everything else on offer? This reality has made tastes more refined, and streaming services are rapidly building up a roster of content that understands this reality and caters for it. They’re going to be recommending content for the time of day, the mood you’re in, and even predicting which social setting you’re in. How will the BBC compete with this in the next twelve to eighteen months? Where the BBC used to be ‘the’ media destination, that has been replaced by Facebook or other social networks. The BBC are now relegated to sub-channels of these media giants. These are all issues which need radical ideas to be properly addressed.

In news and current affairs — an area we are obviously very well known for — Netflix is well on its way to seriously competing here too. The only thing that’s held back the rest of the industry from eating the BBC’s dinner is a lack of funding, and Netflix is soon going to change that. And for audiences, the distinction between current affairs, factual, and news is rapidly eroding. Many would consider Jon Oliver’s Tonight as their weekly dose of ‘what’s going on in the world’, with online blogs and social news often making up the rest. The idea of a ‘news at ten’ is a relatively alien idea for millenials. It speaks to the challenge the BBC has in properly re-inventing itself for the digital age.

It’s worth noting that Netflix are about to spend millions on a blue chip natural history series also; another area the BBC has always dominated is could also be swallowed up by Netflix. No doubt they will have their new series sit on its platform from now until the end of time — all the while Planet Earth 2 remains on Netflix and not on iPlayer. These are serious problems which need addressing quickly.

At the heart of much of our internal thinking is ‘public service’. What does it mean to be a public service company in the age of the internet? What do we need to change, and what do we need to emphasise more? Public service broadcasting is a good idea — there’s no doubt about that — the BBC is the envy of many people around the world who know and respect its name. Its mission was much clearer in an age of broadcast and high cost mass communications, but in 2018 that idea is a little more foggy. But public service content IS a vital idea; we need to protect non-commercial content made for public good. In order for that idea to survive, the BBC has to change — again. It has to reassert the huge value it can provide, in these confusing times. To do that, I believe the BBC needs to be totally reinvented for the digital age, incremental change just won’t get us there fast enough.

We need to assume that broadcast is over, and in that context, what does a public service *broadcaster* actually look like?

That’s what I hope to blog about over the coming weeks. If you like this, please share it, tweet it and all that jazz.