1980: Is the BBC WORTH the LICENCE FEE? | Man Alive | Making of... | BBC Archive

"To pay £34 for a channel I don't look at is quite expensive."

The price of a colour TV licence has risen to a record nine pence a day - almost as much as a newspaper. And yet, they say, it's not enough. The British Broadcasting Corporation faces the worst crisis in its history. While ITV is making handsome profits, the BBC is cutting back programmes, making do with old equipment, losing and laying-off staff. And next year it will get worse.

In a special report, Man Alive's Jeremy James examines some facts about television advertising, commercial efficiency, BBC bureaucracy, and public attitudes to the box. He asks if other ways should be found of paying for the BBC, or whether it is just up to Auntie to improve her housekeeping and content herself - and the viewer - with a much reduced service. Is the BBC really as hard up as it claims, or is it just crying wolf? How does the corporation compare with its commercial rival ITV, and with other public service broadcasters in Europe?

Nick Ross hosts a studio discussion between Alasdair Milne - the managing director of BBC television, William Brown - the Chairman of Independent Television Companies Association, Vincent Hanna - Chairman of the National Union of Journalists, Michael Grade - Director of Programmes at LWT, Tony Hearn - General Secretary of the Association of Broadcast Staff, Conservative MP Julian Critchley, and Labour MP Barry Sheerman.


Producer: John Percival
Editor: Tim Slessor


Clip taken from Man Alive, originally broadcast on BBC Two, 14 May, 1980.





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