So BBC TV is up to its naughty cross-promotional tricks again. This
time it’s to the detriment of the commercial radio industry, according
to our news story in Campaign this week. Naturally, Capital is fuming.
According to its calculations, the Beeb has spent upwards of the
equivalent of pounds 2 million of TV airtime costs on advertising its
radio networks on BBC 1 and BBC 2 - and that’s not even counting
’Perfect Day’. (Mind you, they could spend twice that promoting Zoe
Ball’s breakfast show and it still wouldn’t make a difference - but
that’s a different issue.)
We have been here before, of course, whether it’s the question of using
BBC TV to promote BBC Radio, or rows provoked by trailers for BBC
magazines from Radio Times to Top Gear. But, judging by the recruitment
ad for a head of media planning placed by the BBC in Campaign last week,
this is an issue we will revisit many times in the future. It’s clear
from the wording of the ad - it talks of ’developing a strategy for
optimising the use of on-air time for promotional and cross-promotional
activities’ and ’extending formal media planning structures’ - that this
is a business the BBC is taking extremely seriously. Why shouldn’t it?
We are living through a period of intense media competition with no end
in sight and, like every other media owner, the BBC would be derelict in
its duty if it did not promote itself fully. Yet in doing so it will
inevitably step on the toes of a great many smaller commercial operators
and damage the trend towards a more pluralistic broadcasting
industry.
However, that moves the debate on from the immediate issue which, as
Capital and its peers see it, is the unfair nature of the BBC’s
promotion of its radio stations. As far as I can tell, their complaint
is not so much that BBC Radio does it (although it might be less
vociferous if the BBC Radio ads weren’t so good), but that it uses a
medium (BBC TV) that isn’t open to anyone else. Furthermore, since no
money changes hands apart from the creative costs, BBC Radio has another
advantage over its commercial rivals who, if they wish to compete at the
same level, have to pay for it in real money.
To my mind, there is no real argument. This is unfair competition and
the playing field should be levelled - downwards, not upwards, since the
BBC cannot give Capital access to its TV airtime. But there is a danger
of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Clearly BBC Radio must be
allowed to promote itself. The question is how.
One idea is to restrict BBC Radio’s promotions to radio only. The one I
prefer is to make it pay for its BBC 1 or 2 TV airtime in real money
based on equivalent airtime costs - just as Capital pays ITV or Channel
4 - and make the whole process transparent. The BBC is always banging on
about how its NHS-style internal market is designed to make itself more
efficient. Here is a chance for it to put its money where its mouth is.
