In 1999, McKinsey & Co., a conservative multi-national
management consulting firm, studied 20 public service broadcasters from
around the world.
McKinsey found :
- Public broadcasters influence the quality
of other broadcasters
Some public service broadcasters have maintained their influence on
the overall development of television by inducing their commercial competitors
to offer equally distinctive programs. In effect, public service broadcasters
can and do act as regulators of the television industry as a whole.
In the words of Michael Grade, former managing director of Channel
4 in the UK "The BBC keeps us all honest."
There is one proviso: The public service broadcaster must begin from
a position of strength. With regard to the US Public Broadcasting
Service (PBS), McKinsey reports, with an audience share of only three
percent today, PBS is hardly a significant rival to commercial operators
and can't meaningfully shape their approaches to programming.
- A key determinant of the success of a public
service broadcaster is how - and how well — it is financed
- The most effective public service broadcasters
enjoy substantial financial support. Public service broadcasters
with the highest income per capita (i.e., for each member of the
national audience) have the best chance of producing popular programs
that stand out, since these programs are invariably expensive to
make.
- The source of a broadcaster's money is important
as well. McKinsey's analysis concluded that reliance on advertising
income leads to programming which is relatively indistinctive from
commercial television.
McKinsey's definition of distinctive programming:
It is, of course, difficult to measure objectively how well the programs
screened by public service broadcasters meet any standard of quality
or, indeed, the aims of their mission statements. We therefore measured
the amount of time devoted to factual and cultural programs, as well
as to shows for children and called this kind of programming "distinctive".
However, there is evidence that public-service programs tend to be
more rigorous in their analysis and less sensational in tone than
the programs of commercial operators.
- Where did the ABC come in the McKinsey survey?
- The ABC emerged as one of the most effective Public
Broadcasters in the world and one of the poorest!
- The ABC was found to have a high proportion of distinctive
programming and is considered to be acting within its charter.
-
(The ABC's charter requires it to contribute
to and reflect our national identity, foster creativity and the
arts and encourage cultural diversity. As well, the ABC's charter
ensures that it has responsibilities to broadcast educational programs,
encourage local drama and promote the arts. The ABC is required
to be innovative, which - in the broadcasting context - means to
take risks.)
Source: article 'Keeping Baywatch at Bay' in The McKinsey
Quarterly : 1999 No.4, pp.18-27, which can be be viewed at http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com
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'Keeping Baywatch at Bay' is a summary of McKinsey &
Co's study (thirty five pages) 'Public Service Broadcasters Around the
World, McKinsey and Co, 1999' which was commissioned by the BBC.
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