BBC将何去何从？

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2020年07月08日

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BBC将何去何从？

随着真人秀节目《全英家庭烘焙大赛》的大热，再次引发了人们对BBC未来的关注。节目内容越来越难以保持独特性、新上任大臣对于执照费用的批评态度，或许BBC面临的困境并非孤例：全球公营广播公司在新媒体时代都显得举步维艰。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

compensate 补偿

distinctiveness 独特性

stymie 阻碍

unashamed 无愧的

settlement 结算

endorse 批准

阅读即将开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用时间，并对照我们在文章最后给出的参考值来估算您的阅读速度。

BBC defends its light entertainment role （653words）

By Kate Allen

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The BBC has defended its most popular entertainment shows, saying its content should be “clearly distinguishable from its commercial competitors”, but it rejected government questioning over whether it should aim to be “all things to all people”.

The corporation cited Britain's most popular TV show, The Great British Bake Off, as an example of what it said was its ability to turn a diverse range of subjects into national events. The show’s final on Wednesday evening attracted 13m viewers, making it the most-watched programme of the year.

John Whittingdale, culture secretary, has questioned whether the corporation should produce popular entertainment shows such as Bake Off and Strictly Come Dancing, because they competed with commercial rivals. His remarks in July came at the start of the three-month consultation on the BBC’s future.

The BBC said on Thursday in a submission to the review that its role in the media should not be simply to compensate for market failure, providing content that was not produced by its commercial competitors.

“Every BBC service should be clearly distinguishable from its commercial competitors, but distinctiveness does not equal ‘market failure’ or stepping back from popular content,” the document said. “There is no reason to believe that the market would fill the investment or universality gap left by the BBC.”

The corporation’s scope should not change if that undermined its “ability to serve everyone with public service content”, the BBC said.

The government’s “root and branch” review is looking at the BBC's scope, size and funding model ahead of the renewal of its royal charter next year. When the review was launched, BBC director-general Tony Hall said the corporation had “a tough fight ahead”.

In an attempt to stymie political interference, the BBC’s submission proposes that the renewed charter should last for 11 years —— taking it beyond the next two general elections. It also argues that the BBC Trust, its governing body, should be replaced by an external regulator “fully independent of government”.

In return, the BBC has promised greater efficiencies, more competition in the commissioning of content and greater returns from commercial activities.

Mr Hall said viewers and listeners wanted “a strong and independent BBC”.

“Our programme of reform will ensure the BBC is fit for the internet age, focused on the things that matter to audiences, continues to support the economy and is an unashamed champion of British talent, content and creativity,” he said.

The corporation is “an engine for [economic] growth”, he argued.

Mr Whittingdale has established an eight-person advisory board on the BBC’s future. It includes Ashley Highfield, chief executive of newspaper group Johnston Press, and Dawn Airey, a former Channel 5 executive. Both have in the past called for a smaller BBC.

Michael Dugher, shadow culture secretary, said the BBC’s future was “at real risk”. “Ministers want to cut down the size of the BBC and narrow its remit,” he said. “This is not what the public wants nor is it in the best interests of the country.”

Mr Dugher supported the BBC’s proposals for an 11-year charter and an independent regulator.

This summer, the BBC agreed to a funding settlement with the government, allowing the licence fee to rise in line with inflation. The BBC will also be allowed to charge for its iPlayer catch-up services.

In return, the BBC will cover the £650m-a-year cost of free television licences for the over-75s from 2018. Free licences are funded by the Department for Work and Pensions.

The corporation received £3.7bn from the licence fee last year.

In February, Mr Whittingdale, who was at the time chair of the Commons media select committee, endorsed the survival of the BBC licence fee. But he warned that “very big questions have to be asked about how that money is provided and spent, and how that organisation is governed and made accountable”.

The government is due to publish firm proposals on the BBC's future next spring.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1. What type of content is most popular with the audience in the second paragraph?

a. history

b. food

c. science

d. philosophy

2. Who would not fill the investment or universality gap left by the BBC as document said?

a. government

b. competitor

c. charity

d. market