The room was divided between those who thought the BBC licence fee should be shared and those who thought it should remain with the Corporation. It was also in a quandary over what public service broadcasting should do in the face of ever-increasing competition from more channels, more ways to access content, a harder to find audience and falling revenues for individual broadcasters.

 

Sitting on the panel was Nick Ross of Crimewatch fame; the father of reality television Peter Bazalgette; and filling the shoes of David Elstein - stranded on the A40 with a broken down car - was writer and producer Laurence Marks. Richard Lindley of Voice of the Listener and Viewer chaired the debate.

 

Carole Stone introduced the evening and shared research findings from YouGovStone’s survey of ‘influentials’ - media movers and shakers - comparing their attitudes to the general public’s. The research found that media bods feel they get good value for money from the licence fee but over-estimate the amount the public would like to pay for it. Read full findings here.

 

Public service broadcasting in this country has traditionally been provided by the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. The BBC provides PSB because it is funded by public licence fee, and the other broadcasters because they are under obligation to the government who grant them free spectrum to broadcast on in return. 

 

The commercials also rely on advertising revenue to fund their programming. But with a sharp decline in advertising – in part due to the recession, in part due to advertisers going to other platforms and channels – their revenue model has been destabilised. ITV is increasingly shying away from its PSB obligations, and Channel 4 has its eye on some of the BBC pie. Which begs the question, where should public service broadcasting money come from?

 

Although a long-term BBC employee, albeit freelance, Ross maintained that BBC money should be shared to encourage a diversity of creative programming. He also argued that institutions, like organisms, have selfish genes, and could not be counted on to distribute funds of their own accord.

 

Bazalgette called on the industry to stop whinging and sort out digital rights management to get ahead of the game. He also called on the BBC and Channel 4 to “put more money back into the screen” and for the government to allow product placement.

 

The dominant arguments from Ross and Bazalgette, that the BBC should be sharing its licence fee money, seemed to rule the room until leading media commentator Steve Hewlett warned the panel that a shared licence fee would spell the end of independence for the BBC.

 

“Be careful what you wish for,” he cautioned.

 

Rory Bremner, commenting that he found it difficult to think of TV in such abstract terms, ended the evening from the perspective of TV talent. “It’s like a crème brulee,” he said, “with all the talent at the bottom trying to break through and the hard crust at the top which is the bureaucrats.”

 

Despite this gentle jibe, all eyes will be on the bureaucrats next week with the publication of Lord Carter’s Digital Britain report which may help determine the future of all media industries.

 

The next Media Society debate takes place at the Groucho on July 7 with The Independent’s chief political commentator Steve Richards.