BBC Told By Lawmakers To Stop Paying “Over The Odds” For U.S. Shows Like ‘Scooby-Doo’

The BBC should stop outbidding commercial rivals for foreign content acquisitions, according to an influential group of British lawmakers.

ITV, Sky, and Channel 4 have been critical of the BBC for using licence fee cash to outspend rivals for shows like Schitt’s Creek. Now, UK Parliament’s cross-party Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee has sided with the commercial broadcasters.

In a report about the BBC’s future, the committee concluded: “We understand why the BBC might have a strategy to bid for content that would attract audiences, especially younger viewers.

“However, at a time of constrained resources, the BBC should not be paying over the odds for overseas content, particularly when it’s bidding against other commercial UK broadcasters to do so. We do not believe that this provides value for money for the licence fee payer.”

BBC director general Matt Brittin was asked about the issue when he appeared in front of the committee in July. “What’s the public service value in outbidding commercial broadcasters for things like Scooby-Doo when you could be investing in Britain?” asked Natasha Irons, a Labour member of Parliament.

Brittin said less than 5% of the BBC’s content budget is spent on foreign acquisitions and that these shows can drive viewing to public service content. He added, however, that the BBC would examine acquisitions in the context of the corporation striving to save £500M ($670M) over the next three years. “That’s something I’m looking at reviewing as part of the cost savings,” Brittin said.

ITV has consistently raised the issue in recent years. In a written submission to the committee, ITV said: “We can see no reason for the BBC to use public funds to compete for content that would otherwise find a home on free-to-access commercial services.

“For this reason, we would urge the government to include a new rule in the charter preventing the BBC from using public service broadcasting expenditure for any non-UK acquired content except where the BBC is the purchaser of last resort, and for the BBC to be more transparent about the titles it acquires.”

Elsewhere in the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee report, the lawmakers called on the government to broaden the scope of licence fee during BBC charter renewal negotiations. It said the reformed funding model should “no longer be linked to a particular device or activity.”

It continued: “The intention of broadening the scope of the licence fee should be to capture a greater number of households, which in turn should lead to an increase in revenue. This should be done on the condition that the cost of the individual licence fee is decreased, as long as doing so does not reduce the sustainability of the BBC’s income and ability to fulfil its public purposes.”

The committee also called on the government to keep an open mind about a household levy, which could involve adding a BBC tax to a utility or broadband bill. The BBC is open to this idea, but ministers have repeatedly ruled it out.

Caroline Dinenage, chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said: “This is a pivotal moment for the BBC. Continue along the current path and we condemn a national institution to managed decline, squandering the immeasurable benefits it brings to our economy and society.

“For all its faults, the BBC drives our creative economy, supports our democracy through media sovereignty, and delivers world-class entertainment and moments that bring us together. Like a much-loved family member, we may criticise and grumble about the BBC but we would miss it enormously if it were no longer here for us.”