BBC wants to know you
Believe it or not, but one of the world’s oldest and most famous broadcasters which has been telecasting to millions of viewers around the world for decades apparently doesn’t know what people want to watch.
That’s the BBC for you.
It is to spend £50 million (roughly Rs 483 Crore) on research to find out what viewers are watching in an attempt to improve its programmes. Of this, some £42 million will go to “continuous tracking” research described as the “most complex and strategic” part of the four-year project. It will study viewers’ experience of the broadcaster and their satisfaction with its output, according to media reports.
Another £6.5 million will be spent on “bespoke research” on “harder-to-reach, niche and diverse audiences”. And the remaining on seeking insight into “how children discover our content, how children find and consume media and who is influential in helping them choose”, says the tender document revealed by the Daily Star Sunday newspaper.
Not surprisingly, the move has attracted scathing criticism with critics calling it a waste of license-fee payers’ money at a time when it’s struggling to balance its budget. It’s also facing the prospect of losing government funding with its hundred-year-old funding model up for review.
“Taxpayers are sick of seeing their hard-earned money bankroll big BBC projects,” said a spokesperson for TaxPayers’ Alliance.
For once even its ardent admirers who believe it is mostly unfairly targeted by right-wing politicians and the media will struggle to defend it.
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