Media Communication - Case Study Example

Media Communication The public sector refers to the industries and s owned by the government mainly to facilitate the public while the private sector refers to sole traders, partnerships and firms working for the sole purpose of making a profit. Both have their own way of working and their own set of priorities. The driving source of the private sector is mainly the consumers (those who consume items) while the public sector is mainly influenced and commanded by the government. Hence what the government considers necessary; only that is permitted. In the context of Media Communication, those items and programs will be broadcasted that are considered reasonable and acceptable to the whole population, both genders and generally to civilians of all nationalities. The communication cycle involves sender’s activities which include: the impulse to communicate-the need to communicate; what to communicate; encoding the message; relay of the message which is known as transmission to the receiver which can be in any form: oral, written, visual (gestures, charts , pictures, screen, display) and electronic; and the receivers activity in the form of feedback. Media and channel communication involves all types of communication: face to face communication, oral communication, written communication, visual communication, electronic communication and nonverbal communication. (BCBS 2nd Edition) The BBC channel has been flourishing as a broadcasting company since its advent. However in this period of rapid technological advances, with innumerable new channels and heavy investors entering the industry, its survival appears to be uncertain. In my opinion the heavy funding for BBC should be stopped. (Ellis, 2002, p.175) The main purpose of BBC is not only to support British interests but also to provide impartial and accurate information and analysis to the audience. BBC provides a platform for domestic and national debate and also covers international affairs. Its aim can be categorized in three ways: providing information, education and entertainment. Between 2001 and 2002, BBC extended its operations to four free-to-air digital television channels namely: ‘BBC 3 which consists of a mixed genre, mainly providing entertainment for youth; BBC 4, a channel for social sciences and cultural heritage; and two channels dedicated to children. (Brown, 2004, p.486) The distinguishing element is that they represent and consider Britain collectively as a single unit rather than targeting a particular audience. (Brown, 2004) However, audiences are moving towards a much more complicated multi channel atmosphere which is packed with many different choices available depending on their needs and mood. This is evident from the fact that in 2004 for the first time TV viewings for BBC 1 and BBC 2 reduced by 9 per cent when compared to those of 2000 (Byrne, 2004, p.1). However this fact was covered up by the Director General of BBC who mentioned the cause of this fall in viewers to high quality programs. (Thompson cited in Byrne, 2004, p.1) Similar was the case with Pakistan Television (PTV). Initially, since it was the only channel available everyone watched it. Its programs were very popular and all the actors were easily recognizable hence its viewership was very high, but with the inclusion of private sector channels and permission of private sector productions, the channel significantly lost its viewership. With more and more people watching other channels, PTV’s programs started losing viewers. PTV had to diversify and so opened two other channels namely: PTV News and PTV Sports to regain its audience’s attention. This helped only to a small extent as the other channels were creating brand loyalty by showing content based on relevant issues and depicting the current culture of Pakistan rather than sticking to the old customs and myths. As the audience becomes loyal to a channel, the demand for these private channels such as GEO TV, ARY and HUM becomes inelastic. BBC is suffering from a similar situation. It is argued that a wider choice in digital channels does not signify variety and quality, as many of the programs shown are copied versions of previous material, with no difference in the subject matter. However, on the other hand they claim that they have 24 hour transmission. (Crouteau 2001, p.81) Hence, BBC’s channel supporters believe that it is bringing private talent and programming to the screens, giving its audience a wide range of programs consisting of new ideas and exploring new horizons. To remain in competition, BBC has planned and implemented many strategies to maintain its viewership. In 2005, the government announced job cuts for people to give more funds for better quality programming to BBC. (BBC News Channel, 2005, p.1) The consequence of this approach led to the inclusion of freelance film makers and private sector production houses for its programming. Keeping in mind the decline in the BBC audience rate it is only a matter of time that the viewers stop paying television tax especially when the population also has to pay for satellite or cable subscriptions. It is evident that this channel is feeding on the population. Despite this, it is given more priority than people’s interests. Soon the local people will start protesting if this matter is not addressed publicly, in the media. Even the license fee money is paid by the government. This money could be used to improve the living conditions of the public leading to high opportunity cost. Opportunity cost is the cost of the second best alternative forgone. The money could be used to provide public and merit goods such as hospitals and more scholarships for the students of the country. Public goods are those which are non-excludable and have non-rivalry. Moreover merit goods are those that generate positive externalities or greater benefits than the individuals realize. This will not only bring long-term economic growth to the country but will also have a benefit the society as a whole. The national workforce will also be motivated as they will think that their rights are recognized and that the government is utilizing their hard earned tax money for their benefit and not on useless projects which have nothing to do with the people. Not only this, even if the money is spent on small scale industries such as cottage or shoe industries it will allow Britain to regain their superiority as a world power. This will lead to growth in GDP and a positive balance of payment in the coming years thus reaching the state of higher economic growth. (Economics Cambridge University Press 2002) This ultimately comes down to the fact that the rate of unemployment will fall and there will be no need for job cuts. The rate of inflation will also decline making goods cheaper for the local population to buy. This will encourage investors from different countries to invest in Britain, an increasing number of firms will enter the domestic market and the multiplier effect will increase the productivity to new levels. If BBC claims that it considers the nation as a whole than its closure might bring more benefit than its continuation. (Heinemann, 2008 p.1) To compete with new DTV channels the BBC should also adapt and transform itself according to the new multichannel era. In 2002 the BBC launched Freeview in coordination with BSkyB and Crown Castle. It promoted Freeview during its own programs by showing it as an easy one off payment giving viewers access to thirty channels without any extra charges. With its promotion of free digital channels, it entered into competition with BSkyB, their biggest rival. Freeview gave the people an opportunity to use digital television without paying a subscription: ‘within one year period its viewership reached over 50 per cent of households.’ (Wells cited in Brown, 2004, p.487) BBC HD channel was also promoted cleverly with an impressive tag line title “TV goes cinematic”, which was available on Sky, Virgin Media and FreeSat receivers. The advert showed a dramatic scene purely based on the BBC’s own ‘Antiques Road Show’, where all the actions were made perkier and eye-catching with the use of special effects. In 2003, all the BBC channels were given free-to-air with another satellite facility: and it moved away from BSkyB’s satellite encryption service, which saved approximately 85 million pounds (Brown, 2004, p.487), giving the BBC an upper hand. Despite the presence of DTV (digital TV) channels, it is still reaching 86 percent of the population more than any other channel (Byrne, 2004). Often the issue that no other channel is serving the nations purpose like BBC is raised, by bringing people together while other channels do not portray the true values of the nation. Still it achieves top ratings on Christmas day with good quality programs without any PG offenses which can be viewed by people of all ages and in family settings. On 25th December 2008 ‘BBC proved this by securing a victory in nine of the top 10 shows’ (BBC website, 2008, p.1), the highest rating was of Wallace and Gromit’s animated picture, which reached a peak of 14.4million on that same day – beating the record of the final episode of an Eastenders double bill which reached to 12.6million viewers’. (BBC website, 2008, p.1) The BBC channel also emphasized that it shows continuous transmission without any interruptions or delays whereas all the other channels have about 5-10 minutes ads in the 30 minute program making it boring and tiresome for the public as they have to wait for the interval to end and then the spirit of the program is lost. The viewer feels low that his need is not satisfied and the viewers’ precious time is also wasted. (Ellis, 2002, p.176) It enables audiences to watch quality programs without any physical or mental strain or stress, as no advertisement means that you are not distracted and you feel that you are being considered as an individual in each and every step of recording and programming. Some of its supporters believe that BBC will be able to survive the digital age because commercial broadcasters will find it extremely expensive and difficult to afford to keep up with quality programming for a longer period of time, in order to sustain their current number of audience. (Brown, 2004, p. 487) The BBC has another advantage of having viewership of millions of people to its website on a daily basis. It is one of the most popular sites in the world, with many people accessing it daily for sports, political news, current affairs and weather updates. It attracts approximately 17.2 million new users each week in the UK and 33.2 million international visitors, which is a big achievement. (Kiss, 2008, p.1) The website provides distinct services for all ages. The latest inclusion is BBC Bite Size which is often used for exam practice and revision which is an essential element of its success. In spite of all these positives it should be noted that now other channels such as I TV and channel 4 are receiving more viewership than BBC. The data and figures which are shown above are based on total viewership not on marginal viewership which is causing the difference. Marginal means the change, in this context it can be assumed to be from the previous year to this year and as stated earlier, it is decreasing. Then the decision should also be taken based on the marginal change rather than focusing on overall statistics and figures. Many say that that BBC’s license fee should be withdrawn and it should become a commercial broadcaster like its other competitors. Even the Former Liberal Democrat councilor, Jonathan Calder, raised this question by challenging the grounds on which BBC is receiving it. (Calder cited in Stephen, 2008) Calder emphasized that if a similar situation prevails and no measure is taken against it then, it will cost about £180 a year by 2013 which is a heavy burden on the economy while it is not even able to provide full employment to its population. (Calder cited in Stephen, 2008) He suggests that there are other ways as well for BBC to compete with its competitors to survive in this digital age. (Calder cited in Stephen, 2008). It is totally unfair that BBC receives license fee funding and this is turning it into a monopoly whereas other channels are competing on their own without any government support which is not bringing any benefit. The main aim of issuing the permission to channels was to increase competition among them which would lead to a wide range of diversity in programs and every channel will strive to remain in competition, even though it is seen that BBC’s viewership is decreasing significantly. In this way other channels such as channel 4 and ITV can also start raising questions that their license fee should be reduced as this will also give them extra finance to make even better quality programs and if their statements are denied then they can point out BBC openly. (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2008, paragraph 6) BBC should consider itself a public limited company, becoming beneficial for its stakeholders in every situation. (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2008, paragraph 13). One alternative could be that BBC should share the license fee with its rivals or competitors as it is now on the same scale. Or they should also receive public funding along with advertisement reserves. It is clear now that the BBC funding in any form whether license fee, advertising reserves or any other form should be re-considered and critically analyzed. The British economy is on the downturn and perhaps factors like BBC funding which would cross over 1.8 billion pounds by 2013 is the real cause of it as these factors are not considered. If something initiated is not serving the purpose it is intended to serve then it should be stopped and the government should switch to other better alternatives and options. In any case the consent of the public should always be taken and their feedback kept in mind. BBC has always been their main channel but perhaps the time has now come to transform it into something else or to use its funding towards the right cause. The public interest should always be given first and foremost priority and if their interests are not considered then, this is just a channel which only consists of a bunch of people, compared with the whole population of Britain. The government should not be worried about other nations and their perception about BBC’s closure. The circumstances and the situation should be considered in which this measure has to be taken. The government should take immediate measures before its burden on the economy brings it to devastation. Not only this, but it should also be noted that it is the nation that nominates people of the government so the government should act in their benefit in whatever way possible, as their designation is only due to their votes which shows the people’s belief and trust in it. This is the only thing that should be considered when any decision is made, as public interest always comes first. Bibliography Books: M.Ovais,(2009) Business Communication and Behavioral Studies2nd Edition Colin Bamford(2002) Economics, Cambridge University Press Brown, G. (2004) Uncertain Vision: Birt, Dyke and the reinvention of The BBC, Great Britain, Secker and Warburg Croteau, D and Hoynes, W. (2001) The Business of Media - Corporate Media and the Public Interest. Page 81. Pine Forge Press USA. Ellis, J (2002) Television in the Age of Uncertainty: Seeing Things, London, I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd Shepherd, A (1997) Working in the Media, Kogan Page. Online journals: Whittle, S (2004) Public Service Broadcasting in the New Media Age: The BBC’s Experience. Trends in Communication, 12 (1), Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Online official documents: BBC (2004) Building Public Value. Renewing the BBC for a Digital World, page 5 – Overview and Summary Government Document (2008) Department for Culture Media and Sport. “Funding the BBC – The Television Licence Fee and Alternative Options” [On-line] @ http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/freedom_of_information/BBCFUNDINGlicencefeeandalternatives56427.pdf [accessed 28/12/08] Web Links: BBC NEWS (2008) “TV licence fee ‘could be shared’” 4th October 2008 [On-line] @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/7339381.stm [28/12/08] BBC NEWS CHANNEL (2005) “BBC Job Cuts” Monday 21st March 2005 [On-line] @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4369221.stm [accessed 14.11.08] BBC NEWS CHANNEL (2008) “Wallace and Gromit top TV ratings” Friday 26th December 2008 [On-line] @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/7800091.stm [accessed 27.12.08] Byrne, C (2004) Independent Newspapers UK Limited “BBC Viewing Figures fall to an all-time low” [On-line] @ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/bbc-viewing-figures-fall-to-alltime-low-754162.html [accessed 27.12.08] Heilemann, J Wired “Can the BBC Be Saved?” [On-line] @ http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.03/bbc_pr.html [accessed 27.12.08] Kiss, J (2008) “BBC annual report: BBC website reaches 33.2m worldwide users.” Tuesday 8th July 2008 [On-line] @ http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jul/08/bbc.digitalmedia/print [accessed 28/12/08] Read More