Message, not the medium

The FT joins the BBC-bashers with an editorial today/tomorrow. Under the heading, "BBC must change from within", it accuses the corporation of having "an anachronistic fixation with remaining a vertically integrated broadcaster and controllling its own distribution".

The charge is applied to both iPlayer and YouView, but one could go further back.  The BBC had been reluctantly selling tv and radio transmitters to third parties, when DAB radio came along and needed new masts; Auntie has had to pay for the lion's share of their construction over the years.  More will need to be spent if DAB is to work effectively on all Britain's motorways - an element missing from the hastily-constructed six year licence fee deal.    Internally, the BBC has also spent substantial amounts on search engine development, now largely dropped, and trying to make sure it retains pole position in Electronic Programme Guides. It continues to hire developers, with considerable concentration on making iPlayer work for commercial organisations like BT (why can't BT do that ?).

As the FT points out, spending on distribution of all sorts has been going up, as spending on programmes has fallen.  And in the end, content is king, surely ?