(2) The Media Column: British TV is being bought up and outgunned by the Americans, leaving the BBC with a dilemma

Link: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/the-media-column-british-tv-is-being-bought-up-and-outgunned-by-the-americans-leaving-the-bbc-with-a-dilemma-10499107.html

Summarise:

British broadcasters were destined to follow a lesser path which now leaves them dwarfed by American-based global entertainment giants and vulnerable to being swallowed up by US media companies. It’s not just Netflix. Amazon Prime’s video service showed its muscle when winning the bidding war for Jeremy Clarkson’s next venture, and Apple TV has become the latest colossus in the market. Watching 13 episodes of a series, one after another, is not a viewing experience you associate with the BBC iPlayer, where content is mostly restricted to a 30-day window after broadcast on regular TV and feels rather thin because of it. Lord Hall said “I now want to experiment with the BBC issuing bigger and bolder series all at once on iPlayer, so viewers have the option of ‘binge watching’.” With advertising revenues squeezed at home, US networks are aggressively looking for growth overseas, and the UK sector, with its fine reputation, is an obvious target. And as these companies expand globally, so, ironically, the BBC – mocked last month by a senior Google executive for its parochial outlook – is being obliged to curb its competitive instincts.

  Key data/statistical information:

• Nearly seven years ago, the Competition Commission killed a bold, technological innovation called Project Kangaroo and, at a stroke, changed the direction of British television
• Kangaroo is a joint initiative by BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4
• Netflix has more than four million subscribers in this country
• ITV and Channel 4, which have their own catch-up services, would put shows on the BBC platform for free
• One online platform, BBC Ideas, could be a replacement for BBC4.
• Another, iPlay for children, could mean the end of BBC children’s channels on the goggle box. With other British broadcasters having abandoned this sector, children’s television would become the preserve of US producers such as Disney, Fox and Nickelodeon

What's my view?

 I think that due to companies such as Amazon, Apple and Netflix, BBC has no choice but to try and bring the business up-to-date to the latest way of watching shows and films. Streaming has become so popular that basic TV channels are struggling. Since the American TV industry are looking for British audiences , BBC should be able to focus on increasing their audience by creating or improving BBC iplayer so that people can watch shows on there continuously.