BBC is preparing to drop Heroes

Sad News to UK Heroes viewers, as BBC is preparing to drop popular American shows such as Heroes, Mad Men and The Wire as part of a strategic review to combat criticism that it is stifling commercial rivals.

The corporation said yesterday that it would also consider cuts on each of its television channels and radio stations as part of the review.

Sir Michael Lyons, the Chairman of the BBC Trust, said in a letter to licence fee payers that the internal review “may mean the BBC becoming smaller”, adding that the trust wanted “a BBC that is smarter, more efficient and no bigger than it needs to be”.

Insiders said that the estimated £100 million a year that it spent on buying US shows was a likely target, given how many commercial broadcasters screened American imports. Each of the BBC’s nine television channels and ten national radio stations will be reviewed, although few expect any big casualties.

Sir Michael’s letter comes days after James Murdoch, the chief executive, Europe and Asia, of News Corporation, warned in a lecture that the scale of the BBC’s ambitions was “chilling”. News Corporation is the parent company of The Times.

It follows a demand from Jeremy Hunt, the Shadow Culture Secretary, for a reduction in excessive pay at the corporation. Mr Hunt said this week that it was “ridiculous” that the licence fee was increasing at a time “when there is no inflation”.

BBC bosses hope that the proposed cost-cutting will allow the £142.50 licence fee to drop, deflecting criticism made by the Tories. The threat to The Wire is ironic given David Cameron’s frequent lauding of the American police drama, which stars his Etonian schoolfriend Dominic West.

Sir Michael repeated his objection to Labour proposals to take part of the fee to fund regional news on ITV. He said that he believed that the cash — about £5.50 per fee payer — should be handed back to viewers because “the public do not want it hived off and given to other media outlets”.

The chairman of the trust did not name Mr Murdoch as he announced the review, but Mark Thompson, the Director-General, was more direct in an e-mail to staff. Describing what he said was “a pretty relentless onslaught from the press over the summer, culminating in James Murdoch’s MacTaggart Lecture”, Mr Thompson accused the BBC’s critics of being “desperately out of touch with what the audience themselves are telling us”.

After Mr Murdoch’s speech at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, Mr West defended the BBC while accepting an award, saying that it was “in contempt of the Murdoch doctrine”.

Mr Thompson justified his counter-attack by citing opinion research conducted for the BBC by ICM, which said that four out of five people believed that the “UK should be proud of the BBC”.

The strategic review will be led by the Director-General, and will examine whether the BBC is spending on the right type of programme. However, the BBC ruled out cutting back or charging for BBC online news — a key target of Mr Murdoch’s complaint in Edinburgh last month, amid concerns that the BBC’s free offer made it impossible for newspapers to charge for content online.

Mr Thompson, briefing the BBC’s top 100 managers yesterday morning, said that he would “sooner see the BBC be abolished than introducing charging for BBC News in the UK”.

BBC Three, one of the most popular targets for abolition, is expected to be spared, while few industry insiders anticipate that a main service, such as BBC One or Radio 2, will be scrapped.

Commercial rivals complained that it was not clear whether the review would prompt any serious changes. Andrew Harrison, the chief executive of the RadioCentre, which represents commercial radio owners, said: “Our fear is that this will simply be window dressing.”Commercial broadcasters, which are suffering from falling advertising revenues, complain that the publicly funded BBC, with guaranteed annual increases in income, has grown out of all proportion to them. BBC revenue from the £142.50 licence fee means that the corporation is about £1 billion larger than ITV, Channel 4 and Five combined.

The battle between the Saturday-night ratings juggernauts Strictly Come Dancing and X Factor will intensify next week, with the BBC and ITV deciding to screen the two at the same time. In previous years the channels have tried to maximise their audiences with a tacit agreement that Strictly airs earlier in the evening.

ITV sources accused the BBC of “aggressive scheduling that is not in the interests of the audience”. BBC insiders pointed out that X Factor is pre-recorded and could easily be moved.

Source : http://business.timesonline.co.uk