Like many of you, I remain horrified at the way the BBC reports political events.  Whilst I would dearly love to listen and believe in their protestations of independence and neutrality in their broadcasting, it does not wash when I sit in front of the box and compare coverage to say Sky News.  Perhaps there are suicidal tendencies at the Beeb, not comprehending a major political earthquake aside, the Conservatives are heading towards power and the Beeb is heading for a shakeup.

Whilst Labour don’t have a purely harmonious relationship with the BBC, when it comes to license fee rises, there has been little debate or opposition from this Labour Government.  Labour Ministers have on the whole looked after the BBC and big reform has been kept at bay.

Now the BBC needs to consider this.  David Cameron has a history in broadcasting.  He was raised under Michael Green’s era at Carlton and understands the difficulties and successes commercial tv has.  He understands the privileged position the BBC has enjoyed.

The BBC has not had a good year.  The Jonathon Ross & Russell Brand debacle showed the Beeb to be weak and indecisive.  The huge salaries of Beeb’s top staff did not sit well with a nation suffering under the strains of recession, seeing pay cuts, wage freezes, job losses, businesses going bankrupt.  £800,000 for the Director General of the BBC…..4 times more than the Prime Minister.  Are we saying the head of the BBC is 4 times as important as the Prime Minister?

The BBC is a vast unwieldy beast.  Prime for trimming and facing commercial reality.  Cameron faces several choices.  The nuclear option…cut the license fee completely off and ask the BBC to adjust to free market forces.  However, this seems one step too far as this would see ‘niche’ BBC offerings axed.  And free market zealots will have to concede that many offerings, like regionalised news and stations like BBC Parliament would not be able to survive in a free market as advisers would not flock to those stations with niche viewing figures.  So does the nation benefit from regionalised news and stations like BBC Parliament?  The answer has to be yes.  Hence, a Conservative Government would not prioritise a license fee massacre. 

However, Cameron would be right to freeze the license fee and seek efficiency savings from the BBC.   What also needs discussing is the Beeb’s role.  Especially what should it do online and in mobile phone technology. James Murdoch, News International’s Chairman, believes the BBC restricts the free market in media and impedes fair competition in areas like the internet and other commercial activities.  Murdoch has accused the BBC of ‘trying to create a British Google…funded by the taxpayer’!

This makes an interesting contradiction for Cameron.  Balancing his free market desires against those of his social conscience, offering programmes that the country would otherwise not see.

What is true is the BBC faces big change under Cameron and that will be no bad thing!