Here’s is a true scenario. What would you do ?
You own a highly trusted, famous, global brand
In a world full of disinformation, trust is highly prized and increasingly rare
During a national crisis this brand has been an essential source of reliable information that people have turned to.
There will be more national crises.
The brand has a brilliant, motivated workforce
Within the wider society there is diverse, deep and highly creative talent you can commission to be a part of your brand.
You have a track record of innovation, using digital to develop highly valued new services
You have over 50 years of intellectual property
Big American competition is arriving. ( which is also consolidating). They are all looking to sign your customers and charge them fees.
Yet in this increasingly competitive context you represent value for money. You provide more high quality than these competitors at a lower price. Cash strapped customers will not be able to afford all these competitor services.
Your service is delivered in the global lingua franca (English)
The winners will likely be those that provide high quality for a reasonable price. The brand that you own is well placed to be one of the winners.
All of the above is a reasonably objective description of the BBC. You don’t have to be part of any political tribe to find it credible.
If you were (say) the Chinese, French or German governments and you owned this brand you would think all your Christmas’s had come at once. You would support it and help it to keep innovating so that it could remain a strong brand, attract new fans and develop global revenue.
Now a government committee is meeting in secret – and we don’t know what their ideas are.
The lack of transparency excites suspicion.
The government is capable of self – confidence and innovation. Look at the approach to developing vaccines
The government’s objections to the BBC- that it is a left leaning, metropolitan, remainer organisation – are shallow and self – interested. Even if they are partly true ( and bear in mind that governments of all stripes think the BBC is against them) they can be remedied.
But when it comes to the BBC the government seems to lack self-confidence. Before the pandemic government ministers refused to go on The Today program. This is was behaviour of a petulant toddler.
A self-confident business person would think that the attitude of the Government is a narrow minded failure to spot opportunity.
Which is a pity because the idea of Brexit was for a more independent minded, self-confident, global Britain. Isn’t that the idea?