The IPA has today (3rd March) expressed its support of BBC Director General Mark Thompson's controversial proposals to curtail the activities of the BBC.
Although the IPA is a firm believer in the Corporation, both for the important role it plays in the fabric of UK society and the benchmark it sets for the quality of overall broadcasting, it has long criticised the BBC for its tendency to expand into sectors where commercial players are already meeting public demand - and then to use its financial muscle to outspend competitors, "steal" their audiences, and drive up operating and talent costs.
While the IPA has expressed sympathy for all those within the Corporation who would be adversely affected by Thompson's move, it restated its belief that the BBC should concentrate its activities against those sectors not currently served by commercial operators in order to enrich the totality of the UK viewer/listener experience (vs, simply competing for ratings with its commercial rivals).
Says Geoffrey Russell, IPA Director for Media Affairs: "At last, Mark Thompson is beginning to appreciate that the BBC must know its limits. The Corporation is a national treasure and one of the UK’s few world brands - but this does not give it permission to take over and dominate every sector in UK communications - or to waste vast quantities of licence payers cash in the pointless “me-tooing” of existing commercial programme formats and unnecessary competition for sports and events rights."