An ICM poll shows the majority of viewers and listeners are proud of the BBC as an institution and that the license fee provides good value for money.
However, the poll showed public concern in the ‘dumbing-down’ of the BBC with 57% of people thinking it has gone downmarket
It follows a recent speech by News International’s European Chief Executive James Murdoch in which he claimed the BBC’s growth had a “chilling” effect on consumer choice.
Advertisement
The poll, published by the Guardian newspaper, found that 77% of people consider the BBC as institution to be proud of, which is up from 68%, five years ago.
There has also been an increase in the number of people who think the corporation represents good value for money, from 59% in 2004 to 63%.
The corporation has been rocked by a number of scandals in the recent years, including the prank calls on Radio 2 to Andrew Sachs, which led to the suspension of Jonathan Ross, and the faking of TV content and phone-in competitions.
Advertisement
However the poll shows public confidence in BBC has actually increased. A majority of 69% believe the BBC is trustworthy, up 9% from 2004.
The BBC is currently in talks over the future of the license fee, after the government’s Digital Britain report proposed sharing its funding with ITV’s regional news and Channel 4’s children’s programmes.
Advertisement
James Murdoch criticised the BBC at the annual MacTaggart lecture to an audience of television executives last month.
He said that the “chilling” expansionism of the license fee funded corporation meant that commercial rivals and consumer choice were struggling.
In particular the “expansion of state-sponsored journalism” in the form of BBC News online was “a threat to plurality and the independence of news provision, which are so important to our democracy”.