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Independent TV's Elite Gift to Great Britain: Channel Four Generates Quality, Not to Mention the Unorthodox
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13079 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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11 / 1987 |
2,365 Words |
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Herb Greer
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These days most of the critically acclaimed British movies that Americans are hurrying to see are financed by the elite, alternative voice of British television: Channel 4.
Until the 1950s, broadcasting of all kinds in Britain was given and taken as a public service, the monopoly of a mandarin elite organization called the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Its first director-general, John Reith, had a view of his responsibility that was unusual by American standards:
It is occasionally indicated to us that we are apparently setting out to give the public what we think they need--not what they what--but few know what they want and very few what they need…In any case it is better to overestimate the mentality of the public than to underestimate it.
During World War II, the British became aware of other forms of broadcasting through overseas posting of servicemen and, in Britain itself, the American Forces network. The monopoly of the BBC came into question. Reith's successor, Sir Frederick Ogilvie, after resigning over wartime government pressure on the BBC, spoke out in 1946 against the monopoly. After more pressure and public ferment, in 1954 Parliament set up an Independent Television Authority (later called the Independent Broadcasting Authority), a nongovernmental body, to oversee commercial broadcasting in Britain. There was talk among politicians of broadcasting as a commodity to satisfy customers, but "independent" (i.e. commercial) television was still oriented by the earlier ideals of public service. There was to be no direct sponsorship on the American model. Instead, private companies would contract to supply material to predetermined areas of the country. They would make and supply their own program, with some access to national networking. Advertising slots would be sold separately to finance the companies rather than programs.
Down-Market Contest
For a while, the BBC lost viewers to commercial television's more aggressively down-market approach. (Quiz shows, for example, were very popular.) Then the BBC also moved down-market to win back the audience, using, among other things, imported American private eye series like Cannon. In time a second channel, BBC2, was opened for the more "serious" viewer, and incidentally to refurbish the public service image, which was taking a beating from the BBC1-ITV competition.
Of course commercial television also wanted a second channel, and there was wide-ranging debate about what its purpose should be. Some said "ITV2" should be education; others insisted it must cater to regional or minority interests; still others wrangled over whether it should compete with or complement the other channels. Much of the pressure for a new commercial channel came from supporters of independent production in Britain, who hoped it would provide a new outlet. While independents like Peter Batty were successful at marketing their high-quality products abroad, neither BBC nor ITV were prepared to admit that these outsiders could make decent programs, let alone give them serious access to the home market. But the movement against the "duopoly" was shrugged off by the Labor Party, which governed Britain for most of the sixties and seventies, and saw no reason to shake the status quo in television. A new channel would have to wait for the less stodgy atmosphere of the
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