Sequins at dawn in public service media debate

In Britain, a new skirmish in the cultural- economic war has broken out and the battle dress is sequins and Cuban heels. The Tories, according to the headlines, are trying to "ban" Strictly Come Dancing, aka the BBC's Saturday teatime celebrity dancing competition, which has had the temerity to be popular.

That’s an oversimplification of the debate, but only just. The Conservative government, buoyed by its election gains, will today publish a green paper on the BBC’s future that is expected to propose policies that will hobble it to the benefit of large commercial competitors.

The threat is not that quicksteps and foxtrots are on the chopping block but that the BBC might be prevented from making shows such as Strictly in the future. UK culture secretary John Whittingdale has made clear his belief that the corporation should leave it to commercial rivals to produce entertainment "hits".

Putting down his pre-emptory foot this week was BBC director general Tony Hall. "It will be hard to support any proposal that stops us finding the next Strictly, the next Bake Off, or – dare I say it – the next Top Gear," Hall wrote in the introduction to the BBC's annual report.

A similar hoo-ha about RTÉ’s role may well surface in the run-up to the general election and its aftermath, as Fine Gael, in particular, lays down markers. Several TDs and senators on the Oireachtas communications committee already make a habit of listing RTÉ programmes of which they approve and disapprove.

While they would argue this is one method of upholding RTÉ’s accountability, it tends to come across as little more than waffle about personal tastes.

At the heart of the argument is a public- service media paradox. Licence fee payers should get value for money, and popular programmes clearly suggest more are being satisfied. The conflicting rationale is that the subvention allows the public- service broadcaster to do things that commercial operators couldn’t or wouldn’t.

Here, there’s a strong case being made for a greater percentage of RTÉ programming to be produced by independent companies. But beware any politician who picks on programmes not to their liking – or that of their big-business friends – as evidence that the entire system is flawed.