By a pleasant (and genuine) coincidence, as I read the discussion about the BBC in the 1980's I am sitting next to Chris who worked for the BBC in the 1980s and witnessed these changes first hand. The following is a transcription of my live conversation with him on this subject.
A - Say Hello Chris C - Er.. Hi. A - And what section of the BBC did you work for during the 1980s? C - You know already A - Just speak into the microphone please C - Capital infrastructure A - And how did the changes in management policy impact on you? C- We became an independent profit centre, and we had to account for everything we spent, and raise money by charging the rest of the BBC for our services A - How did this effect your working practices? C - Swings and roundabouts really. The BBC had become frankly rather cushy. There was a tendency to do everything in a 'Rolls Royce' style, when cheaper would have been just as good. On the other hand, we stopped seeing the corporation as a joint communal effort and source of pride, and felt ourselves to be in competition with other sections. A (A little bit of politics) - So, a bit like what Thatcherism did, but on a smaller scale C (looks nervous) - Uh... A - Moving on. Several people on the list have suggested that the quality of BBC programming fell during the 1980s. Would you attribute that to the changes you have just been describing? C - Perhaps in part. You have to remember there were two other forces at work at the same time. The government put a big squeeze on the amount of money available to the BBC, and the number of channels expanded. Channel 4 A - Yes, we already did that one C - Sky, cable... the lot. I think what people forget is that there is only a limited amount of talent available, and it's spread about pretty thin nowadays. A (Keeps reservations on this point to herself for now) C - Remember that a producer isn't interested in quality of programming any more, he's interested in a graph, like this (gestures) That's spend, and that's audience. Right at the top here (points) are quiz shows and sport. A - What about quality Drama?
But Chris must go back to his work, and we will leave him there
Alison