Public service broadcas/ng: An interna/onal comparison of funding - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Public service broadcas/ng: An interna/onal comparison of funding models and performance

22 June 2011 Prepared for

Westminster Media Forum

Prepared by

Nordicity

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Table of contents

• 1. Overview
• 2. Public funding and value for money
• 3. PSB funding models and audience performance
• 4. Government‐contract tenures
• 5. Summary
• 6. Notes on data

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Overview

• Public service broadcasters (PSBs) in many Western countries have come

under increasing financial pressures in recent years.

 Fiscal retrenchment  Pressures to invest in new plaPorm content and distribu/on  Abrupt and severe ad recession  Migra/on of audiences and ad spending to Internet and mobile plaPorms

• Examine the interna/onal posi/on of UK PSBs in terms of public‐funding

levels and value for money in terms of audience performance.

• Review PSB funding models in Western countries and their impact on

audience performance.

• Consider the effect that the tenure of government‐funding contracts has
• n overall public funding levels and value‐for‐money outcomes.
• Benchmark UK PSBs’ level of investment in online and mul/‐plaPorm

services.

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Public funding per capita

Public funding per capita, 2009 (£)

Source: Nordicity compila/on based on public reports * Includes es/mates for autonomous region broadcasters

• In 2009, licence fees and
• ther government

funding of public broadcas/ng in the UK was equal to £57 per capita.

• Public funding for UK

PSBs was 40% higher than the 18‐country average of £41 per capita.

Amongst Western countries, the UK displays one of the highest rates of public investment in public broadcas;ng

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Trends in public funding per capita

Real change in public funding per capita, 2004‐2009

Source: Nordicity compila/on based on public reports

• UK PSBs were amongst a

minority of PSBs that experienced a real‐ currency increase in per‐ capita public funding between 2004 and 2009.

• The real‐funding increase

for UK PSBs was only 1.7%, however.

Most PSBs have experienced real decreases in their public funding since 2004

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Value for money: audience performance

Number of naHonal viewers per £m of public funding, 2009

Source: Nordicity compila/on based on public reports and audience data from EurodataTV Worldwide * Includes es/mates for autonomous region broadcasters

UK PSBs are near the top of the table in terms of delivering audiences in rela;on to public funding

Audience share points per £ of per‐capita public funding, 2009

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Value for money: overall audience producHvity

Number of naHonal viewers per £m of total turnover (public funding + commercial revenues**), 2009

Source: Nordicity compila/on based on public reports and audience data from EurodataTV Worldwide * Includes es/mates for autonomous region broadcasters ** Excludes BBC’s revenues outside of UK public services expenditures

UK PSBs also display above‐average value for money in terms of overall audience produc;vity

• In 2009, UK PSBs (BBC +

C4 + S4C) generated 6,642 viewers per million pounds of total turnover – including public and commercial revenues.

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PSB funding models

AdverHsing revenues as a share

• f total broadcasHng turnover, 2009

Source: Nordicity compila/on based on public reports * Includes es/mates for autonomous region broadcasters

PSBs’ reliance on commercial revenue sources ranges from nil to as much as two‐thirds of total turnover

Commercial revenues as a share

• f total broadcasHng turnover, 2009

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PSB funding models

Share of total turnover from adverHsing revenues vs. public funding per capita, 2009

Source: Nordicity compila/on based on public reports * Includes es/mates for autonomous region broadcasters

Countries with higher levels of per‐capita public funding tend to rely less on ad revenue

• UK PSBs’ level of

public funding is commensurate with the share of total turnover they derive from ad revenue.

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PSB funding models and audience performance

Audience share vs. ad‐revenue intensity, 2009

No evidence that countries with commercially oriented PSBs have beIer audience performance

• There is no

correla/on between a PSB’s reliance on ad revenues (ad‐revenue intensity) and its audience share.

Source: Nordicity compila/on based on public reports and audience data from EurodataTV Worldwide * Includes es/mates for autonomous region broadcasters

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Government contracts and public funding

Source: Nordicity compila/on based on public reports * Includes es/mates for autonomous region broadcasters

PSBs with mul;‐year funding seIlements are more likely to receive more public funding on a per‐capita basis

• Two‐thirds of PSBs in the

top half of the funding table are on mul/‐year seglements.

• PSBs with mul/‐year

funding seglements

• btained 17% more public

funding per capita (£45 vs. £38) than PSBs on annual funding seglements.

Public funding per capita and tenure of funding seRlement

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Government contracts and value for money

Source: Nordicity compila/on based on public reports and audience data from EurodataTV Worldwide * Includes es/mates for autonomous region broadcasters

However, mul;‐year funding does not appear to lead to beIer rates of audience produc;vity

• PSBs with mul/‐year

funding seglements are no more likely to be in the top half of the value‐for‐ money table in terms of

• verall audience

produc/vity.

Number of naHonal viewers per £m of total turnover, 2009

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Online and mulH‐plaSorm services

Source: Nordicity compila/on based on public reports and audience data from EurodataTV Worldwide

UK PSBs display one of the highest rates of investment in

• nline and mul;‐plaLorm services
• UK PSBs invested a total
• f £226m in opera/ng

expenditures in online and mul/‐plaPorm services in 2009 – the equivalent of £7.71 per viewer.

Online and mulH‐plaSorm expenditures per viewer, 2009 (£)

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Summary

• The UK has one of the highest rates of PSB funding per capita; and

has, up un/l recently, maintained the real value of this funding.

• UK PSBs display strong value‐for‐money, in terms of audience

performance in rela/on to public funding, and overall audience produc,vity.

• The public funding of UK PSBs is consistent with their capacity for

accessing ad revenues.

• PSBs with access to ad revenues do not realise higher audience

performance.

• PSBs with mul/‐year funding are able to secure more funding per

capita, but do not necessarily deliver beger audience produc/vity.

• UK PSBs are amongst the largest investors in online and mul/‐

plaPorm services.

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Notes on data

• PSBs are defined as broadcasters owned by a na/onal or regional

government or elected assembly, regardless of revenue sources.

• All financial and opera/ng data sourced from public financial reports

published by public broadcasters on their websites. Audience data sourced from EurodataTV Worldwide, One Television Year in the World 2010.

• All financial data converted to Pounds Sterling based on purchasing

power parity (PPP) exchange rates.

• Sta/s/cs for UK include BBC (domes/c opera/ons), Channel 4 and S4C.

BBC World Service and the interna/onal services in other countries (e.g., Radio‐France Interna/onale and Deutsche Welle) are excluded.

• Public funding includes TV/radio licence fees and other government

funding.

• UK sta/s/cs for 2009 correspond to 2009‐10 fiscal year (ending April

2010).

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About Nordicity

Nordicity is a bou/que consul/ng firm providing private and public sector clients with solu/ons for Strategy and Business, Economic Analysis, Policy and RegulaHon across four priority sectors:

• Arts, Culture and Heritage
• Digital and Crea/ve Media
• ICT and Innova/on
• Telecommunica/ons and Spectrum

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Nordicity serves clients across the world from our four offices in London, Toronto, ORawa and Vancouver.

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