Can the BBC ever get it right?

Last week's 'Marmitegate' made me think again about another great British Institution: the BBC.

Unlike Marmite which people either love or hate, the BBC seems to have the ability to create both love and hate…often at the same time.

I am no exception to this.

When it comes to sport and in particular the major Events such as the Olympics, I believe that the BBC has no equal…although SKY sometimes pushes them close with its Premier League coverage.

The BBC also retains the wonderful ability to turn something very niche into a national institution with The Great British Bake Off being the latest in a long list of programmes which connect with the audience in a somewhat surprising way.

The BBC iPlayer was at the forefront of the revolution in the way we look at and consume 'programme content'. BBC Apps and on-line continue to innovate.

Yet, when it come to the News, Breakfast TV and some current affair programmes I often find my blood starting to come to the boil. Why is that?

Is this me turning into 'a grumpy old man'?

To help me get to an answer, I googled 'Is The BBC Biased?' and what I found somewhat surprised me.

Virtually every institution and of every persuasion (political parties and politicians on the left, right, centre: countries and regions Scotland, the North, Wales, Ireland, every religion in every part of the world etc etc) all think that BBC is, in some way, biased.

There is even a blog on the subject updated on a daily and hourly basis called https://isthebbcbiased.blogspot.co.uk

Google 'Is the BBC out of touch?' (which is, I think, the main reason my blood does boil over on occasions) and very quickly you land on the coverage of The Queens 90th Birthday celebrations which were seen by many, including me, as completely over the top.

https://republic.org.uk/what-we-do/news-and-updates/queens-birthday-coverage-out-touch-reality

My suspicion is that the challenge the BBC faces are very similar to the other great British institution I featured last month. Marks and Spencer. Both come across as internally focussed and having lost touch with the world they operate in. Both seem to operate in a London bubble.

I suspect neither are 'inside the heads of the customer'.

There is clearly a cultural problem at both.

If there is a cultural problem then there is also a leadership problem.

Only yesterday I listened to the news about the return of DJ Tony Blackburn.

Sometimes the BBC is at it's best when reporting about itself and yesterdays PM on Radio 4 was no exception. Re-playing clips about what was said by the BBC about Tony Blackburn last February when he was sacked and then contrasting them with what was announced yesterday.

On listening to the BBC statement about why Tony Blackburn is back a lot of talk about 'lessons learned' and the need to 'change the culture' (post Jimmy Savile) seems to be just that…talk.

Based on yesterday, I am not sure Tony Hall, the Director General of the BBC, is really serious about cultural change.

The BBC seems to be in denial. It appears to still have a culture of arrogance, "we know best" and cover up rather than accountability is the norm.

If these behaviours were in the corporate and commercial world, neither the company or the CEO would last for long.

Of course, the BBC is not in the commercial world in the true sense of the word as it is funded by us, the British Taxpayer.

Will the BBC ever get it right?

It will still be brilliant at sport. It will still deliver some brilliant programmes. It will still create the next 'Bake Off'. It will still innovate through it's technology.

Yet I suspect that in it's current state, real cultural change is beyond it. The 'image and experience' will not match. It will still say one thing and do another. It will struggle to be true to it's stated values and it's headline thought "We behave with integrity and do what we say we're going to do"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/careers/why-join-us/values

As such, it will remain out of touch as it will still not be 'constantly inside the heads of it's customers'. It will still make my blood boil.

I will no doubt still love and hate it…even more so when I really do become a 'grumpy old man'!!