What have Julius Caesar and the BBC got in common? Answer: they have both crossed the Rubicon. The Roman went first. As Suetonius wrote, when Caesar forded the river in northern Italy in 49BC, the die was cast. The BBC, on the other hand, didn’t cross the river in quite such a literal sense. In fact, what the broadcaster really did was start to sell advertising on its Global Services and BBC World. As a result, said John Smith, the chief executive of BBC Worldwide, the decision announced yesterday that the BEEB is to sell ads on the international version of its web site is not so dramatic. After all, he said: “We have already crossed the Rubicon.”
This is the BBC, so there will be no grubby banner ads or worse still pop ups. Instead just simple static ads placed subtly between editorial.
Many are crying foul. It’s just not fair they say. When the Asterix’s of the web-publishing world produce a web site, they have to make it pay through advertising. But as the BBC expands across the globe, with its legions spreading its content, it has been given that nice head start - the licensing fee.
There are two ways to look at this. Some say, the BBC can’t have both. It can’t have ad revenue and a fee from license payers. But then the British license payers are actually winning from this move. The ads only appear on international sites - the BBC’s empire will be, in effect, funding the British license payer.
For all that, as we move to TV over the Internet, and content providers abound like barbarians at the gate, we can’t help but feel the rationale for a TV license will diminish. How can you justify such a fee, when the BBC is one among many, and you will be able to watch TV from your mobile phone, computer, and who knows, one day, from your sonic screwdriver.
Editor’s note: Did you know the word barbarian comes from the Greek for sheep? It relates to the sound foreign languages appeared to made to the Greek ear.
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