Public service: let me compare thee to a bus

Michael Hedges January 21, 2009

Yet another government agency has killed hundreds of trees publishing a plan for public service broadcasting. What’s missing – again – is a robust meaning for public service. To protect public broadcasting it is not longer viable to leave this at ‘we’ll know it when we see it.’

UK media and telecom regulator OFCOM released (January 21) its latest proposal for public service broadcasting. Much of the report strategizes a funding shuffle, perhaps forcing the BBC to absorb the losses of Channel 4, the competing public service television channel. Or, perhaps, a public – private joint venture (with RTL’s cash) will be the savior. Or, perhaps, something else.

UK viewers have the BBC and its collection of channels offered on air and on line. Then there’s ITV, with expensive public service commitments, suffering as ad revenues slid into the abyss. Into the same murk is Channel 4, also a public service broadcaster but funded, like ITV, through advertising. And, then, there is FIVE, with no public service requirements, totally at the whim of the ad people and owned, mostly, by Europe’s biggest broadcaster RTL. Let us not forget that cable and satellite providers offer viewers about a thousand other channels.

But OFCOM and seemingly the rest of the British are intent on saving – once and for all – public service broadcasting. Necessary, they say, is giving Old Auntie – the BBC – competition to maintaining ‘quality television’. The solution, they seem to be saying, is cannibalizing the BBC – fund Channel 4 with BBC Worldwide's money – or let the Germans do it. It seems like so much moving the deck chairs on the Titanic.

More interesting, perhaps intellectually stimulating, is the public transport analogy. For that I turn to the TPG, Transports Publics Genevois, the bus company in Geneva, Switzerland, my hometown. I, literally and figuratively with tens of thousands, afford myself of the TPG’s service almost every day. Actually, I use the TPG with about the same regularity that I use local public broadcasting channels; a few minutes in the morning, a few more in the evening.

The TPG, a true public service provider, gets me from one point to another and back again with utilitarian efficiency. There are numerous routes – analogous to programs – that are traveled at regular intervals. Bus and trams, like programs, go in different directions: choose the one you need at the moment. Very digital, yes?.

Bus drivers, analogous to program controllers, move through the streets of Geneva, perhaps a bit slowly, rarely driving off a bridge, striking pedestrians or other vehicles. Indeed, the TPG bus drivers are watchful and patient with passengers, who would be analogous to listeners and viewers. Never would a TPG driver insult a passenger. That would be analogous to Jonathan Ross on the BBC.

Every few years the TPG buys new buses or trams, sometimes with new routes, analogous to launching new program channels. Old buses are put out of their misery, though a few are shipped to Eastern European countries. And, too, a few ‘classic’ trams are kept shiny and bright, brought out occasionally to the delight of all. Planning for new routes is careful and always mindful of changing passenger needs.

The TPG is funded by a mix of tax and passenger tickets; roughly half and half. Referendums have been held on doing away with passenger tickets – analogous to the license fee - making the TPG free, theoretically, to all. The Genevois regularly turn down this proposal, arguing that paying a little helps people appreciate the TPG more, an argument rarely heard about the public broadcasting license fee. But, this is Switzerland, where value for money is part of the national psyche.

There’s a little money for the TPG from advertising. They stick big, often clever, ads on the bus and tram sides. Very often the ads are for other public services; orchestra concerts, stop smoking, get out and vote. Nobody complains about the ads on TPG buses or trams. Passengers can also pick up one or both of the two locally produced free newspapers, perfect for a seven minute bus trip.

Those who ride the bus without purchasing a ticket suffer at the hands of the much feared ‘controllers.’ This is analogous to the license fee collectors. A TPG bus ticket costs about €2. Those caught on a bus or tram without one are hustled off at the next stop and fined substantially. A few years ago a group of overzealous TPG controllers followed some kids home, looking for the bus fare fines. A public outcry forced the TPG to control the controllers. There is no public service broadcasting equivalent.

And, yes, the TPG is a monopoly, implicit in public service. There are competitors, to be sure. They are the private automobiles and over-priced taxis, analogous to commercial broadcasters. If one wants to ride point to point in a Mercedes Benz one can hire one.

Occasionally a taxi driver will try to cut off a bus at a corner. The result can be disastrous. Taxi drivers and automobile owners always complain about the TPG buses and trams being ‘in the way’. Such it is in broadcasting, too.

The aching debate about public service broadcasting lacks a bit of clarity. Those who demand constantly improving ‘quality’ on television and radio seem to deny the essence (the French word for petrol) of public service. Looking at the TPG that would be decent service for the most people, reasonably applied at a universally judged fair cost.

“Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May….”