The BBC spent over £7million of licence fee funds to create new logos for its ‘digital rebranding,’ an investigation has revealed.
Last year, the broadcaster unveiled new logos for its main TV channels – BBC One, Two and Four – and additional services including iPlayer, Sounds, Weather, Sport and Bitesize.
Critics mocked the rebrand, claiming the new ‘modern’ designs looked barely different from the broadcaster’s previous logo.
At that time of the rollout, BBC did not disclose the cost of the revamp, but a company spokesperson denied the cost of the new logos was ‘significant’.
Now, data obtained by the Daily Express through the Freedom of Information Act has confirmed BBC spent £7,261,039 of taxpayer funds on the project over a ‘number of years.’
The BBC spent over £7million of licence fee funds to create new logos for its ‘digital rebranding,’ an investigation has revealed
Last year, the firm unveiled new logos for its main TV channels – BBC One, Two and Four – and additional services including iPlayer, Sounds, Weather, Sport and Bitesize. New data obtained by the Daily Express through the Freedom of Information Act has confirmed BBC spent £7,261,039 of taxpayer funds on the project over a ‘number of years’
BBC told the newspaper the funds had been spent in a three-year effort to ‘reengineer’ its digital platforms.
A spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘As previously reported, this project was a complete modernisation of all our services, platforms and channels, over a number of years to ensure what we provide meets audience expectation.’
The project was intended to ‘help audiences to recognise and access BBC content seamlessly across this wide range of channels and services.’
The corporation said the project would ‘enable the public to consume more of what they pay for and provide maximum benefit for the licence fee.’
However, industry experts allege the cost of the rebrand will not sit well with taxpayers, especially since the broadcaster has closed some regional news outlets.
BBC has argued bosses are not ‘closing down regional news outlets to save money’ but instead are changing the way it delivers content to its audiences.
Critics mocked the rebrand, claiming the new ‘modern’ design (right) looked barely different from the broadcaster’s previous logo (left)
BBC rolled out the new logos in October 2021 after claiming its viewers had complained that some of its services ‘look old fashioned and out of date.’ It had been in use since 1997
The new logo included the company’s block BBC letters, but utilised the new bespoke ‘BBC Reith’ font, named after the corporation’s first director-general. The letters ‘BBC’ are slightly smaller in the new logo and placed in blocks with marginally bigger gaps between them
Experts also claim the public may be put off by the fact that some over-75s are forced to pay the licence fee that reportedly funded the rebrand.
The corporations funds licences for viewers older than 75 who are eligible for the Pension Credit benefit. BBC estimated that providing licences for all over-75s would cost approximately £745million.
The broadcaster is also said to have saved more than £1billion over the course of the last five years, the newspaper reported. The corporation’s initial savings target was £800million.
BBC claims its overhead costs are about five percent of its total costs, which it alleges is at ‘industry-leading levels.’ The broadcaster alleged the 95 per cent of total costs is directed to programme-making and services.
BBC rolled out the new logos in October 2021 after claiming its viewers had complained that some of its services ‘look old fashioned and out of date.’ It had been in use since 1997.
The corporation, alongside top advertising agency Wolff Olins, replaced its main logo with one that viewers thought was minimally different.
It is the sixth logo BBC has had after the first one in this format was used in 1958.
The new logo included the corporation’s block BBC letters, but utilised the new bespoke ‘BBC Reith’ font, named after the corporation’s first director-general.
The letters ‘BBC’ are slightly smaller in the new logo and placed in blocks with marginally bigger gaps between them.
The new static icons for iPlayer, Sounds, Sport, News, Weather and Bitesize no longer include the letters BBC.
But when used interactively, the BBC letters appear and then reform to make up the three blocks used in the new logos.
