The BBC has knuckled under attack from Rupert Murdoch, son James, News Corp’s UK media outlets, revealing plans to cut its activities. With the BBC’s independence under sustained attack from the Conservatives supporting News Corp media outlets in Britain, could the ABC face a similar fate, especially if Tony Abbott wins power?

The extent of the BBC’s capitulation was outlined in London reports over the weekend, and the background to it with the attack by James Murdoch, backed up by stories in The Times UK, The Sun UK and on Sky, all after Murdoch decided to support the Conservatives (after backing Labour for more than a decade). The BBC’s move gives new significance to the breakfast meeting between the Rupster and Tony Abbott last month.

Rather than discuss the generous $250 million rebate for the commercial TV networks, did Murdoch and Abbott discuss the ABC’s expansion plans and its intransigence, in the face of News Ltd pressure, to keep its news content free? The question of the Asia-Pacific service currently run for the Government by the ABC could be very fruitful if Abbott is on message.

The size of the cuts agreed to by the BBC reveal a knee-jerk reaction:

“The BBC is to close down half its website, cut spending on imported American programs and close two radio stations in an admission it has become too large. In a strategic review to be unveiled next month, The Times said the corporation would concede it must give space to its commercial rivals which have been hard hit by an advertising downturn during the recession.

“The British Broadcasting Corporation, funded by the licence fee levied on all those in Britain who own a television, regularly comes under fire from rivals and other critics for its alleged unfair dominance. BBC director general Mark Thompson will announce a cut in its website pages by half, backed by a 25 per cent cut in staff and budget, said the paper.

“It will further close digital radio stations 6 Music and Asian Network and close outlets that target the teenage market, leaving the area free for rivals. And it will order its commercial subsidiary BBC Worldwide to focus on activities overseas and get rid of its British magazines arm.”

The BBC decision came the same week as a British parliamentary committee (dominated by Labour) found that there were still many questions left unanswered by the conduct of the News title, the News of the World and its former deputy editor, Andy Coulson, now chief spinner for Opposition leader David Cameron.

News International is overseen by James Murdoch, who bagged the BBC in a speech last August. He has been silent on the bugging and other activities of News Of The World and its reporters and agents. Imagine the outrage from News if a rival newspaper had hacked into James Murdoch’s mobile phone messages. James Murdoch would have a justifiable complaint, instead of his usual confected rubbish. The Sun and the Times buried the report on the House of Commons Committee criticising the News Of the World and its management (and the management of News International).

The criticism was harsh, and yet News International focused on the so-called “partisan” nature of the report with the committee’s dominance by Labour. The Conservative members tried to hold out parts of the report criticising Coulson. That was overlooked by News and its media outlets, as you would expect from an organisation that condoned its employees and agents breaking the law and hacking into the phone messages of private people.

The Australian‘s Mark Day, a member of the Murdoch Australian establishment, touched on the subject  today in the paper’s Media Section.

“It is time we had a full debate about the role of the ABC. It was established in a vastly different media landscape as a taxpayer-funded entity designed to, in part, fill in the market niches not served by the commercial sector. Now, thanks to pay-TV and the digital revolution, those niches are hotly contested.”

The ABC is a more dominant and broader media operator here than News is. The ABC has three free-to-air TV networks, various online sites and businesses, a small retail outlet, which is licenced, magazines, and five radio networks. News Ltd has its newspapers, websites, magazines and management and 25% of Foxtel and 50% of Fox Sports owner Premier Media.

That makes it substantial, but not a major media player in this country. And so far  Day has not commented on the House of Commons report on the activities of News of The World and the News International management. If it had been The Guardian in London, or Fairfax here pinged by a Parliamentary committee, News Ltd would have been crawling all over it.