To think they should reduce the size of the BBC and cut the license fee?

[jobhunter7]

To think they should reduce the size of the BBC and cut the license fee?

We didn’t bother renewing our licence last year -and haven’t noticed it. I did wonder if we would want to watch to TV st Xmas, but... nah.

I don't mind paying it, isn't alot. I know lots of people who don't. They can't demand to come in and your allowed a tv they can't prove you have watched bbc channels. They are not allowed to harass if you've let them know you do not need a licence, you can complain. I might cancel mine 😂

YABU. its far better value to us than netflix. we regularly listen to radio 4, radio 2 , local radio, today it helped with home learning geography and french. mostly we watch bbc 1 and 2 or the news channel and the iplayer. when DD was younger we used c beebies and then cbbc. tomorrow I will again use it to help with home learning. the quality is mostly far better than anything else and no adverts. I couldn't be without it tbh

The licence fee shouldn’t be cut, it should be scrapped and made subscription only

Introduce tvs that cannot show BBC channels (and Channel 4), and are tamper proof so 100% certain they cannot be viewed. It cannot be difficult to achieve I am sure. Then anyone with such a tv can opt out of the BBC licence.

@BraveBananaBadge

Another Bugle fan.

Also love the Mash Report.

Bbc4 is worth the licence fee I I like listening to the world service, strange person that I am

No. And no again. There is nothing in the worldthat is like it. You may not appreciate it but its absence would be disastrous.

@Bluegrass

One of the problems the BBC is facing is that the UK is drifting rapidly towards the same sort of hyper-partisan political environment that we are more used to seeing in the US.

The Conservative party moved to the right, as have right wing media like the Mail and Telegraph. They want to therefore redraw the political map of the UK, pulling what used to be considered Centrist further towards them.

In flirting with Corbyn, Labour pulled Left, with many supporters berating the BBC for not going with them (and therefore being tools or stooges the right wing government).

As people are increasingly pulled to those extremes they get angrier at the BBC, saying it doesn’t represent them.

Anything broadcast by the BBC which accords with their political views isn’t really noticed, it just looks like “common sense at last”. On the other hand, anything broadcast by the BBC which appears to run counter to their political views acts like a red rag to a bull - each instance is noted and remembered.

Add to that the fact that so much discourse happens over social media, where people always become inclined to act more angrily in order to be noticed, and you have an incredibly febrile environment, full of people ready to take offence and kick out.

To operate as an impartial public service broadcaster in this situation must be incredibly difficult. If we lose it though we are condemned to a future that looks very much like Fox News or OANN.

This

We are incredibly fortunate to have a news channel that is separate from a political party and not run for political aims.

American media is so polarised, it seems impossible to get news over there that does not have a political slant.

Comparing PBS to the BBC is a bit like comparing labradors and all the other animals in the world.

PBS is tiny.

I like to relax in the evening - gentle quizes, some history, old comedies - gory murder mysteries etc are not for me, I can live without netflix.

One of the reasons to have a service that isn't funded just by people who want that particular thing is because that kind of journalism and artistic output - not funded by sales but also at arms length from the state - allows for some really significant output that you don't get from commercial stations, and which will be biased by too close of a relationship to the state.

So any change in funding models needs to think about that.

They are meant to add some programs to help with the homeschooling. I think more parents will have a TV than they have laptops. So based on that, I think it is not the time.

I love the argument that when it’s gone we will miss it.
If this was the case those of us who stopped would have been drawn back to their world renowned excellence for riveting watching.

Their funding is controlled by the state. License fee payers are paying twice. Once through the fee it’s self and the other through taxation.
Their money comes out of the media and arts fund - or something like that.

The fee has to also be discussed and agreed with government.

How can it be impartial?

I think the goings on in th US lately are a good advert for a reasonably balanced public news broadcaster. Otherwise we are in the main all in our bubbles of social media - believing we are the ones who know the truth and that the majority agree with us.

@canigooutyet

Their funding is controlled by the state. License fee payers are paying twice. Once through the fee it’s self and the other through taxation. Their money comes out of the media and arts fund - or something like that.

The fee has to also be discussed and agreed with government.

How can it be impartial?

Because, like certain other bodies that are funded by the state but need to maintain some distance from it, it's an arm's length relationship. And historically it has usually worked fairly well/

Unfortunately because of being underfunded, their ability to actually produce anything worthwhile has been compromised. And then they have been ideologically captured in a way that makes them basically useless in the role they were meant to play.

As long as that ideological compromise exists I don't think it's worth having them. On the other hand, oly having commercial broadcasters tends to produce just as much shit, and there is areal danger of corporate capture of journalism.

The ideal situation would be to have better output, but even if the ideological chokehold is broken, they can't do it with no budget. The real question IMO is there any way to free them from that kind of pernicious ideology.

Murdoch certainly thinks so.

Why might that be?

A reduced BBC is one I would support. Ditch Mrs Browns Boys for a start.

Better that than the decriminalisation proposal, which just gives work for bailiffs and is proposed out of nastiness by some Tories.

Yeah, scrapping Mrs Browns Boys will transform the BBCs coffers. To assume that what is on the BBC should only be what suits you at a certain time in your life is a bit shortsighted surely.

There are so many radio stations including the World Service, Asian Network, Radio Scotland and then all the local radio channels .......

I'm fine with the licence fee but not people going to prison for not paying it.

Before someone pipes up that they don't go to prison for not paying it, but for not paying the fine or whatever, save it! Save it. A third of ALL female prosecutions are for TV licence evasion. One third. This is obviously crazy and harms us all.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/380301/infographic-women-and-the-criminal-justice-system.pdf

"I love the argument that when it’s gone we will miss it.
If this was the case those of us who stopped would have been drawn back to their world renowned excellence for riveting watching."

So true. I don't pay my tv license, but still have tv. I could very easily watch bbc, it's right there, but I never do.

I also massively resent the fact they lie to us. Detector vans!? How dare they claim to be such saintly beings in one breath, then use barefaced lies to scare us with in the next.

I've also had their bullying capita men at my door. They got nothing beyond a brief laugh at the audacity, then my door shutting in their faces.

I'd happily never watch BBC again. I rarely do now. Don't need it anymore.

I don't like their radio either with their overpaid annoying presenters.

Not true. Your not using it doesn't make it unnecessary. I dont recall ever using many public services but I want them to be available to those who need them. How would you like all your information from Fox news? Covid for instance? Praising Donny for 4 years? Look at the state of the USA, ignorance and lies piled on more ignorance and lies. And an inability for people to make informed decisions as they dont have sufficient information.

@Bluegrass

Of course - I mean, this country has one of the most respected public broadcasters in the world, that represents the UK to a large global audience. It’s news services are regularly polled as being the most trustworthy.

But yes, let’s fuck it up, let’s chuck it all away and sit at home mindlessly scrolling the Netflix home page for an hour every night as we look for yet another slice of mediocre US output (having exhausted the good stuff until the next big drop).

Honestly I swear there are people in this country who won’t be satisfied until we’ve torn apart everything good we’ve ever achieved together.

It’s like a raging self hatred. Keep voting for politicians who fuck over your living standards effectively leaving you thousands of pounds poorer every year, whilst screaming that the BBC should be scrapped so you can save yourself £157.50. We are in a headlong race to the bottom.

The BBC are part of the problem. I remember when they used to produce cutting edge TV with culturally significant dramas and strong current affairs output and first rate comedy.

Now their news and current affairs just toes the government line in exchange for keeping the license fee, the first rate sitcoms have been replaced by tacky, easy to make panel shows and bottom-of-the-barrel end-of-the-pier abominations like Mrs Browns Boys.

There's nothing worth paying for anymore.

I remember one Sunday they showed an FA Cup game live on TV and provided commentary on the game on 5 Live and tbe local BBC station. Why did they need 2 sets of radio commentators?