The PM has sold out the BBC

[Burnshersmurfs]

AIBU to suspect that the agreed price of certain newspapers dropping the front page stories about partygate is the recent announcement that the licence fee for the BBC is being abolished?

@LilithOfEden

Oh and surely then, *@Alexandra2001*, the fact that you give Channel 4 News such a glowing reference shows that a commercially funded news output can be fair, objective and hold truth to power.

As i said earlier, i'm not against changes to BBC funding but the timing? and surely you would agree that CH4 is a very small player compared to the BBC... so could the BBC do its program (and radio) output on a purely commercial basis, doubtful isn't it.

I'm not entirely convinced my opinion on CH4 counts as a glowing ref, more on its news content, which is a very small part of its operation.

Admission of guilt on the same day as Prince Andrew's judges ruling. Bojo was the top story for all of about 1-2 hours.

Scrapping the licence fee

Renewed talk of ending self isolation

Times leaking stuff about using the military to police illegal channel crossings

All suddenly timed now, to deflect and keep everybody distracted. I'm always very cynical but this seems so obvious to me, I hope everyone realises this.

If you think about the monthly payment and what you get, I think it's really good value.

I used to love the BBC, but they have become so arrogant that I hardly watch it now.

I think they should get public money for important public information programmes such as Rip of Britain and Watchdog and health programmes but that is about it.

They waste so much money having people in far flung places doing pieces to camera when the main newsreader could just read out what they said.

Oh great. Replaced with quality news from Fox News channel equivalent! 🤦🏻‍♀️

I like the idea of the BBC but the reality is just not living up to the expectation.
Wokeness and cowardliness has ruined them. It is dumbed down pain watching any BBC news programme now. They think we are all thick.

I'd still like a broadcaster based on the principles that were laid out originally, it's just this one doesn't fit the bill.

No idea how that is solved though.

They can't wait to dumb TV down - even more. Soon enough it will be all Pox News and shrieking shock jocks.The world's greatest public sector broadcaster costs £3 per week. If Dorries is really worried about pensioners it's not rocket science to make the licence free for them. OAPs don't pay here in Ireland , haven't for decades.

@Whelmed

If you think about the monthly payment and what you get, I think it's really good value.

But surely its only good value if you use it?

I see deals in the supermarket that seem good value, but if its not products I want or use, I'm not going to buy them.

@LampLighter414

Admission of guilt on the same day as Prince Andrew's judges ruling. Bojo was the top story for all of about 1-2 hours.

Scrapping the licence fee

Renewed talk of ending self isolation

Times leaking stuff about using the military to police illegal channel crossings

All suddenly timed now, to deflect and keep everybody distracted. I'm always very cynical but this seems so obvious to me, I hope everyone realises this.

Indeed - all part of "operation red meat" to keep back benchers on side and distract the public.

Always party before country. Always.

@Abhannmor

They can't wait to dumb TV down - even more. Soon enough it will be all Pox News and shrieking shock jocks.The world's greatest public sector broadcaster costs £3 per week. If Dorries is really worried about pensioners it's not rocket science to make the licence free for them. OAPs don't pay here in Ireland , haven't for decades.

Fox News and CNN have terrible viewing figures though.

People are going elsewhere for non-dumbed down news which doesn't treat them like children. So think what you like about Joe Rogan for example, he gets 11 million listeners for every episode. People are more hungry for long form in-depth news that you possible think

@GreenWhiteViolet

'It's great value for money' from a couple of people - it's not if you never watch it but are forced to pay for it because you want to watch other live TV channels!

I think Netflix is great value for money. That doesn't mean everyone should be made to pay for it whether they watch it or not, with the possibility of jail time if they don't keep up the payments.

It needs to either allow advertising or become an opt-in subscription service. This is very overdue. People who love it and think it's great value for money will presumably be happy to continue paying for it. If they aren't, they can hardly complain about those of us who never watch it objecting to having to pay regardless.

It's a public service . I've never been to Uni or spent time in a hospital. I've never called the fire brigade. Who do I see about getting a massive refund on all the tax I paid since 1968?

I love the BBC and can always find something to watch . I also listen to the radio stations. Channels like Netflix are ok for simple entertainment but not much else.

It should be abolished for showing the atrocity that is Mrs Brown's Boys.

Comparing a broadcaster that spews drag race and Mrs Brown’s boys to the fire brigade etc. hahaha!

The BBC climbed into its own coffin years ago. It's ridiculous that people are obliged to pay the licence fee even if they rarely watch BBC programmes. It's like having to pay Sainsbury's an annual fee for the privilege of doing all your shopping in Tesco.

Even 20 years ago I'd have said that the licence fee was worth the money, but these days I watch almost nothing on the BBC. I'm not interested in the drivel they put out, it's all very 1984-esque sap for the masses, whether it's Drag Race or Neverenders or Strictly Cunts Dancing. I'll occasionally watch the BBC news channel, but that's more for the entertainment value, a game of "spot the bias".

@Theluggage15 What are you on about? Where in my post did I compare the two?

I haven't posted on this before or read many of the other posts either.

I was merely saying that it should be abolished for crimes to "entertainment" that is MBB

This is all just a big distraction. People are complaining about Sophie Raworth asking Keir Starmer about beers in his office yesterday, saying she obviously hates Labour. Lord Grade, probably one of the best BBC bosses in recent times, is a Tory.
As always, this is rooted in media business interests. Not the public’s interest.
The Tories are willing to trash one of the UK’s globally renowned institutions. But should we be surprised? They’ve already trashed Parliament in the eyes of the world.

I'm a fan of the BBC but even I can see that in things like the rush to promote transgender ideology it is attempting to promote a woke agenda that is not supported by the majority of viewers.

I used to work in journalism and we'd count up the numbers of complaints that we were too left wing or right wing each week. As long as they were roughly equal we knew we were getting it right.

As a family we use/ have used a lot of the BBC services. CBeebies, CBBC. Various radio stations between us, R1, R2, R4 and 6 music. We use Bitesize, the BBC news website. Most of my TV watching there is on the iPlayer. Overall as a family we use quite a lot of the BBC. On balance I would rather have it than not have it.

Some of it is crap, however there is a lot of excellent stuff. (And we love Strictly here. One of my guilty TV pleasures.

@GrandDuchessRomanov. Eh? I wasn’t replying to you.

@alliscalm

This is all just a big distraction. People are complaining about Sophie Raworth asking Keir Starmer about beers in his office yesterday, saying she obviously hates Labour. Lord Grade, probably one of the best BBC bosses in recent times, is a Tory. As always, this is rooted in media business interests. Not the public’s interest. The Tories are willing to trash one of the UK’s globally renowned institutions. But should we be surprised? They’ve already trashed Parliament in the eyes of the world.

Yes, this is like what's happening to the NHS. The Tories and their business cronies want to break up the major, mostly reliable, provider and cream off the profitable bits. Just like Netflix and Amazon Prime etc, after their initial reasonably priced offer, are beginning to hive off parts of their business and charge extra for them.

They're like Nigel Farage and mates. Promise people that things will be better if they break things up and disrupt the system. Transfer their investments/ companies out of the UK, then cash in on the chaos that emerges.

I'm not entirely convinced my opinion on CH4 counts as a glowing ref, more on its news content, which is a very small part of its operation.

@Alexandra2001, I very specifically said Channel 4 News in the post you quoted.

With regard to them being small fry compared to the BBC. Well, that's because they have sat in the shadow of the very much more established state broadcaster. It doesn't mean they cannot grow to be something more. There has been other excellent current affairs output on C4, e.g. Dispatches. What other content can't be replicated by a state owned entity? Most programmes are made by independent production companies that sell their output to the highest bidder (e.g., that's how Bake Off ended up changing channels). Turn C4 into a vehicle for excellent current affairs shows, documentaries, grown up discussion programmes etc. I'd be delighted if C4, publicly owned as it is, could ditch all the reality TV shite and go down that sort of route.

The Tories really do seem to have it in for the BBC and the NHS. I’m chronically ill and regularly use both, I’d be buggered without them.

I'm conflicted - I do think it's terrific value for money and yes this is all a distraction from the main news and I realise I am now complicit!!

Having worked for the BBC and with them I know there's massive duplication in job roles in many areas - I'd frequently be sitting around a table with four people with only marginally different job titles and e.g. several different local stations would send separate journalists/OB rigs to stand in front of the same breaking news event. It is bloated in parts and it does need reform. Of course much of the content is great, but it bloody well should be given such a colossal guaranteed income.

Incidentally I see the somewhat controversial radio services like Radio 3 as very much the sort of thing they should be doing - yes it has a comparatively small audience but that's sort of the point - it couldn't be commerically viable to make a station playing those non-mainstream classical/world music offerings, but it's something considered culturally valuable.

Unlike Radio 2 whose output is not dissimilar to other commercial stations and in the process taking their listeners away and skewing the market because they can easily afford the biggest names.

I haven't rtft but when I lived in Germany many years ago you still had to pay an annual tv and radio fee. In fact, each adult member of the household had to pay it.

I think people are deluded if they think they will be able to save the £150 because there'll be a different fee of some kind that just won't go to the bbc but to the government.