BBC licence fee should be scrapped, says thinktank - The Guardian

ruggedtoast

I am actually in favour of the bbc.

The World Service, BBC 1, BBC 2, CBeebies, Radio 4, Radio 6, and maybe, at a pinch Radio 2 should be where it begins and ends though.

I think I could even stomach the licensing fee staying the same if the beeb could prove they can maintain decent quality across this range of outlets, rather than a load of dross over dozens of dumbed down channels and websites however.

My pet hate is BBC "Science" documentaries. Boring, magazine format and aimed at people with the educational ability of an OK reader who's just been beaten around the head with a mallet.

I am prepared to accept there are people who like and watch these to which I say, fine, but why should I have to pay for you to relearn something you were too lazy to do in school when you were 11 years old?

tincans

A._Badger wrote: »

I've never been able to find a convincing justification for being forced to pay for a diet of Left-liberal agitprop from the BBC.

A day stuck in the car listening to Radio 4 or 5 Live is like a day being forced to sit in the junior common room listening to the 'wit and wisdom' of a bunch of students.

Who will, inevitably, go on to be the next generation of BBC broadcasters.

Oh, but wait!....

Reds under the bed again Badger ?

5 Live is more like a horrible mix of the Dailys Mail, Express and Mirror.

Unless of course you think sport and phone-ins are "Left-liberal agitprop"

StevieJ

tincans wrote: »

Reds under the bed again Badger ?

5 Live is more like a horrible mix of the Dailys Mail, Express and Mirror.

Unless of course you think sport and phone-ins are "Left-liberal agitprop"

Not as bad as Talksport and that Clown Collymore :eek:

whatmichaelsays

wymondham wrote: »

I've never understood the license fee. It's supposedly due as a result of you having the ability to receive general broadcasts etc, yet the revenue goes to a single organisation - does not seem to be a fair system!

It doesn't go to a single organisation. C4 receives a significant chunk of the licence fee (it's 30% state owned) and ITV / C5 also receive big subsidies from the fee.

I've never understood this "the BBC is left wing" claim either. Perhaps it's just that those on the right seem to think that daring to "look at the other point of view" instantly makes you a "looney lefty". After all, some of the most prominent faces of the BBC's news coverage are very public Tory supporters.

Personally, I'm massively in favour of the licence fee. You don't have to go too far (button three in fact) to see the depths that commercial broadcasting can sink to. The BBC provides some superb content across all mediums for a massively diverse audience. Compare with the constant stream of tat produced by ITV, aimed squarely at the lowest common denominator. ITV aren't struggling because they are being "squeezed out" by the BBC. They are struggling because they aren't providing consumers and advertisers with what they want - both on TV and online.

To be frank, I'd be interested to know what those who "don't watch the BBC" actually do watch or listen to. You are presumably watching something, otherwise you would find a very easy way to avoid the licence fee.

Dan:_4

whatmichaelsays wrote: »

To be frank, I'd be interested to know what those who "don't watch the BBC" actually do watch or listen to. You are presumably watching something, otherwise you would find a very easy way to avoid the licence fee.

I watch Sky News, Sky Sports, UK Gold, Discovery. Otherwsie I Watch DVDs. Honesty there is not 1 single programme I watch on BBC (or ITV for that matter)

A._Badger

StevieJ wrote: »

Why does that comment not surprise me?

And why doesn't your surprise me? It's hardly a shock that someone so far to the Left would rush to the support the BBC.

ninky_2

i definitely think it is worth keeping a publicly funded broadcaster. probably it is time to reassess the licence fee and develop another way of taxing / publicly paying for the bbc.

as for david graham's credentials...he once worked as a producer at the bbc...and so did a lot of other people.

the bbc isn't internationally focussed? does he mean editorially? (surely not - world service, news 24, persian channel etc etc) or financially (i suspect so). personally i don't see why a local broadcaster should have to compete financially on a world stage. if by not doing so it means they don't make shows that look like 'x factor' or 'i'm a celebrity' but instead make 'coast' and 'unreported world' then that is fine by me.

whatmichaelsays

Dan: wrote: »

I watch Sky News, Sky Sports, UK Gold, Discovery. Otherwsie I Watch DVDs. Honesty there is not 1 single programme I watch on BBC (or ITV for that matter)

Sky News? Enough said. I'd quite happily pay £145 for Kay Burley and Adam Boulton wiped from the face of the earth.

Sky Sports I'll grant you, although I find it hard to believe that you don't watch any terrestrial sport if you have Sky Sports as well.

Discovery has some good programming although produces little itself. It buys the bulk in from the US and sets them on a constant repeat loop - hardly worth the subscription fee.

As for UK Gold, pretty much everything on there has been produced by the BBC anyway.

Dan:_4

whatmichaelsays wrote: »

Sky News? Enough said. I'd quite happily pay £145 for Kay Burley and Adam Boulton wiped from the face of the earth.

Sky Sports I'll grant you, although I find it hard to believe that you don't watch any terrestrial sport if you have Sky Sports as well.

Discovery has some good programming although produces little itself. It buys the bulk in from the US and sets them on a constant repeat loop - hardly worth the subscription fee.

As for UK Gold, pretty much everything on there has been produced by the BBC anyway.

Sky News - love it!

Sky Sports - the only thing that keeps me going (Fair point mind, i did watch BBC for the World Cup)

Discovery - worth the subscription fee IMO

UK Gold - love it!

My point is why do you have to be 'forced' to pay for BBC services. Why cant it be on a subscription fee basis like everything else?

A._Badger

tincans wrote: »

Reds under the bed again Badger ?

5 Live is more like a horrible mix of the Dailys Mail, Express and Mirror.

Unless of course you think sport and phone-ins are "Left-liberal agitprop"

Twaddle. You've obviously never listened to the streams of bias from the likes of Victora Derbyshire, Nicky Campbell, Peter Allen, Mayo (is he still there?) and the rest.

Yes, it's certainly pretty lowbrow - but infused with Nu-Labour messages throughout.

More Daily Mirror than Daily Express.

Still, when Radio 4 is running one of its aftenoon plays about the struggles of a one-legged, lesbian, Bangldeshi immigrant, it's at least an alternative.

In passing, I noticed the 'Biased BBC' blog recently 'outed' one of 5 Live's producers as a died in the wool Labourite.

No surprises there, then.