MoneySaving Poll: Should the BBC be downscaled?

gobbo

As a public service broadcaster they should not be allowed to pay staff huge salaries .


Paying dJ's outrageous amounts like £600,000 should be stopped as this is just wasting our money . There are many excellent DJ's - better than the ones on BBC now who would snap their hand off for £50,000 a year which should be the maximum - the current radio caroline for example has at least 10 that are better

And paying £1 million to host a car show is again a waste of money , high pay should be left to advertising funded channels and the BBC should nurture new talent

Mars_Bar

I think the results make it fairly clear that the only people who think that the BBC should be downgraded are its competitors at Sky and the various news channels.

The BBC provide an amazing public service and (as others have pointed out) for £12 a month are massively better value than the frankly extortionate prices charged by Murdoch. Time to tell the government to stop pandering to the media giants and give the people what they want.

reehsetin

There's not an option that reflects what I want
"Yes, downscale TV arm to news plus other programmes you wouldn’t get elsewhere"
Agree, there's no point them focusing on content that would quite easily be shown on a commercial channel e.g. popular sports.
" – cut but keep the licence fee"
Change to general taxation so people can stop banging on about the license fee.

pollypenny

Interesting to see that most want to keep the BBC roughly the same, funded in the same way.

However, there are savings to be made, perhaps with the number of stations.

For goodness sake preserve us from adverts! I'm in the USA at the moment and we are driven mad by ads!

pawsies

If you keep the license fee the same then people will continue to watch live tv without paying for it until the inspector comes to the door!

Therefore I think it should be made free for all to watch but it is paid for through the state and by not needing inspectors anymore so automatically you are saving.

Lets be honest if you were very poor and could only afford to pay for food, electric, gas and water and not tv you aren't going to prioritise paying a tv license over any of those essentials.

Basia02

I love the BBC as it is, but there must be alternative funding - I would propose
Advertise on the website - I use the web all the time - unless pointed out I dont even notice the adverts.
Commercialise the iplayer - the licence payer funds all the BBC output but they then give it away online for free - if really necessary find a way for licence payers to get a code or something for free.
The BBC produces the best, or amongst the best programmes in the world. Companies turn this into a Business couldn't the BBC commercialise this more? The licence fee should be frozen whilst new revenue streams are developed.
Spend much less on the World Service - the consumers of this pay nothing towards it

Kite2010

Maybe getting rid of some of the many local radio stations by merging some together, or having local sections for breakfast/drive-time [something like the heart network]

Get rid of the expensive glossy entertainment shows, and focus on the smaller programs which won't get made by the likes of ITV, the documentaries on BBC4 for example, the science programs which are not dumbed down as much as on BBC 2.

With adverts, everything will be dumbed down to the LCD generation, to boost ratings to get more revenue, they won't put money on doing a program which might only see half a million viewers.

As for the license fee, fund it from general taxation, will release a lot more money which is currently spent in admin work.

Daisy_Bell

The_Groat_Counter wrote: »

".................. perhaps best to just collect the TV licence (perhaps renamed as a 'broadcast reception licence' or similar) as part of the council tax. Collecting a licence fee alongside local taxes is how it's done in a number of other European countries...."/QUOTE]

Oh yes, 'Part of the Council Tax'! Which of course would mean that the usual crowd who don't pay Council Tax would get out of paying the BBC License Fee as well! I don't think that would go down very well with the long-suffering folk who have to pay for everything, while the 'Out-of-work'; 'Don't want to work'; 'Have never worked' crowd of scroungers get yet another freebee!

The BBC should just be downsized. A lot! They try to do far too much and is top-heavy with overpaid folk at the top and so-called 'Talent' that cost ridiculous sums! They send their people out to whatever is going on around the World, so they can stand in front of whatever it is and spout about it, then they have the cheek to make documentaries about Global warming and such. What about all their unnecessary air journeys?
Why is there still a World Service? They try and compete with commercial TV companies for different sports, etc., so all that happens is the same thing shown on several different channels at the same time! Not everyone likes sport anyway, yet they are paying for something they don't watch.

If this were any other company, they would be accused of 'Demanding money with menaces' in that they are demanding money from people who hardly ever watch the BBC, yet are expected to pay for something they don't use and don't want! If they don't pay, then they are threatened with Court action! There has to be an end to it!

DigForVictory

I love the beeb across a range of platforms, have flinched from american style broadcasting (one royal wedding memory is forever marred by "I'm a Lucky Dawg" adverts) and listen when I'm overseas.

Family in the diplomatic are quietly vehement that the World Service is worth keeping - mostly as to scrap the trust it's built up over generations could only be daft.

However, it needs paying for, (with suitable discounts for suitable groups) and I'd bundle iplayer firmly back into the remit. Not the whole answer, but a start. As for BBC programmes on YouTube? I don't understand how that's right, no matter how much comfort it brings expats.

SJshah

Scrap the TV license and scrap the criminal record that comes with not paying the fee.

We pay our TV license fee only to avoid the risk of a criminal record for not paying. I don't watch the BBC, I don't subscribe to their news, weather, tv shows or documentaries - why should I fund their existence?

Yes, I watch live TV - I don't mind paying towards the upkeep of equipment for transmission of freely available OTA channels if necessary. I feel that they should be funded for by the TV organisations themselves since it's their equipment that they need to provide their services.

IMHO, there should be a subscription based model which could possibly include advertising where decisions would be at BBC's own discretion.