United Kingdom V: Son of a beach

[MartyG]

Because Top Gear (and Doctor Who and things like Planet Earth) make loads of money for the BBC in overseas sales thus actually reducing the need to increase the licence fee?

[Zaki]

In all seriousness, is the BBC really biased?

Don't be such a Kuenssberg

[vanpeebles]

Because Top Gear (and Doctor Who and things like Planet Earth) make loads of money for the BBC in overseas sales thus actually reducing the need to increase the licence fee?

Then they are commercial and don't need to have the security blanket of a license fee.

[Neon Ignition]

They need to put that £3 per house increase back into the production budget of Who

[fuse]

Not seen the news?

Yes. Can you narrow it down for me please? Is it terrorists? Is that what's meant to make cities a bad idea?

[Hirst]

I thought he meant the coronavirus!

[vanpeebles]

Well imagine being packed on a subway train, or some other form of sardine tin public transport etc. And someone who looking a bit hot and sweaty starts to sneeze arl ower.

[MartyG]

Then they are commercial and don't need to have the security blanket of a license fee.

Missing the point entirely - they don't need the security blanket of the licence fee, they ARE the security blanket for other programmes that do.

[Neon Ignition]

It'll certainly be interesting to see how the BBC adapts because it can't simply continue to cry poverty about the licence fee, it's inevitable that the fee is going to be discontinued at some point because it's so woefully out of date with the realities of modern viewing. As younger voters increasingly become the future electorate it's only natural that the BBC is going to find less defenders in its corner who don't see why it should reap the benefit of a mandatory fee many pay for watching non-BBC content. It's less the fee being brought to an end but rather it being unjustifiable to continue for much longer hanging the threat of legal action over people to pay it when they don't use the services it is for. The burden of evidence is too great to waste police time on too so as soon as the threat goes you'll lose payments from those who don't care for the BBC's output as well as those who simply want to avoid payment making the set up then unsustainable.

I can easily imagine lighter rules on the fee and the BBC being made to review and streamline its services being the beginning of the end as they tighten their belts by ceasing the more niche output and channels/stations.

[MartyG]

I can easily imagine lighter rules on the fee and the BBC being made to review and streamline its services being the beginning of the end as they tighten their belts by ceasing the more niche output and channels/stations.

That's exactly what will happen if the licence fee goes because it will be commercially driven and the majority of programmes will concentrate on what makes money over quality - the microtransactions of TV programming.

[Asura]

They tried to pull the Trump (and fascist) stunt of selecting who they deliver information to and you don’t think they’d attempt to influence and control the BBC over which they have direct financial control?

Maybe I was being a bit glib; I'm not blind to that. I just think that serves their primary goal, being able to tell people they can save a tenner a month if they vote for them. It's a powerful motivator.

MartyG mentions gaming microtransactions and it's the same thing; people, on the whole, will overwhelmingly choose "bad but free" over "better but cheap".

[charlesr]

My kids haven't watched BBC or any other broadcast TV for about 7 years. They only watch Netflix or YouTube for entertainment

[charlesr]

I haven't either... Don't have a license.

[Hirst]

It's a good point that some shows make the BBC some money, though it does also highlight that if they still need the licence fee to survive, then how well are they spending it elsewhere?

I know some will defend the idea that they can make shows that are risky and might not be commercially viable - it's a point I can appreciate and can completely agree with when it comes to real "public service" stuff like news/education.

However, for the entertainment stuff, there's a lot said about the BBC being able to do these entertainment shows the commercial networks can't - but the reality of it is I can't think of much BBC entertainment I've consumed in the last 10 years. The only things I can even think of are House of Fools and Screenwipe. Used to have Red Dwarf but that went off to Dave.

What would seem more fair to me is for the licence fee to become a much smaller amount that represents the true cost of running a basic news/info/education service and for anyone who still wants the entertainment stuff as well to pay the shortfall. At the moment it seems unfair that everyone has got to pay the price for basically a "premium" BBC when they might just be like me and only really watch repeats of Wheeler Dealers on Quest.

[Dogg Thang]

I guess you could say the same about any public service. Why should I pay for state healthcare when I don't have cancer? Now it should be said that I'm too close to this to be unbiased. Although I don't think I've ever been paid by BBC money for anything, I have seen up close and personal how they have kept certain sectors afloat and, in doing so, provide absolutely excellent services to people that simply don't and can't exist in a commercial setup. Services that are enjoyed by huge numbers of people and would be sorely missed when gone and yet you can be sure wouldn't be paid for without the license fee. For many types of programming, the BBC are really the only home for this very reason. And they'll be applauded for it. But that doesn't make it commercially viable.

And YouTube is an absolute toilet, just to pick up the point that kids will watch YouTube and Netflix instead. Netflix, on the other hand, is wonderful but they are so far into debt that their viability remains something to be proven. Relying on those right now and letting BBC go could be a terrible decision for future generations because, once dismantled or sold off, it will be next to impossible to reverse.