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BBC lose Bake Off!

SwingsitlikeHogan said:
That's it...why should I pay my BBC licence fee when BBC can't keep my favourite programme (TGBBO) and it goes to Ch4 - which I get that for free...
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Do you ever look at the BBC Sport website or have a look at the BBC News website? Or watch the news on BBC? Or listen to any of the BBC radio stations? All of which are funded from the license fee. If not, then you might have a justifiable complaint about the license fee but if you ever use one of these services then maybe you should wind your neck in and stop sulking over the fact that the BBC no longer shows your favourite programme.
 
ColchesterFC said:
Do you ever look at the BBC Sport website or have a look at the BBC News website? Or watch the news on BBC? Or listen to any of the BBC radio stations? All of which are funded from the license fee. If not, then you might have a justifiable complaint about the license fee but if you ever use one of these services then maybe you should wind your neck in and stop sulking over the fact that the BBC no longer shows your favourite programme.
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I think he was being sarcastic.
 
Hacker Khan said:
Well if having the largest viewing figures mean they are being left for dead then you make a very sensible and balanced point.

http://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/weekly-viewing-summary/

Yours sincerely

A looney lefty.
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They have been left for dead when you compare the offerings of the commercial companies with dedicated sports, movies, arts and entertainment channels. The BBC is now a jack of all trades and sadly master of none. The world has moved on. It was OK when we had 2 or 3 or even 4 channels to charge a TV licence and offer a couple of channels without ads and fulfil public service broadcasting. The BBC made great programs then, probably because they had to. no-one else made them except ITV and they showed what they made in competition to the Beeb. Now the BBC buy in rather than make and this is the result. They make a program successful because of their platform and then the makers take it to the highest bidder.
There are several good reasons why the BBC gets the audience it does. Firstly because of its special place in British hearts it's the first place viewers look. Where else in the world do they call their state broadcaster "Auntie"? Secondly it is very conveniently at the top of every listing and number 1 on the remote, because historically it was always channel 1 and 2. Thirdly people watch it because quite frankly they have paid for it and many still can't or won't pay for subscription TV.

No-one will argue that the BBC do certain things well. Bake Off is a good example. It's quintessentially British and a bit querky. Strictly is the same. Their nature stuff is amazingly produced. But if you really think about the programs you watch on the BBC nowadays, would you pay for it if you weren't forced to? Maybe, but if they lose Strictly and Eastenders how much is left?

For me, the TV arm of the business should go free to air commercial, like ITV, Channel 4 etc. It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't fill the space between programs with adverts for their own shows, but the result is just the same as commercial with slightly less interesting adverts.
The radio side is a different matter. the World Service is vital and should be publically funded and I am lead to believe it's the main reason why so many people speak English around the world.

Joking aside, it does concern me that a state broadcaster has become so biased in their news programming. A lot of concern is being voiced and the BBC seems to take no notice. When a state broadcaster has its own political agenda, you are suddenly on very dangerous ground, whichever side of the political divide they favour. The news should be the news and not a magazine program.

As for Bake Off, is it such a problem to press 4 rather than 1 on the remote? Maybe they didn't want to pay as much as Channel 4 because the BBC gets its money whether they show good programs or not. The same cannot be said for Channel 4 and maybe that's why they pushed the boat out. That's competition and it's time to level the playing field. If the BBC is as good as you say it is, as a commercial entity it could only flourish.
 
I was agreeing with the above post until you threw in the world service to be publicly funded. No thanks. It is not our role to spread the English language around the world, nor keep British diplomats in touch with life back home. The internet can do all of that now. Log on, read a website.

Same with BBC news world channel which you often get as the only English channel in European hotels. It gives you news from all the remote corners of the world but nothing about Britain. A ridiculous waste of licence money.
 
bluewolf said:
I think he was being sarcastic.
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He was.

And he's also not sure what's lefty about observing that it is inevitable that budgets for programmes will be cut if the government cuts BBC funding (or doesn't increase the licence fee) and is asked to find £650m for the over 75s licencing. Because that's what Osborne did.
 
SwingsitlikeHogan said:
He was.

And he's also not sure what's lefty about observing that it is inevitable that budgets for programmes will be cut if the government cuts BBC funding (or doesn't increase the licence fee) and is asked to find £650m for the over 75s licencing. Because that's what Osborne
did.
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Makes your heart bleed for poor old Auntie. Every new household brings in a new License fee and we all know that's a whole lot of licenses.
 
SocketRocket said:
Makes your heart bleed for poor old Auntie. Every new household brings in a new License fee and we all know that's a whole lot of licenses.
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No bleeding heart for TGBBO here - but if you are not happy that BBC have failed to keep that programme by not being willing to pay more due to budget limitations - don't blame the BBC for living within their means - blame those who have constrained the budget.
 
SwingsitlikeHogan said:
No bleeding heart for TGBBO here - but if you are not happy that BBC have failed to keep that programme by not being willing to pay more due to budget limitations - don't blame the BBC for living within their means - blame those who have constrained the budget.
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Yes, let's give the BBC an unlimited budget of public funds so they can give us what the commercial free to air stations give us for nothing.
 
ColchesterFC said:
Do you ever look at the BBC Sport website or have a look at the BBC News website? Or watch the news on BBC? Or listen to any of the BBC radio stations? All of which are funded from the license fee. If not, then you might have a justifiable complaint about the license fee but if you ever use one of these services then maybe you should wind your neck in and stop sulking over the fact that the BBC no longer shows your favourite programme.
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Whilst I generally have very little use for the BBC, be that tv, radio or online. The fee is hardly extoriniate.

That said, if someone views a few pages of online content. I'd hardly say they should be taxed, which is exactly what it is. The same amount as a regularly viewer because the tv content costs a darn sight more to produce.
 
SwingsitlikeHogan said:
No bleeding heart for TGBBO here - but if you are not happy that BBC have failed to keep that programme by not being willing to pay more due to budget limitations - don't blame the BBC for living within their means - blame those who have constrained the budget.
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Sweep said:
Yes, let's give the BBC an unlimited budget of public funds so they can give us what the commercial free to air stations give us for nothing.
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An interesting point was raised regarding this. The BBC was happy to pay approx £200 million to keep the rights to show Match of the Day which averages around 4 million (mainly male) viewers but refused to pay £25 million to keep GBBO which averages around 9-10 million (mainly female) viewers.
 
ColchesterFC said:
An interesting point was raised regarding this. The BBC was happy to pay approx £200 million to keep the rights to show Match of the Day which averages around 4 million (mainly male) viewers but refused to pay £25 million to keep GBBO which averages around 9-10 million (mainly female) viewers.
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To compare the financial costs you also need to compare the actual numbers of shows per year. On thats basis MOTD works out cheaper:)
 
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