Defund the BBC.

[Bakero]

So you want a state funded entity that purposely antagonizes a political party that private companies are also forced to compete with for market share? Hmmmm....some of you people are interesting. And by that I mean scary.

Not only that but you want to give them more money and power from public coffers as long as they do more to eliminate political opponents you don’t agree with. Damn damn damn.

Two fundamental flaws with your post.

1. It's not state funded but financed by individuals/households through the licence fee. This is supplemented by income from the broadcaster's commercial arms (eg. the global news service)
2. It doesn't purposefully antagonise any political party.

 

[big nuts]

TMS and 6music are truly wonderful things.

Infantile, Mail-reading, hate gammons are not.

Add in TMS, great documentaries, fair and balanced news coverage, I Player and great children’s TV.

They also provide content for the deaf and visually impaired so my personal view is it’s a great service.

 

[keaton]

Add in TMS, great documentaries, fair and balanced news coverage, I Player and great children’s TV.

They also provide content for the deaf and visually impaired so my personal view is it’s a great service.

Indeed. iPlayer is full of brilliant films, documentaries and drama and comedy series

 

[Seaber]

Personally I think the BBC should explain why they are wasting my money on programmes such as Mrs Brown's Boys, Miranada.....

To be fair, Miranda ended five years ago and MBB is co-produced with RTE. They both sold well on DVD/ Blu Ray and distribution rights were sold to other countries, so you (and I) may not like them, but they have made money.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Seems to be getting a head of steam ?

Gammons need to gammon.

 

[vegster]

I don’t watch the news anymore on either TV. I find the MSM to be extremely biased. I use the BBC website for sport but nothing more.

I want my news to be factual and unbiased. News reporters should not be offering opinions. What the BBC fails to understand is that the majority in the country are not woke, liberal, metropolitan people. There are a vast range of opinions and views, and jsut pandering to the left is alienating many.

For example, after the Brexit vote, any piece of economic data was qualified with “because of Brexit/despite Brexit” (depending if it was positive or negative). That is combing fact with opinion.

I’ve cancelled my TV license - not to save money as I wouldn’t notice it. Purely out of principle at the bias (IMO) of the BBC. Let’s see how woke the BBC would be if it had to be self funding.

Everything has to be sensationalised now. Even sporting fixtures are over-hyped. Weather events are over dramatised as though it’s the end of the frigging world. If there’s a little bit of flooding, the reporters will fins a street, see if they can find the deepest points and stand in that. But when you pan out it’s just a localised bit of flooding (for example).

I do hope that you are not listening to sport's commentaries on 5Live/SportsExtra or the travel news on BBC Sussex now you have " cancelled" your financial contribution.?

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

Whether you, I or anyone else think it’s good value doesn’t matter though. I think my Sky subscription is extremely good value. It doesn’t mean everybody in the country should be forced to pay for one.

That's because they're not.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Lose the BBC at your peril. It provides way more content than just news. It’s also respected world-wide, promotes the U.K. in a very positive way and does far more for the country than any government could ever achieve.

 

[DJ NOBO]

Some people who want the BBC defunded are driven by their own left or right wing bias, some are stupid. Most are both.

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

What i enjoy is the complete illogical nature of the arguments against the bbc. They always reference one or two rubbish programmes as a reason to not justify the fee. For example, say you hate Mrs Browns Boys. That might account for less than 0.001% of the entire bbc output, and therefore represents less than 1p of your fee........but it makes you FURIOUS.

 

[Guinness Boy]

The ANNUAL BBC license fee is broadly the same as ONE MONTH of my Virgin fee.
It might be argued that Sky & Virgin fees could be slashed if they didn't pay quite so much for the rights to broadcast football.

My BBC monthly DD is about £13 - a decent bottle of wine or a round of beers when out - it's an "entertainment" cost - I don't mind paying for it.
I also like several BBC radio stations too ....

This. There is so much more to the BBC than just news. Fantastic quiz programmes, excellent music radio covering every genre (6 Music is a national treasure) and very, very good online output. Yet people are prepared to take out second mortgages to watch Jeff Stelling and Phil Thompson yelling into a void

I would be happy to pay for good quality news. Where can I find it?

Pissed-off with BBC and ITV news being full of leftwing biased crap.

Never listened to the Today programme then? Presented by ex Tory Nick Robinson and, up to this month, edited by Sarah Sands who succeeded Tory Dominic Lawson as Sunday Telegraph editor where she wrote an article that called for music to be censored. Despite all that it remains excellently neutral and has been my morning listen of choice for over ten years.

 

[lawros left foot]

How far to the right do you have to be, to believe that the BBC is left wing?

 

[Guinness Boy]

In reality, you are.

In what other industry would this system be acceptable? It’s like me visiting Holmbush to do my weekly shop at Tesco and them saying I can shop at Tesco but only if I buy something in M&S first.

For what it’s worth, I would pay for the BBC in a free market. I just think the system is absurd.

What a terrrible analogy. It's nothing like that. it would only be the case if M&S weren't allowed to advertise and Tesco were and M&S also couldn't accept funding from anywhere else and had to ensure that most people approved of what they stocked.

 

[father_and_son]

I don’t have normal tv as arial doesn’t work. Have sky go, Netflix etc. Got worried about them tracing iplayer or whatever as Mrs watches it occasionally & I was worried they could tell through the internet etc so paid it.
Really not sure if I am silly or sensible.

You are required to have a licence if you watch (or record) TV as it airs. So catch up only is fine but if you record live tv and watch later you still need a licence.

Because of this, it's not so much which online services you use but how you use them. You can watch iPlayer but only the 'catch up', on demand elements not the live broadcasts. Likewise with Sky Go/Now TV. Watch it live and you need a licence.

 

[larus]

I do hope that you are not listening to sport's commentaries on 5Live/SportsExtra or the travel news on BBC Sussex now you have " cancelled" your financial contribution.?

As per usual, your complete lack of intelligence shines through. It’s called a TV license.

 

[larus]

I think we all get that from your shit for brains comments from another reality.

You are evidence that the emptiest vessels make the loudest noise.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

How far to the right do you have to be, to believe that the BBC is left wing?

The thing is, I know it works both ways. I have left-wing friends who sincerely believe the BBC is right-wing.

Personally, I believe that is an indication that it is doing something right.

 

[Hampster Gull]

I remember one fo my first essays at Uni was something about whether bbc and itv news was biased to the left or right. That was 1987. This argument is nothing new, the minority hard left and more notably the minority hard right are just getting more shouty with social media helping their cause.