Comments on: Mr Murdoch and the BBC http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/08/29/mr-murdoch-and-the-bbc/ Incisive and topical campaigns and commentary on today's issues and tomorrow's problems Thu, 24 May 2012 19:27:39 +0000 hourly 1 By: jduck1979 http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/08/29/mr-murdoch-and-the-bbc/#comment-21799 jduck1979 Mon, 31 Aug 2009 01:13:27 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=4398#comment-21799 I think instead of abolishing the licence fee, it should be capped off back down to £100 a year or less......... and any shortfall should be made up for by - Sales from BBC Magazines & Children's comics - Selling the rights for BBC shows to other English language channels around the world - Sales of BBC shows on DVD / Blu-Ray / iTunes, etc At the same time, a new management team should be installed to purge the corporation of Waste / Political Correctness / 'orrible Reality TV shows / and the fabled "BBC Bias" listed here: http://www.labour-watch.com/bbcbias.htm Looking at the list of Magazines the BBC has here > http://www.bbcmagazines.com/ I think they should be slimmed down to - Top Gear Magazine - Gardeners World Magazine - Focus - Good Food - BBC Wildlife - Sky at Night Magazine The BBC NEWS website should be kept as is, as it's one of the top3 News websites for the UK.... definately more useable than SKY NEWS's effort... only real gripe I have with it is their "have your say" forum, which lets you recommend comments you agree with, but not give a "thumbs down" to comments that are a load of..... iPLAYER should also be kept (it's usually the only way I get to catch TOP GEAR + the F1 hi-lights as my Dad always hogs the only TV in the house hooked up to Sky digital after 6pm), but made available to viewers outside the UK via a Monthly subscription (and help further cut down the license fee). TV channels should be slimmed down to - BBC1 - BBC2 - BBC News - BBC Parliament - CBBC / CBEEBIES And these channels should then focus on doing what the BBC always did best before it went Reality show crazy and ended up with only TOP GEAR the only show on it worth watching until the Formula1 coverage returned this year (e.g. shows like "Local Heroes" with Adam Hart-Davies, "Two Fat Ladies", "Tomorrow's World", "Gardeners World" when Geoff Hamilton still presented it, "Dad's Army", "Red Dwarf", "Monty Python", etc). I think instead of abolishing the licence fee, it should be capped off back down to £100 a year or less……… and any shortfall should be made up for by
- Sales from BBC Magazines & Children’s comics
- Selling the rights for BBC shows to other English language channels around the world
- Sales of BBC shows on DVD / Blu-Ray / iTunes, etc

At the same time, a new management team should be installed to purge the corporation of Waste / Political Correctness / ‘orrible Reality TV shows / and the fabled “BBC Bias” listed here:
http://www.labour-watch.com/bbcbias.htm

Looking at the list of Magazines the BBC has here >
http://www.bbcmagazines.com/
I think they should be slimmed down to
- Top Gear Magazine
- Gardeners World Magazine
- Focus
- Good Food
- BBC Wildlife
- Sky at Night Magazine

The BBC NEWS website should be kept as is, as it’s one of the top3 News websites for the UK…. definately more useable than SKY NEWS’s effort… only real gripe I have with it is their “have your say” forum, which lets you recommend comments you agree with, but not give a “thumbs down” to comments that are a load of…..

iPLAYER should also be kept (it’s usually the only way I get to catch TOP GEAR + the F1 hi-lights as my Dad always hogs the only TV in the house hooked up to Sky digital after 6pm), but made available to viewers outside the UK via a Monthly subscription (and help further cut down the license fee).

TV channels should be slimmed down to
- BBC1
- BBC2
- BBC News
- BBC Parliament
- CBBC / CBEEBIES

And these channels should then focus on doing what the BBC always did best before it went Reality show crazy and ended up with only TOP GEAR the only show on it worth watching until the Formula1 coverage returned this year (e.g. shows like “Local Heroes” with Adam Hart-Davies, “Two Fat Ladies”, “Tomorrow’s World”, “Gardeners World” when Geoff Hamilton still presented it, “Dad’s Army”, “Red Dwarf”, “Monty Python”, etc).

]]> By: Bazman http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/08/29/mr-murdoch-and-the-bbc/#comment-21798 Bazman Sun, 30 Aug 2009 09:41:28 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=4398#comment-21798 The problem with all these posts and Murdoch's concern for the rights and choice of the viewers, which in reality is finding more ways to charge people. His Father believes subscription is the way forward. who would have thought? None of you have wrote what would be a better way than the BBC. Again how many of you are fans of SKY. Good value SKY innit? Adverts too. Like adverts Me. The BBC costs less than two packets of fags a month or a lot less than a trip to the pub, so I do not believe that a load of middle class middle aged men cannot afford Twelve quid a month. Another red herring. Subscribe to SKY and watch fox news Al-Jazeera. The BBC could be forced to have a channel for right wing middle class men. Like Dave TV on Sky there could be 'Montgomery Channel'. Just as narrow and stupid. The problem with all these posts and Murdoch’s concern for the rights and choice of the viewers, which in reality is finding more ways to charge people. His Father believes subscription is the way forward. who would have thought? None of you have wrote what would be a better way than the BBC. Again how many of you are fans of SKY. Good value SKY innit? Adverts too. Like adverts Me.
The BBC costs less than two packets of fags a month or a lot less than a trip to the pub, so I do not believe that a load of middle class middle aged men cannot afford Twelve quid a month. Another red herring. Subscribe to SKY and watch fox news Al-Jazeera. The BBC could be forced to have a channel for right wing middle class men. Like Dave TV on Sky there could be ‘Montgomery Channel’. Just as narrow and stupid.

]]> By: Waramess http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/08/29/mr-murdoch-and-the-bbc/#comment-21797 Waramess Sun, 30 Aug 2009 09:09:16 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=4398#comment-21797 Quite right and let us do the same for the NHS, by far the biggest statist centralised system Quite right and let us do the same for the NHS, by far the biggest statist centralised system

]]> By: Mark http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/08/29/mr-murdoch-and-the-bbc/#comment-21796 Mark Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:48:53 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=4398#comment-21796 You were right to title this post Mr. Murdoch and the BBC: they both need slapping down into place. Murdoch has used his subscription base to monopolise market segments (e.g. sports), and packaging of channels inflexibly to deny freedom of choice. The problems with the BBC are well rehearsed. You were right to title this post Mr. Murdoch and the BBC: they both need slapping down into place. Murdoch has used his subscription base to monopolise market segments (e.g. sports), and packaging of channels inflexibly to deny freedom of choice. The problems with the BBC are well rehearsed.

]]> By: Vanessa http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/08/29/mr-murdoch-and-the-bbc/#comment-21795 Vanessa Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:06:00 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=4398#comment-21795 Mr Murdock was absolutely right. I am not a fan of the BBC as they are very biased in their reporting. I would rather pay my TV licence fee to Channel 4 which I watch about 90% of the time now. Everyone there speaks English which I can understand rather than the stilted way all BBC prresenters speak and Channel 4 is brave enough to interview people like the BNP so we can all make up our minds individually rather than being preached at which is what the BBC do. Mr Murdock was absolutely right. I am not a fan of the BBC as they are very biased in their reporting. I would rather pay my TV licence fee to Channel 4 which I watch about 90% of the time now. Everyone there speaks English which I can understand rather than the stilted way all BBC prresenters speak and Channel 4 is brave enough to interview people like the BNP so we can all make up our minds individually rather than being preached at which is what the BBC do.

]]> By: Kenneth Morton http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/08/29/mr-murdoch-and-the-bbc/#comment-21794 Kenneth Morton Sat, 29 Aug 2009 18:47:50 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=4398#comment-21794 How I agree! To add insult to injury the traditional areas of broadcasting where thirty years ago the BBC really was first class, wild life/documentaries and sport, are now contracting. Money is spent on building empires in every nook and cranny of Auntie until she now resembles the Old Lady who lived in a shoe and had so many children...... It is now time to send them permenantly to bed without any bread having received a sound whipping by Jeremy Hunt and co.! How I agree!

To add insult to injury the traditional areas of broadcasting where thirty years ago the BBC really was first class, wild life/documentaries and sport, are now contracting.

Money is spent on building empires in every nook and cranny of Auntie until she now resembles the Old Lady who lived in a shoe and had so many children……

It is now time to send them permenantly to bed without any bread having received a sound whipping by Jeremy Hunt and co.!

]]> By: Bazman http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/08/29/mr-murdoch-and-the-bbc/#comment-21793 Bazman Sat, 29 Aug 2009 18:01:38 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=4398#comment-21793 The BBC not only serves to inform us, educate us and entertain us by its very existence, it also serves to protect us from a level of commercial saturation that would destroy much of what we currently take for granted. If you've ever watched television anywhere else in the world, you'll know what I'm talking about. I have a satellite dish that points to Astra 19.2'E German channels mostly with some other foreign channels. Dire does not even cover it. Like the internet without any entertainment. Any comments from a media mogul should be taken with a bucket of salt. Anyone got anything to say about the cost of SKY subscriptions when talking about the cost of the TV licence? Internet freedom and net neutrality are the real issues. Interesting to hear his views on that. Probably not so keen on free and open competition there I bet. What he will want as he does now is special interest legislation to be dressed up to sound less self serving like special regulated prices for e commerce giants to save them from more internet competition. SKYNET anyone? Socialised internet will find many right wing supporters as well as state control fans. In the same vein Mandelson should realise as a smart guy, that the piracy argument has been going on since the industry was asking for taxes on magnetic cassette tapes and looking for technical magic bullets to prevent coping. They have not come up with a real strategy and throw around red herring that piracy funds terrorism, so does legitimate business. No talk of banning that. The future is still being written. The BBC not only serves to inform us, educate us and entertain us by its very existence, it also serves to protect us from a level of commercial saturation that would destroy much of what we currently take for granted. If you’ve ever watched television anywhere else in the world, you’ll know what I’m talking about. I have a satellite dish that points to Astra 19.2′E German channels mostly with some other foreign channels. Dire does not even cover it. Like the internet without any entertainment. Any comments from a media mogul should be taken with a bucket of salt. Anyone got anything to say about the cost of SKY subscriptions when talking about the cost of the TV licence?
Internet freedom and net neutrality are the real issues. Interesting to hear his views on that. Probably not so keen on free and open competition there I bet. What he will want as he does now is special interest legislation to be dressed up to sound less self serving like special regulated prices for e commerce giants to save them from more internet competition. SKYNET anyone? Socialised internet will find many right wing supporters as well as state control fans. In the same vein Mandelson should realise as a smart guy, that the piracy argument has been going on since the industry was asking for taxes on magnetic cassette tapes and looking for technical magic bullets to prevent coping. They have not come up with a real strategy and throw around red herring that piracy funds terrorism, so does legitimate business. No talk of banning that. The future is still being written.

]]> By: Ian Henley http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/08/29/mr-murdoch-and-the-bbc/#comment-21792 Ian Henley Sat, 29 Aug 2009 14:31:05 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=4398#comment-21792 The BBC do fantastic work in many areas, but they are too powerful, too featherbedded and are certainly not impartial in their reporting. Why should, for example, the licence payer be compelled to fund the BBC web site? How can other news providers compete against this generously funded service? Why should those who have no wish to access the BBC site be compelled, by law, to pay for it? As a first move to The Conservatives should promise to reduce the licence fee by the amount of funding per head that goes into the site, and spin it off as a separate business to sink or swim. This will clear the way for other news providers to innovate and compete and also provide more balanced news reporting. The BBC do fantastic work in many areas, but they are too powerful, too featherbedded and are certainly not impartial in their reporting.

Why should, for example, the licence payer be compelled to fund the BBC web site? How can other news providers compete against this generously funded service? Why should those who have no wish to access the BBC site be compelled, by law, to pay for it?

As a first move to The Conservatives should promise to reduce the licence fee by the amount of funding per head that goes into the site, and spin it off as a separate business to sink or swim.

This will clear the way for other news providers to innovate and compete and also provide more balanced news reporting.

]]> By: no one http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/08/29/mr-murdoch-and-the-bbc/#comment-21791 no one Sat, 29 Aug 2009 14:14:41 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=4398#comment-21791 The BBC also tends to swamp out the market place for educational materials, there should be a healthy market for different teaching materials to be sold to schools, but in this country the market is somewhat skewed because the BBC churns out so much stuff which is free to the schools On the whole what the BBC produces is the same old prejudiced politically correct middle class worldview that their wider output reflects We would be better off paying for such material the way its done in the vast majority of countries The BBC really shouldn't be wasting licence fee money trying to nudge into so many markets and competing unfairly with those who need to charge The BBC also tends to swamp out the market place for educational materials, there should be a healthy market for different teaching materials to be sold to schools, but in this country the market is somewhat skewed because the BBC churns out so much stuff which is free to the schools

On the whole what the BBC produces is the same old prejudiced politically correct middle class worldview that their wider output reflects

We would be better off paying for such material the way its done in the vast majority of countries

The BBC really shouldn’t be wasting licence fee money trying to nudge into so many markets and competing unfairly with those who need to charge

]]> By: Alan Wheatley http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2009/08/29/mr-murdoch-and-the-bbc/#comment-21790 Alan Wheatley Sat, 29 Aug 2009 13:50:25 +0000 http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=4398#comment-21790 The BBC net should be widespread and thin. There should be no (relevant) area into which it should not go, especially to break new ground, but having got there it should have a thin presence, leaving room for others. For instance, a soap opera of course, but not more than one. It should stride to be the best, but even if the best it will still leave room for others. The BBC should put much more resource into addressing minority interests, as everyone is entitled to get coverage for their passion from the national broadcaster. These will tend to be cheaper to cover as there will less to pay for "entry" and for "star personalities". We should not judge the BBC as to how well they are serving the population by simply looking at macro viewing and listening figures, as a remit to cover minority interests will inevitably generate minority levels. Incidentally, minority interests can become majority interests given the right coverage of something inherently good but previously unnoticed. All this can be done for less. The licence fee should gradually be reduced in real terms to a level sufficient to fund top quality wide/thin coverage. The BBC net should be widespread and thin. There should be no (relevant) area into which it should not go, especially to break new ground, but having got there it should have a thin presence, leaving room for others. For instance, a soap opera of course, but not more than one. It should stride to be the best, but even if the best it will still leave room for others.

The BBC should put much more resource into addressing minority interests, as everyone is entitled to get coverage for their passion from the national broadcaster. These will tend to be cheaper to cover as there will less to pay for “entry” and for “star personalities”.

We should not judge the BBC as to how well they are serving the population by simply looking at macro viewing and listening figures, as a remit to cover minority interests will inevitably generate minority levels. Incidentally, minority interests can become majority interests given the right coverage of something inherently good but previously unnoticed.

All this can be done for less. The licence fee should gradually be reduced in real terms to a level sufficient to fund top quality wide/thin coverage.

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