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Looks like they want to destroy it by cutting off its funding. Not surprised but still a shock.
Awful news. ******* Tories
I never thought it would actually happen.
BBC tv and radio is always my first choice and I'd hate to lose the advert-free current situation.
****ing tory ****s.
Dorries’ allies said there would be no further licence fee deal under a Johnson government
I wouldn’t worry too much then.
Does seem to be cutting their nose off to spite their face though. Imagine how nice Aunty will be to them now…
I imagine it was the price the dirty digger extracted to keep supporting Johnson.
It was going to happen at some point, a universal funding model which is increasingly easy to avoid didn't have a future. The problem is its this government doing it who are so corrupt they want the state broadcaster to be their propaganda arm. Going forward it needs to be a subscription service (don't know how that would work with terrestrial broadcasting) plus government funding of the public service element from general taxation. I do fear though it is the start of the end for the beeb but that's being driven by technological changes as much as the government. Many businesses and services have had to change massively over the last 30 years as demand and technology changes.
**** the Tories.
The problem is that the tories confuse "State owned" broadcasting with "Government" broadsacting, and consider them the status quo of British Govenrment, the natural party. They might accept that on occasion, there might be a few years in opposition, but broadly, British Government is "Conservative" Government.
And anyhting that doesnt willingly assist or go hand in hand with that, is to be diminished, dissolved or cowed.
If you listened to Christopher Chope, the man who has blocked many good Private Memebers bills through obtuse process because he doesn't belive, basically in Private Memebers Bills, he was the member preventing the House from nodding through the Owen Patterson vote, who prevented the Female FGM bill, and the one who prevented making upskirting videos/phones a crime, he is now the sponsor of a bill to kill the BBC licence fee.
Now, I think in todays age, being "State" should mean you can question the "Government". Indeed, it's far more important than questioning "The opposition". I think its essential to have a source of news, information and diaglogue free from commercial taint.
You might not like the BBC or the licence fee, but without it as a bulwark against the Murdoch's, Barclay Bros, Lord Rothermere's of the world (the owner of the brexity publication the Daily Heil who chooses to live in France because he can, and now, we can't!), all we would have is fully commercial broadcasting entities.
Imagine todays position with the press, where 90% is rabidly right wing, and still influential, but transferred to the far more important medium of television.
The BBC is not perfect, but it's good (and was better) and is all we have at scale to combat the influence of billionaires.
I'd pay subs for BBC Sounds (and News) but there's very little TV output of theirs I can watch these days.
https://twitter.com/nick_pettigrew/status/1482647922265276416?s=21
The Tories are in a corner so they’re lashing out with a typically vicious act of vandalism
What a bunch of ****s!
The trouble is that the diehard Tories -hello mum and dad - are convinced that the BBC News are pumping out anti-Tory propaganda anyway, and won't care.
Until they can't get the rest of the BBC that they do like, Radio 2, sport etc.
Looks like I won't watch live TV anymore, I'll just record all content and skip through the adverts.
very little TV output of theirs I can watch these days.
It’s funding has been cut significantly over the last 10 years.
Given the choice between this disreputable regime and the BBC, it’s the BBC every time.
Happy to see a slightly higher licence fee - say around £20 a month. All I watch is BBC and C4 really (and C4 is state owned too as I recall).
That said I could see a case for reducing local radio. It’s not great quality round here.
Local TV does decent news though.
If anyone has lived in the States they’ll know how bad average TV programming is. There are some American gems, but there’s an awful lot of dross.
The UK / BBC model works.
From the Graunid article:
The days of the elderly being threatened with prison sentences and bailiffs knocking on doors are over.
The elderly never had a worry until a few years ago when the government of the day scrapped the free license fee for OAPs.
Over the last ten years the BBC has had to cut services due to government funding restrictions. BBC3 gone. Mind you it was full of young comedians take the piss out of the current government. The online content is a shadow of its former self.
I fear the quality of science and documentary content will disappear or be so watered down it’s not worth the effort. Have you tried watching anything on Channel5 for example? Intro / 4 minutes of what’s coming up / 2 minutes of content / 2 minutes of what’s coming up / adverts / 4 minutes of recap & what’s coming up / 2 minutes of content / 2 minutes of what’s coming up / adverts/ etc, etc, etc.
The news has always been fairly balanced. The right wing always complained that it was too left wing, the left wing complained it was too right wing. So somewhere in the middle then? The only issue has been to give airtime to the 1% headbangers “for balance”. It never gave the same airtime to the greens because they didn’t create controversy in such an easy value for money way the headbangers do.
The content is now set for a race to the bottom, the news content will continue to be non-confrontational so as to not further alienate its paymaster.
The irony is that for every rabid right whinger who thinks the BBC is left wing biased the rest of us are so peed off with the beeb's ridiculous attempts at complete impartiality that they've totally failed to hold the Tories to account and are complicit in Brexit, anti-vaxx and Boris still being in power. They have helped get to this point, maybe they had no choice but that just reinforces my point about circumstances getting us to this point as much as policy. Binners is right though this is pure childish spite from mad Nad. Hope the BBC realises they need to realign and court future subscribers and give the government both barrels.
Binners is right though this is pure childish spite from mad Nad.
Apparently it's part of shoring up support for the government in the face of 'Partygate'. Scrapping the license fee is popular especially among those who think the BBC is just a namby pamby liberal paedo-haven.
With healthcare, benefit system, and the media we are seemingly looking to the US and thinking 'yes please'. God help us.
Seems pointless that the BBC would hold back now, time to go balls deep and give the frothers something to get really upset about. They’re screwed now anyway.
Looks like I won’t watch live TV anymore, I’ll just record all content and skip through the adverts.
Or just pay the iPlayer subscription
BBC3 gone.
And coming back
Happy to see a slightly higher licence fee – say around £20 a month. All I watch is BBC and C4 really (and C4 is state owned too as I recall).
Many on very low incomes won't, especially if they don't watch much BBC
It was going to happen at some point, a universal funding model which is increasingly easy to avoid didn’t have a future.
This
It will also clear the magistrates court of unnecessary workload
I fear the quality of science and documentary content will disappear or be so watered down it’s not worth the effort.
It's already disappearing down the personality pap route, Brian Cox does this, Alice Roberts does that etc etc. Airtime padding watching them stare off to a far horizon or walk through the landscape.
As for radio, I'll just turn to the BBC world service, it will continue to be funded and seems to be better than most of the domestic output.
It seems odd that for example I know more about what's going on in Holland from watching tweets by the BBC reporter on the cycle path than I do from any of their other output. The BBC news website just seems to be full of clickbait pap
I've viewed the Falklands war, Blair's invasion of Irak and Brexit from France. Comparing the information avaiable to French and German citizens through their media channels with BBC news it was clear the BBC was far from objective and favoured the goverment's agenda to such an extent I would call the BBC a goverment propaganda body. As such I' be happy to see it go.
It benefits from an unjustified reputation for impartiality, which really means giving bollocks from ministers equal credibilty to well-researched information from the international intellectual and diplomatic community.
A royal charter, government finance, mates with all the right (wrong IMO) people. Giving a voice to the rich and powerful acting in their own interests rather than the interests of the vast majority of rhe people that make up the nation. The BBC is JRM's friend and your enemy.
Why do the Tories hate anything British? Why the obsession with clearing the way for foreign funded, owned and controlled media? What is so wrong with having genuinely British output paid for by the British public? Not a patriotic bone between them these “sovereign individual” “Conservatives”.
EDIT: Ed, two different things there… does the news that Brits hear here take on a bias to suit the British public and its government? Yes. Are the BBC the worst for that? No where ****ing close. Without the BBC its going to get far worse. If you think the BBC fails to be objective and hold the government to account, what do you think of the UK press…? Remember they are gunning to make Channel4 privately owned, rather than independent, as well. In the hands of JRM & Dorris we’ll soon only have the news that offshore right wing libertarian influencers want us to have.
What is so wrong with having genuinely British output paid for by the British public?
Some of us might not be understanding why that output needs presenters on £2m p.a. who claim not to be employees for tax reasons
Not sure they hate anything British it's a slow dismantling of the Big State by this libertarian government. NHS next.
. In the hands of JRM & Dorris we’ll soon only have the news that offshore right wing libertarian influencers want us to have
People won't pay for left wing TV news?
Oh look, a distraction from Office Parties at No10.
Some of us might not be understanding why that output needs presenters on £2m p.a. who claim not to be employees for tax reasons
That’s a different argument. Paying people handsomely for anchoring programmes sold all around the world to make back many times what the anchors are paid seems fine to me. It’s come about because of constrictions on funding. The BBC needs to sell abroad to fund home programming, they really have no choice but to do that these days. Popular capable anchors are part of all that. There are lots of contentious arguments we can all have about the BBC. But burning it down isn’t going to improve anything for any of us (assuming none of us are stinking rich off shore tax evaders and want to keep the UK population backing all plans to let us keep our money and power unchecked).
People won’t pay for left wing TV news?
People (as in viewers) are on the whole not willing to pay for any TV news.
It's all part of their scorched earth policy. Wether they win or lose the next election, they intend to leave the country as a bloodied carcass, ripe for the vultures to pick over.
The irony is that those amongst the public who support the government's move would miss it as much as we would. Classic biting off your nose to spite your face.
I think what has hurt the BBC the most though is over a decade of panel shows where white male Oxbridge candidates sneer lazily at conservatives. Don't know how many times I've cringed when watching them, knowing that each smug joke throws a few hundred votes Nigels way.
Unlike those white male Oxbridge candidates running the country?
It’s all part of their scorched earth policy. Wether they win or lose the next election, they intend to leave the country as a bloodied carcass, ripe for the vultures to pick over.
You know the settlement is that the new funding kicks in from 2027, we will have at least one GE before then
The BBC aren't always the worst but sometimes are. People know ( or should) to take the private press with a pinch of salt. You buy your paper to comfort your views, you expect rigorous objective analysis from the BBC, which makes it really dangerous when it isn't, and its agenda is a lot more Telegraph than Guardian.
The BBC had the most pro-war stance of any broadcaster in the Iaq war according to Cardiff university study. Yes, the worst in some cases.
People (as in viewers) are on the whole not willing to pay for any TV news.
So is the problem that no-one will pay to advertise on a left wing news channel?
People won’t pay for left wing TV news?
Much easier to play upon the population's fear than hope.
As for selling Clarkson's petrol head, **** climate change, racist, xenophobic shit around the world I'd rather they didn't. That tit Attenborough likewise, a vocal climate sceptic for far too long. Too worried about newts to grasp the bigger picture.
you expect rigorous objective analysis from the BBC
The lack of the above on it's main outlets is the biggest BBC problem ATM
So is the problem that no-one will pay to advertise on a left wing news channel?
I don’t want a “left wing news channel.” You can’t fund any news channel purely from advertising anyway. An opinion channel, maybe.
Much easier to play upon the population’s fear than hope.
Plenty of left wing fear on here,
With healthcare, benefit system, and the media we are seemingly looking to the US and thinking ‘yes please’. God help us.
must be marketable, the NHS has been up for sale for the last 40 years etc
You can’t fund any news channel purely from advertising anyway. An opinion channel, maybe.
So how long before a left wing version of GB News?
Or is someone burning a cash mountain for no reason? Or are there reasons?
Dubai, Georgia, Angola... are happy to fund at least one channel with a right/left bias so subtle I haven't worked it ou yet. 🤔
I can't think of a better way to destroy our culture that to get rid of the BBC
Welcome to the made world of the hard right
"Unlike those white male Oxbridge candidates running the country?"
Kind of exactly like those white male Oxbridge candidates running the country. Those shows did more to formulate the idea of a liberal elite within the minds of conservatives than any other factor.
The outcome of those shows was the exact opposite to their intention.
Or is someone burning a cash mountain for no reason?
GB News isn’t a news channel. It’ll never pay for itself via advertising. Ask yourself why someone is willing to burn money to get it going. None of this is relevant to my point about the BBC anyway, so I’m not continuing down this dead end with you.
A news service paid for by the public is fine and dandy with me. Flawed and frustrating as the BBC is, it’s nothing compared to what a post BBC UK media landscape would look like. Burn it down and warm yourselves in the flames for a short while if you want, but the future for the UK is only made worse by doing away with it (and Channel4/ITN news as it stands).
Yay!
It’s not impossible but that’s a dramatic headline for what is actually happening.
The BBC will have to negotiate with the government over an entirely new funding model when the final licence fee funding deal expires in 2027 – raising the prospect of a subscription service or part-privatisation.
Flawed and frustrating as the BBC is, it’s nothing compared to what a post BBC UK media landscape would look like.
Very much my view.
Seems pointless that the BBC would hold back now, time to go balls deep and give the frothers something to get really upset about.
Definitely. I recall it was always the case that until recently the Beeb gave the impression of supporting whichever party wasn't currently in government such was their excellent record of holding governments to account. Sadly that's long gone. Let's hope this move by the Toryys rverses that trend and bites them in the arse.
By the way, I don't have anything against abolishing the licence fee as long as the BBC remains publicly funded. So how about just paying for it out of general taxation? That would mean low earners in general (not just the Tories precious over 75s) wouldn't have to fork out. It's £4bn p/a, not a particularly big deal.