Should the licence fee be abolished and the the BBC made commercial ? (Page 2 of 2)

No, that'll be a fault, almost certainly in your setup. I'm talking about the artifacts resulting from bitrates which are too low and excessive automatic audio level compression which are relatively subtle effects.

I have to agree with Tim, although it's more fun to disagree with him.
Commercial American television is an abomination, and it gets worse all the time.
It's just unbearable, appeals to the blissfully ignorant, and needs to be nuked --
it's the only rational way to deal with it. On the other hand, our public TV, and radio
too, with their inevitable failings, are miles above the fray of commercial.
"No one ever went broke, underestimating the taste of the American public."

I'm also with Tim on this. The R4 Media Show mentioned last week that there is room in the fee for it to be reduced as part of it is paying for the roll out of digital television (and digital radio, to a lesser extent). And there's also a chunk being committed to greater broadband rollout in the UK.

The fact is, the licence isn't compulsory. You can own a TV but just not one which is tuned to any stations broadcast from the UK (so no getting round it by only watching Sky). Do without that and you still have free access to all the radio.

It may only be a matter of time before broadband access lumbers you with having to have a licence. Meanwhile, less than £3 a week seems good value for all the radio I listen to plus the occasional Sherlock.

I don't agree with the sanctimonious bilge being put out last weekend about the top executives' pay. Need to recruit commercial class executives, indeed. Didn't need it for Greg Dyke, arguably the most imaginative appointment for DG in a couple of decades.

Has Tony got a book out - is it good?

But seriously, a quick glance at the posts above and agree with Tim and MM wholeheartedly - American TV was dire when I was there 30 years ago. It appears to be in danger of going the same way here. My daughters get drawn to the reality crap - the latest being some show where morons date in the dark and they find they can't stand each other in the light because they don't look right. And loads of programmes on teenage moms. Just horrible. And to think a couple of weeks ago, half the TVs in the land were tuned to the X factor. God bless the Beeb - must say I don't pick up on an obvious political bias but I don't scrutinise too much.

The girls are obsessed with "Desperate Housewives" at the moment. I have not watched a whole episode yet, but the bits I have sat in on have been rather amusing - it does seem to be rather good.

Phil

I must say in the overall scheme of things I don't object paying a licence fee as it is small beer compared to things one can't escape like council tax, road tax, etc. It is also optional as one can have a TV to just watch DVDs, etc, and not need a licence fee. Not sure how one would stand watching TV on a computer?

On Tony, I think high profile public figures should be banned from writing autobiographies. Personally, I am not interested in any of them. I look for them to do the job they are paid for as best as possible and do not want to hear all the dirt dished out afterwards. Inevitably, there will be disagreements and mistakes as it comes with the job, but just bloody well have some dignity and keep quiet about it. I am not a Mrs T fan, but think that she did not rush her memoirs out if indeed any were ever published - maybe I am wrong.

Phil

Last edited by Phil Bishop (2010-09-01 22:53:30)