Why the BBC matters

Select coaches said:
Well worth the £13.37 per month I pay. In fact I’m struggling to think of any other service I pay for that gives me better value.
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Netflix
AB22 Easy Tiger said:
An example from the article from a former head of MI6

John Sawers

Every week around the world, hundreds of millions of people living under populist or oppressive regimes turn to the BBC for news they can rely on.

I saw this first as a young diplomat in Damascus in 1982, following the unfolding horrors of the massacres in Sabra and Chatila on the BBC World Service. Going for a breath of fresh air between bulletins, I realised that many gatherings in shops and cafes were tuned into the BBC Arabic Service to get objective information on what was happening in Beirut.

In South Africa at the end of apartheid, I saw how the BBC was a source of trusted news that couldn’t be slanted by the authorities. After the Cold War, we learnt just how important the BBC’s vernacular services were to those in central Europe striving for the end of Soviet domination.

In the 2000s, the BBC started to broadcast a Farsi TV channel into Iran that became immensely popular because it was trusted. The channel helped to level the playing field in the 2009 Iranian elections, which were won by the opposition candidates before the results were brutally overturned.

Today, the regimes in Russia and China do all they can to suppress the BBC’s broadcasts and websites as they don’t want their people to access reliable news. Russia has forced BBC journalists to leave. Beijing has banned all BBC World TV services and forced the Hong Kong broadcasters to cease carrying World Service radio.

All this is a testament to the BBC’s standing and influence. For most people around the world, the BBC is their first experience of Britain. As a broadcaster it is genuinely independent and is not trying to project a political line. And people discovering they could trust the BBC meant they also learned to trust Britain.

That trust contributes to our national security. As head of MI6, I talked to some of the brave people who work with us inside terrorist groups or states that threaten the UK. A recurrent theme was that they were willing to put their trust in MI6 in part because they had developed a trust in Britain from listening, often covertly, to the BBC.

None of this would be possible without the secure base the BBC has enjoyed—until now—at home. We British are going through a period of change. As we seek a new role in the world, it would be folly of the first order to undermine Britain’s biggest global brand and a wellspring of people’s trust in our country.
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Inspiring stuff
 
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cosmicchris00 said:
First of all, we shouldn't encourage people to watch drivel. Quite the opposite.

With regards the benchmark, the government decides whether we have it or not. That's why we elect them
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Agree about the government bit but if people want drivel they can choose it for me. Freedom means the option to choose what they want. Stocks can go down as well as up. The same applies to quality media. If we choose dumbness that's not my problem. It's no longer my world. It is the world of a different generation .
 
The Albanian said:
This.

If it’s as good as people say it is, it’ll be well funded by people paying their subscription

I person haven’t watched anything other than HIGNFY in the last decade so not really arsed either way what happens to it
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I used to absolutely love that programme when it started. Cannot stand it now. I’m sure it’s me and not them. Merton is on autopilot every time I’ve seen it. Haven’t watched since the studio audience was stopped because of Covid. I may have a look.
At the moment there is little comedy to be had with this government. The cabinet are already a laughing stock. It’s not really punching up anymore
 
I think it is desperately sad that this bunch of inept Brexiteers puppets are in power for so long. The damage they are doing to the country is dreadful. We don’t have a chance to get rid of them for a couple of years or so and even then there are possibly enough people who support them still.

If the BBC goes then I guess the only positive I’ll look at is it will mean I’ll watch less TV and I’ll have more time to do other stuff. I don’t watch much now - WT, Saturday Kitchen, the occasional MotD and the Science documentaries on BBC4. Plus the odd streamed series from Netflix. Other than that I don’t watch TV. I’ve got shelves of books I want to read so I will make time for them. The Tories can’t take them away….. yet.
 
mux said:
I would encourage anyone who has a problem with the BBC to spend some time watching TV in the USA.

Every single frame has some form of advert. You get far less actual television, you're watching adverts half the time. Also the programmes that are commissioned are chock full of product placement. Everything is designed around persuading you to buy something.

Like all good things the BBC will only truly be appreciated when it's gone and you have Fox News lasered into your brain 24hrs a day and we all become commercial zombies like the yanks.
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This all day long. An awful lot of things have gone down on this country based on decisions made by people who think what we have got is shit, but don't realise the consequences of getting rid of them. The BeeB is a massively respected world organisation, with a huge positive influence on our reputation abroad. It's called 'soft power' and just because you can't quantify it in money terms doesn't mean it isn't valuable. At 50p a day per household, you'd struggle to find better value.
At home, the standards it sets keeps the other broadcasters honest. It is far from perfect and I don't like a lot of its output, but I'm convinced we would be worse off without it.
 
Boris Bear said:
Netflix
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we got a lend of netflix for about a year during covid. watched loads of stuff that was canny but at the end there was hardly anything that interested us. despite it's failings the bbc offer much more than any other tv service.
Select coaches said:
I would say I watch 10 x more things on bbc than Netflix, I’m just not that bothered about US series. I would say the only thing that pushes it close for value for money is Spotify.
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i have spotify but the free version. i can live with the odd advert now and then or is there more benefits?
 
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It's not massively the programming folk have a problem with, that being said a fair bit over steps the woke threshold. It's the power it has, not to mention the huge salaries and bloated positions and of course folk getting pestered for the License fee. Eg this bloke I watched right at the very start of covid and was so ultra cautious with his micro analysing I thought a Government backed youtuber and stopped watching shortly after. Just look what the BBC have done to the bloke.
 
Redandwhitedust said:
Personally I think its time the BBC underwent massive reform, and scaled back a lot. Theres way too much dross on there, way too much pointless content, and way too many over-inflated salaries. I'd like to see it focus on what it does best, and stop trying to please everyone all of the time. Stick to straightforward news, radio and the like. Its going to struggle to compete in other areas, such as drama, where commercial producers can do so much better on higher budget.

But I wouldn't get rid of it. It has a place, provided it can be apolitical. Which at times has been questioned, but also it has been called "too right wing" by the left, and "too left wing" by the right, which suggests its somewhere in the middle.
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It has to appeal to EVERYONE. I assume the 'dross' you refer to is the stuff you personally don't like? If not please expand.

People are different mate. I don't listen to Radio 1 or Radio 3 for e.g. but that's no reason to get rid of them as loads of other people do listen to them and love them.

Get rid of the BBC and we will all be watching reality TV most of the time with 5 minute advert breaks every ten minutes. Be careful what you wish for.
 
tynevalleyblackcat said:
It has to appeal to EVERYONE. I assume the 'dross' you refer to is the stuff you personally don't like? If not please expand.

People are different mate. I don't listen to Radio 1 or Radio 3 for e.g. but that's no reason to get rid of them as loads of other people do listen to them and love them.

Get rid of the BBC and we will all be watching reality TV most of the time with 5 minute advert breaks every ten minutes. Be careful what you wish for.
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Just ignored the fact you were bullshitting about Manchester then?
 
tynevalleyblackcat said:
It has to appeal to EVERYONE. I assume the 'dross' you refer to is the stuff you personally don't like? If not please expand.

People are different mate. I don't listen to Radio 1 or Radio 3 for e.g. but that's no reason to get rid of them as loads of other people do listen to them and love them.

Get rid of the BBC and we will all be watching reality TV most of the time with 5 minute advert breaks every ten minutes. Be careful what you wish for.
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And a huge hole in our soft power around the world
 
Just where would be be without the good old beeb?,

Jesus f***ing wept Stuff your f***ing adds and Boris Johnston and his Conservative bum chums up your brainwashing arse
 

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