Slashdot Mirror
BBC To Make Deep Cuts In Internet Services
Hugh Pickens writes "The NY Times reports that the BBC has yielded to critics of its aggressive expansion, and is planning to make sweeping cuts in spending on its Web site and other digital operations. Members of the Conservative Party, which is expected to make electoral gains at the expense of the governing Labor Party, have called for the BBC to be reined in and last year James Murdoch criticized the BBC for providing 'free news' on the internet, making it 'incredibly hard for private news organizations to ask people to pay for their news.' Mark Thompson, director-general of the BBC, said 'After years of expansion of our services in the UK, we are proposing some reductions.' The BBC is proposing a 25 percent reduction in its spending on the Web, as well as the closure of several digital radio stations and a reduction in outlays on US television shows. The Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union, which represents thousands of workers at the BBC, says that instead of appeasing critics, the proposed cuts could backfire. 'The BBC will not secure the politicians' favor with these proposals and nor will the corporation appease the commercial sector, which will see what the BBC is prepared to sacrifice and will pile on the pressure for more cuts,' says Gerry Morrissey, general secretary of the union."
James Murdoch criticized the BBC for providing 'free news' on the internet, making it 'incredibly hard for private news organizations to ask people to pay for their news.'
Little James Murdoch recently also said that the BBC is killing Democracy. Funny, here I was thinking that the BBC is the only big media organization with the balls to stand up and support the democratic process, while the scholarly literature into corporate controlled media showing exact opposite. Little Dr James Murdoch must be confused... or not?
BBC have developed Dirac codec for that. It's open source and royalty free. It's a very good codec, it has reached a stable version and is soon to be standardised as VC-2, unlike theora.
The problem is DRM. A lot of BBC programs are made in conjunction with other companies, etc. "Life" was made with the discovery channel (apparently Oprah Winfrey narrates the US/Discovery version.. jesus.. they replaced a paleontologist with a chat show host. What the hell was wrong with Attenborough?).
Part of the licensing therefore involves the Discovery channel enforcing DRM on the BBC, which means open-source is out. The alternative is to stop working with Discovery which would mean half the budget. Decisions, decisions.
I wrote my first program at the age of six, and I still can't work out how this website works.
As other replies have already said, you only need a TV licence if you watch or record live TV on any device. If you have no TV and you only use iPlayer to watch TV after its already happened technically you don't need a TV licence.
However, it's actually pretty difficult to convince the authorities that you don't watch or record live TV. You're in for a world of harassment if you don't have a TV licence. The BBC just can't cope with the concept that there are people in the World who do not watch telly.
All I want is a secure system where it's easy to do anything I want. Is that too much to ask ~~ Randall Munroe
The ABC/SBS is set up like the BBC but we got rid of the licenses in the 70's. The money now comes from general taxation. Most Aussies will know the expression "My 8 cents worth". It refers to a 1990's promotion the ABC ran informing taxpayers what the ABC was costing them per day. Taking inflation into account it's probably double that now. Even if you don't personally watch it, it's still a far better investment than any of Murdoch's daily rags.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.