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Government Could Ban BBC From Showing Top Shows at Peak Times (theguardian.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The BBC is on a collision course with the government over reported efforts to bar it from showing popular shows at peak viewing times. The culture secretary, John Whittingdale, is widely expected to ban the broadcaster from going head-to-head with commercial rivals as part of the BBC charter review. He is due to publish a white paper within weeks that will set out a tougher regime as part of a new royal charter to safeguard the service for another 11 years. ITV has complained about licence fee money being used to wage a ratings battle with it and other channels funded by advertising. A source at the BBC said the public would be deeply concerned if it were forced to move programmes such as Strictly Come Dancing, Doctor Who and Sherlock from prime time weekend slots.In some unrelated news, Clarkson, Hammond, and May are still figuring out the name for their new show.
Kill the Beeb's ratings and then they'll claim it can't compete and should be shut down or sold off to one of their cronies for pennies.
Who the heck watches non-sports TV "live" at this point? DVR it people! Get the app!
the commercial guys don't seem to understand Netflix. No amount of bribing the Goberment is going to save them.
:T:R:A:N:S:
If ordinary people are loosing money, then sadly there is nothing to do about it.
If rich people are loosing money, or not getting as much as they want, then the rules must be changed. Even, as in this case, it is detrimental to everybody else.
Solution: Adblock and piracy.
I'm trying to remember the last programme by ITV that I regularly watched. Last time I looked it was a bunch of generic cheap reality crap. I guess there's Downton Abbey but that's done now. Seriously, ITV made its bed and is now complaining that people don't want to watch crappy shows that get broken up every few mins by adverts. What a shock. The problem for ITV isn't the time the programmes are on, but rather VOD services such as iPlayer meaning people don't sit in front to the TV any more at a specific time and they definitely don't want to watch adverts. ITV Player is a joke by the way. Netflix and iPlayer. Job done.
"I have the attention span of a strobe lit goldfish, please get to the point quickly!"
I just need to know what time Benny Hill comes on.
You are welcome on my lawn.
to see the commercial broadcast channels encourage the government to push more viewers towards adopting online viewing. The notion of supporting something that benefits their ecosystem is going to look much better in hindsight. Netflix will be the beneficiary, even if they don't carry the displaced content.
John Whittingale is an old friend of Rupert Murdoch.
http://www.independent.co.uk/n...
Rather than selling it off (which the Tories will attempt), just operate it under exactly the same model as Channel 4. Publicly owned but commercially operated, and with the same remit it currently has. That seems to work pretty well for Channel 4 and can have equal guarantees as to its independence and character.
The main point is, if they just sell it off we will have permanently lost something of unique value just for some quick money. I don't see that as a good deal.
The Tories aren't going to sell it off, so your premise is false from the start.
I hope you're right, but I don't agree. Given the chance they will float it for quick bucks and a nod of the head from Murdock and chums.
If the BBC is biased (it is), the Guardian more so. They're joined at the hip. They share stafff and stories. For example, in the week when the UK Labour Party have been rocked to the core by racism, the BBC choose to headline the football. The Guardian's headline is about synthetic cannabis.
Don't quote the Guardian about the BBC, and vice-versa.
This is the kind of BS you have to worry about when you have government doing things it shouldn't be doing, like running a national TV network
Yes, I envy the USA and the wonderful, unbiassed, philanthropic networks run by massive multinational corporations - and the great thing is, freedom of choice: you can choose to watch the network run by the massive multinational corporation who's entrenched interests best represents your interests. Plus, of course, the US networks are famous for never censoring or regulating content.
Oh, yes, there's public broadcasting in the US. I remember watching a show on one such channel once when visiting the US: it was the original British version of House of Cards (not the Netflix US remake) in which the anti-hero F.U. takes on (and outwits) the King who Didn't Resemble Charles At All... the US channel actually prefaced it with a little lecture about the evils of monarchy* just in case any USA viewers started rooting for the King (because although F.U. was an evil, corrupt murdering bastard, he had been democratically elected after democratically murdering/smearing/blackmailing his opponents). Not sure which sponsor had insisted on that little rider. (NB: the UK monarch doesn't actually get to run the country - I'm still not a fan, but we need the tourism and the alternative would probably be to outsource the whole bunch to Disney who'd be far more likely to interfere with running the country)
Anyway, at least PBS doesn't run those adverts telling you how wonderful it is that you get to watch adverts because they protect your right to choose products made by the companies that can afford the most adverts (seriously - Philip K Dick would be proud. This was some years ago, are they still running?)
NB: The government doesn't run the BBC, but every 10 years or so they get the chance to re-write the charter under which it operates. That's what's happening at the moment - and the current government would quite like to shut it down to keep their friends in big media companies happy. You can tell the government doesn't run the BBC because if they did they'd have already shut it down.
* Citation needed, I know, but it was a while ago and the bruise where my jaw hit the floor has long gone. It was certainly a "did that just happen?" moment.
In a survey of 100 programmers, 111111 thought that duck-typing was a good idea.
No, the proper question should have been "What the fuck are you on? And are you sharing it?"
The BBC is on a collision course with the government like my nose is on a collision course with my face
Yes, I envy the USA and the wonderful, unbiassed, philanthropic networks run by massive multinational corporations
Yes, because the BBC has never shown bias or having an agenda driven by politics.
and the great thing is, freedom of choice: you can choose to watch the network run by the massive multinational corporation who's entrenched interests best represents your interests
Yes, there are a great number of choices, and you know, sometimes entertainment is just entertainment and not a corporate conspiracy to do their bidding. Of course, you can always go online or do whatever. But thank god you have the BBC to save you from the horrible fate of American television viewers!
when you have government doing things it shouldn't be doing, like running a national TV network
Americans may find this difficult to comprehend but there is a huge difference between "state funded" and "state run". This is why the USPO has fallen to bits, republicans tied the hands of USPTO managers by dictating prices of everything they sold, ie: they made and enforced all the financial decisions at the local post office, it was a deliberate (and successful) effort of the part of FED-ex and others lobbying to kill the "unfair" competition. It won't be so easy to pull down the BBC, it's has way more respect from the public than Murdoch and his pet government(s).
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
Well, I must admit ITV has a point, it's really unfair that BBC is producing topshows with public money, whereas ITV has to pay for them themselves and have to compete with those publicly paid for shows.. It's not as simple as 'well they have to make better shows then', as IMHO shows like Dr Who or any 'entertainment show', shouldn't even be done by public services. BBC is just acting as any other commercial network, and therefore doesn't really have a real purpose anymore, and should go back to doing educational/information shows/broadcasts.. The big shows are produced by the same companies that produce for commercial networks anyway...
This is the kind of BS you have to worry about when you have government doing things it shouldn't be doing, like running a national TV network
You're right about "government doing things it shouldn't be doing". The BBC is established under a Royal Charter which is supposed to make it a public institution independent of the government of the day. However, governments of the day have never really been able to keep their hands off - from widespread security vetting of BBC staff, heavy-handed threats relating to programs on defence and security issues through to the latest plundering of the TV licence revenue to fund welfare and broadband iniatives at the cost of programming (including one TV channel lost).
The government is supposed to leave running the BBC's national TV networks (and radio networks) to the BBC, but the BBC has always been supine in the face of government pressure (partly because the government can, in the end, turn off the money and partly because its oversight board is stuffed with government appointees many of whom are looking forward to their next sinecure) with the inevitable consequence that each demand is more onerous than the last.
The BBC is one example of the Public Sector beating the Private sector hands down, the NHS is another. This is why the Tories are trying to cripple it.
You must also remember who Whittingdale is, this is the guy who had his shenanigans and hypocrisy covered up by Sky/News International because he is one of their own and going after the BBC for them.
The way I read the article, it seemed to imply that people still watch non-sports TV shows *LIVE* over in the UK. That can't be right... can it?
That's what I was thinking, moving your best shows off primetime slots only means DVR recording conflicts! Learn to make your commercials look good at 5X speed and your golden!
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
Yeah, putting the US Patent and Trademark Office in charge of delivering the mail was probably a bad idea.
The new Tivo allows auto skipping of commercials on recorded programs. You hit the green D button and it just flashes to the end of the break, no fast forward at all.
It is a beautiful thing.
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?