BBC CONSULTATION - Government plans to rip out the heart of the BBC

Have a look at this: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/bbc-consultation-thankyou

It just took me just a few minutes to fill in the official survey about the future of the BBC.

Government plans to rip out the heart of the BBC are taking shape. Imagine a BBC where newsnight is riddled with adverts. Or a BBC so underfunded that independent news becomes a thing of the past and the airwaves are dominated by Rupert Murdoch’s media. This is what the Government wants - we need to stop them.

Just before the summer break, the government snuck out a ‘public consultation’ on the future of the BBC. It’s full of gobbledegook questions - they were obviously hoping that nobody would respond! So the 38 Degrees staff team has ‘translated’ the questions into plain English, and the time’s come to make sure they hear our voices.

Without our voices, the government can claim that people don’t care about the future of the BBC, opening the doors to Murdoch. So can you add your voice and stand up for the BBC? Just click this link to fill out the survey now:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/bbc-consultation-thankyou

I’ve included my responses to the survey questions below:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

How well is the BBC serving its national and international audiences?

The BBC, despite the shortfall in its income (and costs for world service being wrongly charged to them instead of the government), provides a prestigious and excellent service. I regularly listen to Radio 2, 3, 4, 4extra and 6 music, and the majority of my TV viewing is on BBC One, Two, Four and occasionally BBC Three. The catch-up and other i-player functions are proving indispensable. Natural History is a particular strength.

Which elements of universality are most important for the BBC?

Drama, Documentaries and entertainment provided by the BBC are generally of a very high standard and must be maintained alongside their news and current affairs coverage. Sport, which is nowadays very commercialized, would be best handed over to the commercial channels.

Is the BBC’s content sufficiently high quality and distinctive from that of other broadcasters? What could improve it?

Improvement is difficult to contemplate as the BBC's content generally stands head & shoulders above other media providers.

Where does the evidence suggest the BBC has a positive or negative wider impact on the market?

The BBC has always been a provider of quality programmes, whilst many of the commercial providers seem to revel in catering to the lowest denominator.

Is the expansion of the BBC’s services justified in the context of increased choice for audiences? Is the BBC crowding out commercial competition and, if so, is this justified?

I value the range of services provided by the BBC and, I consider that any well managed commercial organization has only itself to blame if it cannot stand up to the competition! Only the weak fear competition!

Has the BBC been doing enough to deliver value for money? How could it go further?

Excellent value for money. It could however stop paying exorbitant salaries / fees to presenters such as Wogan, Evans, and the unlamented Clarkson.

How should we pay for the BBC and how should the licence fee be modernised?

 

I would be happy to pay more for the current arrangement but with welfare benefits paid (toward the cost) for the less well off

Who knows why the axe falls (this particular way)? - an impromptu rant

Seems like the Director-General of the BBC is determined to get rid of 6 Music and the Asian Network but, I'm still trying to get my head around the logic of these cuts. For a start, the cost of running 6 Music could all be covered by a couple of years of the kind of salary that the Beeb (over)paid certain self-important presenters. Perhaps some of these could be made to work for rather less obscene salaries.

If the argument is that they've to leave some leeway for the commercial stations then, it's strange that they decide to cut stations that are nowhere duplicated by the standard commercial station fare. Of course, if the BBC were to cut its more populist programmes that would provide fodder for those who've always resented the beeb, "just look, this poptastic commercial station is getting more listeners than R1/R2, why should we license payers be providing this less popular service?" At the same time, I suspect that most of the moguls (and would be moguls) in the commercial broadcasting field are only in favour of the kind of competition that leaves the public service broadcasters hands tied; they're all for competition as long as it's on their own terms! 

One can't help feeling that much of the "mainstream" music output is little more than a promotional audio for the giant corporations of the music industry. Who decides to plug such and such "record of the week" or "album of the week"?

There is a suggestion that some of the "best" of 6  Music's output can be slotted into the Radio 2 schedule; is this a way of saying that there's a fair bit of dross to be cut out of Radio 2? What about Radio 3, after all Classic FM produces a (very) diluted version of much of it's music output, no suggestion of cutting that station though. I listen frequently to Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, occasionally to 6 Music and Radio 7, so I've no particular axe to grind, I also frequently watch BBC2, BBC4, BBC1 and occasionally BBC3 and, I feel that an argument could be made for merging much of the output of BBC4 & BBC2 and even parts of BBC3 & BBC1 but, somehow television seems to be something of a sacred cow.

Come to think of it, much of the non-music output of Radio 3 would be equally at home on Radio 4 but, somehow, their demographic is of a social standing that the beeb's hierarchs are afraid of upsetting. Most of the musical output of Radios 1 & 2 is difficult to distinguish from that emanating from a plethora of commercial stations but, 6 Music rings the changes; there's a message here, "if you don't conform you're for the chop", a definite air of conservatism.