United Kingdom

Just another reminder that Murdoch told Johnson to get rid of the BBC. Since then Tories have been gunning for it with fervour. The fact that Grade has such close links with the Tory party and its bidding just puts this into context. The way Ofcom has been ran during the Tory reign is very indicative that he is willing to follow the party line.

The BBC currently is a steaming pile of poop. The Tories have ruined it. But as an institution it holds massive soft power for the UK. It doesn't need scrapping, it needs reform on who controls it. Having a government control the narrative of the media is an abuse of power. It needs an independent body to control how the BBC is set up. That would only ever come from a cross party group set up after each GE.

oh its one of those rare optional taxes which you dont have to pay. Not a tax, its a choice.

probably should be a subscription model. that way you can choose to not pay it just as you can already. Itll just take away a perfectly good world class production company which makes a flipping fortune for UK Plc, into the hands of private companies. You think its expensive but it brings a stupid amount in through sales and worldwide syndication. It makes far more than it costs, its a superb company which should be protected.

It is and it isn't. It's regressive that we all pay the same. It isn't because it is still a choice whether you choose to watch TV or not.

I'd happily have it funded by tax in theory. However, only if it was guaranteed somehow but knowing Tories would gut it straight away means I would never support this. Other parties might choose to reduce funding to serve political needs.

We also need to think how much we get for the price really. It pays for decent news coverage (especially internationally), Welsh language shows, weather, radio stations (with a lot of support to all types of music/ musicians, especially non mainstream and small artists), children's education (tv channels and bitesize), food recipes (they have a lot of healthy newsletters). The news is contentious with some people but its only a small part of it all. They have also pushed creative, technological and social boundaries.

The BBC is the UK's NASA!!! We should be proud of it, push to keep it going and as with everything, push to improve it to serve us as people.

I used bitesize just the other week to remind me of multiplying fractions as applying to do a degree as a mature student. It was such good content for free and there was much more on so many topics.

They have a lot of TV shows that private producers like netflix would never make. They cater for making money for shareholders only. How many good tv shows do they cancel because not profitable anymore? How many shows for ethnic minorities or small parts of the country do they make?

We should also support the ITV and Channel 4. They are differently operated to how a private company would be even without fees but do so much less than the BBC because they don't get fees so is not a real alternative option. They challenge the BBC and produce a wider mix of content. I never watch ITV tbh but appreciate people must do.

Let's take away any political influence (e.g. choosing the chair and board), make sure its accountable to the UK public by ensuring its independence from the current government so it can actually challenge them, and make sure its following aims like increase access to culture of all types, support British creators, support/represent all parts of the community, help teach us and our kids, give us information how/ when we need it and make us proud!

Wow, this was supposed to be one or two lines but I got carried away!

TL:DR: the BBC does so much more than we often think about (TV, radio, news, weather, children's shows, Bitesize, recipes etc). Let's make it properly independent from govt and help it carry on supporting the British people in the many ways it already does so.

It's been classed as a tax since the mid naughties...https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200506/ldselect/ldbbc/128/128i.pdf

This is the best summary I could come up with:

The head of Britain’s media regulator and a former chair of the BBC, Michael Grade, has described the broadcaster’s licence fee a “regressive tax” that needs to be re-examined by the government.

Pointing out that both he, a well-paid executive, and a single mother living on a low income, pay the same £159 licence fee, the former ITV and Channel 4 boss said one of the big questions for the next BBC charter review was whether the broadcaster should be allowed to compete for advertising revenue against commercial stations.

In an interview with Financial Times, Grade said he believed that the BBC needed to be more “independent and transparent” in its approach to how complaints are handled, something he said Ofcom has “pushed quite hard” for.

The government is interviewing a shortlist of about 10 candidates to replace Grade, who was picked as chair of Ofcom after Boris Johnson’s attempt to appoint the former editor of the Daily Mail, Paul Dacre, was overruled.

Ofcom has employed an additional 350 people to handle the extra workload from the recently passed Online Safety Act, which imposes rules for tech groups on harmful and illegal content.

Ofcom will have powers to require tech groups to use “accredited technology” to search encrypted services for illegal content, which has raised objections from the industry.

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