The BBC - what's left to cut? - Printable Version
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RE: The BBC - what's left to cut? - Former Member 237 - 16-12-2023
There is no reason why they could not have a channel still going with adverts while on demand is subscription. Something like Pick TV if you like where some stuff is shown, the newer stuff will be behind the sub. A preview channel of sorts which will allow those that cannot afford a subscription to view.
I don’t think it’s going to work if there is anything compulsory. If people are not subscribing, the content is not good enough to be frank. This is a challenge but it’s possible to overcome. I don’t think the bbc should be afraid of this, I suspect the majority of people would subscribe.
RE: The BBC - what's left to cut? - all new phil - 16-12-2023
The subscription idea is a non-starter. The BBC is the national broadcaster and needs to be universally accessible.
RE: The BBC - what's left to cut? - Former Member 237 - 16-12-2023
(16-12-2023, 11:11 AM)all new phil Wrote: The subscription idea is a non-starter. The BBC is the national broadcaster and needs to be universally accessible.
I’m not really sure that’s the case once the license fee ends. As I have previously said, BBC news will always be public, and with a channel broadcasting (general BBC content) that is free, this mandate is met. It would still be accessible to all for free. You’d pay if you want on demand access or some combination of that. Is there a way to pay for the BBC which isn’t compulsory and allows access to all? Adverts are of course the obvious choice in that case and perhaps premium for those that want it as ITV do?
Anything compulsory in my mind is also a non starter. They need to find another solution.
RE: The BBC - what's left to cut? - Toby brown - 16-12-2023
You actually can't put the BBC on subscription because freeview and radio don't have conditional access technology on them
RE: The BBC - what's left to cut? - Former Member 237 - 16-12-2023
(16-12-2023, 11:59 AM)Toby brown Wrote: You actually can't put the BBC on subscription because freeview and radio don't have conditional access technology on them
That’s not what I suggested. Please re-read the posts. The channel on freeview would be free. Only streaming would be chargeable via BBC app or website.
RE: The BBC - what's left to cut? - Rdd - 16-12-2023
There’s been a CAS on UK DTT before, in the days of ONdigital and Top-Up TV, that’s not insurmountable.
But a subscription BBC won’t look anything like a FTA BBC. It would probably look more like Sky, bidding for the kind of content that attracts premium subscribers - premium sports rights, Hollywood movies and shows. It would probably still make major British dramas and other scripted output, and reality TV. However do not expect that the type of content that populates BBC Two and Four would be made any more, at least to the extent that it is now.
In fact in the battle for subs it would probably be Sky’s biggest competitor. I’d expect a subscription BBC to bet the house on winning an FAPL live rights package very early on. It’s the biggest driver of pay tv subs in the UK market and an essential purchase for a player the size of the BBC, if it wants to (or rather is forced to) play in the subscription tv market
But a public service broadcaster, it won’t be. Maybe Channel 4 and ITV would occupy that space.
RE: The BBC - what's left to cut? - rkolsen - 16-12-2023
What about cutting it down to BBC 1, 2, News, Parliament, CBeeBies and CBBC?
Doesn’t Parliament just carry proceedings in the HoC, and committees? I imagine they have a few producers but do they make original programming?
RE: The BBC - what's left to cut? - Former Member 2410 - 16-12-2023
I suspect in the next two-three years, the BBC linear services will be cut back to something similar to 'rkolsen's post - basic PSB services, freely available to all:
BBC One
BBC Two
BBC News
BBC Parliament
CBeebies
Everything else will be available on iPlayer / Sounds. How that would be funded remains a bigger question of course. I suspect it could be a 'hybrid' model - a tax of some sort (addition to Council tax, separate new tax, something else) or a government levy of some kind for the PSB basics, and subscription for other things.
RE: The BBC - what's left to cut? - Neil Jones - 16-12-2023
(16-12-2023, 12:45 PM)rkolsen Wrote: What about cutting it down to BBC 1, 2, News, Parliament, CBeeBies and CBBC?
Doesn’t Parliament just carry proceedings in the HoC, and committees? I imagine they have a few producers but do they make original programming?
Parliament doesn't have any budget for original programming, that was all scrapped years ago when the budget was cut to practically nothing. Occasional Parliament fillers (such as A-Z of Parliament) come out when there's a short gap if a committee meeting finishes early but those fillers were made long before the current budget.
BBC Parliament is effectively a rebroadcast of the feeds coming out of Parliament with extra graphics, and somebody has do those, but I think since it now looks like BBC News its probably personnel from that department feeding the graphics.
RE: The BBC - what's left to cut? - all new phil - 16-12-2023
(16-12-2023, 11:36 AM)Former Member 237 Wrote: I’m not really sure that’s the case once the license fee ends. As I have previously said, BBC news will always be public, and with a channel broadcasting (general BBC content) that is free, this mandate is met. It would still be accessible to all for free. You’d pay if you want on demand access or some combination of that. Is there a way to pay for the BBC which isn’t compulsory and allows access to all? Adverts are of course the obvious choice in that case and perhaps premium for those that want it as ITV do?
Anything compulsory in my mind is also a non starter. They need to find another solution.
I don’t understand why you can’t see beyond a subscription service. We have plenty of those already.
Like it or not there is value in having a state broadcaster that everyone contributes to. Just as there is value in having libraries, museums, schools, hospitals, even if we don’t all use them. There are certainly discussions to be had about just how much the BBC should be doing, and I’m as vocal about that as anybody, but the current system where people essentially opt in to pay isn’t the right way of funding it. It shouldn’t be about ‘I don’t watch it so I shouldn’t pay’ and framing the council tax proposal as compulsory is bad faith.