The BBC

i love the bbc.

i know y'all are gonna be in here soon with all the stupid shit they have done. it matters not. the bbc is one of the few reasons i am proud to be british.

I think the BBC is incredible. The way state broadcasting should be done. Terriffic. There is nothing like it anywhere.

I dig the BBC.

It's gone way too far in the populist shit for brains ITV direction in recent times and it does pander to the government a touch too much, certainly since the whole David Kelly affair, but the day the government removes its charter and it has to start gaining revenue from advertising will be a sad day indeed.

Hooray BBC

Boooo, telly with adverts.

The BBC is about as good as it gets.

NOT CRAP, none of those things.

The BBC is absolutely exceptional. Plus the Open University broadcasting free on BBC two is wonderful. Anyone with a VHS and enough time can get a university education for peanuts if they're willing to put the effort.

Waffle factor - the hype, occassional censorship, and a lot (and i mean a lot) of stereotype based programming.

They've made about 4 mistakes and gotten it right the other 10 billion times.
I'm not one to use terms like "class act," but they are a total class act.

I listen to NPR because it's the best we've got here, but it's no BBC. Except, of course, when they are broadcasting the BBC, which says a lot about whom they align themselves with.

I used to listen on shortwave.
Then the internets.
I currently have free XM in my car and I have no idea why, but it gets me BBC 24 hours a day and that makes me happy.

-A

Earwicker wrote:... it does pander to the government a touch too much, certainly since the whole David Kelly affair, but the day the government removes its charter and it has to start gaining revenue from advertising will be a sad day indeed.

The Gilligan/Kelly debacle and the subsequent Hutton inquiry certainly weakened the BBC's ability to act independently. It saddened me to see the government targeting the organization for reasons of political expediency (namely the increasing pressure from Murdoch's monopolies to curtail their remit) and use the Gilligan Affair as a smokescreen for it's more nefarious deeds in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. Greg Dyke's defence of the BBC was very admirable:

I accept that the BBC made errors of judgement and I've sadly come to the conclusion that it will be hard to draw a line under this whole affair while I am still here. We need closure. We need closure to protect the future of the BBC, not for you or me but for the benefit of everyone out there. It might sound pompous but I believe the BBC really matters.

I'm gobsmacked by the BBC's ability to sustain diverse niche broadcsting in a world that's becoming more and more homogenous.

Not Crap

I'd happily pay my licence fee for Radio Four alone. An astonishing and brilliant institution.

(I understand why they've decided to do it but axing World Service broadcasting in many central European countries in favour of a fledging Arabic TV station - an already crowded market - could very well fall flat. A minor quibble though, several hats off.)

steve wrote:I think the BBC is incredible. The way state broadcasting should be done. Terriffic. There is nothing like it anywhere.

I agree w/ this. The CBC sucks (and is underfunded) by comparison. Some programs on Radio 4 I seldom miss:

From Our Own Correspondent
In Our Time
Thinking Allowed