Mar
14
No Free Ride
ByI’ve been worried about the possibility of this for a while:
The BBC may begin to charge for international users of BBC.co.uk, an executive hinted today.
I listen to the BBC World Service online every morning and most lunchtimes. I also listen to From Our Own Correspondent and the occasional documentary each week.
I don’t see why I should get these programs for free at the expense of the UK license payer but I also don’t believe in charging for content on the Web.
All I can say is that after two-and-a-half years of PBS and NPR I thank god every day for the BBC.
7 Comments
March 14th, 2006 at 6:40 pm
things have been changing at the BBC for the past year or so…its becoming much more “american” in the way it does things. Becoming much more commercial and less loyal to its employees and audience. It’ll be interesting to see what it looks like in another years time.
March 14th, 2006 at 11:32 pm
NOOOO. I love BBC. I feel like it’s the only unbiased news in the world.
March 15th, 2006 at 4:59 am
My quality of life will be considerably dented without my daily doses of the World Service and Radio 4, but surely radio won’t be charged for, will it? I mean, it’s radio. And that’s the point of the World Service, surely, to be international. I could, of course, still listen to it on the wireless, but I like the compactness of everything being in one machine – internet, radio, e-mail, work etc. I know many think the BBC is part of an alternative axis of evil (along with the NHS and Sweden), but I can’t help tu(r)ning to them in times of trouble, I have to say.
March 15th, 2006 at 9:09 am
I have no idea. I can’t imagine them charging for streaming programmes but I could imagine them charging for podcasts–get it live (free) or subscribe (paid).
March 15th, 2006 at 2:31 pm
Hey…here’s idea….how about paying for what you want rather than having a tax imposed on you for biased propaganda you do not want. You don’t see Fox News threatening citizens with jail and a $2000 fine in THIS country, do you?
March 15th, 2006 at 3:07 pm
Erm, Rob, the license fee pays for a lot more than news. It pays for the BBC which broadcasts a wide range of television and radio programs. But you probably already knew that.
Fox News doesn’t have to charge viewers because it gets its revenue from something called advertising.
This advertising has to be broadcast regularly and is done so by interrupting the programs people are watching. In the US many channels feel the need to do this every five to ten minutes.
This could be why since moving to America, and not wishing to pay $60 a month for cable, I have stopped watching television.
Much as I like certain Fox programs and much as I disagree with certain BBC content, on the whole I think the BBC does a much better job than Fox in the very few fields that Fox competes with the BBC.
If you want to find a true competitor to the BBC, Murdoch’s Sky News is more watchable than BBC News 24.
March 15th, 2006 at 4:44 pm
A point of interest: BBC World Service is not exactly the same thing as the BBC. While the BBC is funded by the license fee and is independant of the UK government, the World Service is paid for by regular taxes and is run directly by the Foreign Office. Consequently, it pursues government policy, which is why it recently closed down a bunch of stations in Eastern Europe and are increasing their presence in the Middle East.
The BBC is biased, of course, but who isn’t. And as much as I love the BBC, the license fee is a problem.
Oh, and Rob, maybe the reason English people were so rude to you is because you keep CAPITALISING and are incredibly smug.