BBC 4 to be axed?

Perhaps - the spectre hasn't been raised (yet), but politicians think they're so important that I imagine threatening to close down the only channel devoted to them, regardless of its viewership, won't go down well.

I wouldn't argue for scrapping the local politics opt though, although I suppose they could combine it into the local news.

The real danger is that, if the BBC axes the Parliament channel, that's opening up the chance for Sky to create their own service. That could in the long term diminish the argument for the license fee, and thus be an own-goal for the BBC.

I'm not saying that I'd like to see that happen, just that hinting that budget cuts are likely to remove one of the main opportunities MPs have to appear on TV might prompt some action.

As this is the most current thread that pertains to BBC Four, it might be worth mentioning that the channel's current idents notch up exactly ten years on air this evening.

I really can't see any scenario where closing BBC Parliament would be justified (in the short or medium term).

It's possibly the best example of public service broadcasting out there. It's exactly the sort of thing the BBC needs to do.

As nobody watches though is it really a public service. The government repeatedly say everything has to be considered, so BBC Parliament shouldn't be above that. This also isn't about the broadcasting of parliament - the BBC already offer a superior service with Democracy Live which could be rolled out as a replacement in the same way an online portal is supposedly replacing BBC3 and a connected service could replace the news channel. If the BBC can't justify a broadcast channel watched by hundreds of thousands every night, they can't justify a broadcast channel watched by just a few thousand.

There is also the question of whether it is the BBC's role to be the broadcast of parliamentary affairs and whether the licence fee should foot the bill for that. Granted the bill isn't that huge in the grand scheme of things, but it is sending an awful message to the licence fee payer if the axing of BBC Parliament isn't at least considered as part of the current reviews.

Plus the savings of cutting BBC Parliament are only £10.5million, although BBC Parliament does have the second highest budget-to-audience ratio after CBBC. The lowest are CBeebies and BBC News.

Given that parliamentary broadcasts are already on the parliamentary websites, the 'value add' that the BBC Parliament brings is a small selection of original programs and election replays. And those could easily be broadcast elsewhere, including as part of an online-only service.

That said, I absolutely accept that the potential budgetary savings from axing BBC Parliament would be small in the grand scheme of things. And I imagine there would be a backlash against the BBC from some politicians if it were to ever propose shutting the service - although others might appreciate the lack of dedicated TV channel to parliamentary affairs!

Giving Parliament more visibility via having a TV channel can only be a good thing. Surely our Government's activities are important enough not to be restricted solely to those who can use the internet.

Important to remember that broadcast itself adds value.

Watching online requires a separate regular payment to an ISP or mobile broadband provider (many of which will involve plans that incur a data cap or additional charged which limits the amount of streaming) - which isn't required for viewing terrestrial or satellite broadcasts, and streaming-quality broadband is still not universally available or adopted compared to TV viewing.

Sure. But that's true of all BBC TV services. The question is, given budget constraints, do the benefits to the community of broadcasting services that are already provided online (including the potentially avoided cost for some users of internet connection fees) outweigh the costs.

I don't know what the audience profile for BBC Parliament is, but I suspect it is generally viewed for relatively short periods of time, and many viewers are probably watching for professional reasons - perhaps at work.

My question on these proposals are how would everybody watch these channels online on an already slow and crippled UK broadband infrastructure?

If a family of two parents and three kids wanted to watch these channels online simultaneously in their own home; they might have the nonsensical problem of having their broadband connection being regularly throttled to keep within the means of their broadband subscription.

Depending on the different hours of the day this issue could mean that everybody in that home cannot have an opportunity to watch them at the very same time. The only suitable way to watch these channel is through a reliable signal is through linear TV.

These problems of going online all started going down the pan when BBC Three was touted to be there by Tony Hall.

I am in agreement that he has been a hugely disappointing DG for the BBC. He probably does not understand the many problems faced by the British public of what it is like when it comes to not having a suitable and stable broadband connection for their own home. The way in which I would access it is that same British public are not trying to be greedy with him, they are trying in some way to be realistic with him. The public are not looking for proposals that aren't half baked of the DG's head. The public are trying a find solutions with the BBC in which they can be more effective in their own infrastructure in which they pay for. The public in effect pay for the BBC with a licence fee when they watch live TV. The public should expect their money to be spent in a tangible and realistic manner in return for their payment of the fee. They don't expect anything less from that like overspending on wages and not listening to the public through an ineffective communications process.

I also don't watch BBC Parliament regularly if at all because I don't have a big time consuming interest in anything in political matters. But I do watch both BBC Three and BBC Four regularly as I see their programmes a couple of nights a week as I love to watch them to be entertained on those channels.