BBC . . . we should decide!

If you're arguing, Robert, as seems to be the case from your first post in this thread, that "he who pays the piper" should "call the tune", then your point about direct payment is far clearer in the case of Sky television.

Why aren't you pressing Mr Murdoch to allow his subscribers to schedule the channels to which they subscribe?

When you pay Sky, you DO pay them directly; when you pay for the BBC, it's via a licence fee to the government, so almost as indirectly as paying for ITV through your can of baked beans.

whos robert?

I guess at your age I wasn't that fussed about documentaries either, and I do understand how you can be almost tired of learning when doing A Levels etc and that TV is used primarily to relax as a break from other things. When you've been at work a few years, a good documentary (which are rare) can be a joy to see and to learn new things! I apologise if my last post was a little harsh on you - I've eaten tea now so my frustrations of the day are now considerably less!

a break would suggest that they restart at some point. do you intend the BBC have their entire schedules based around your life Mr Marsh?

Isn't the fundamental difference between paying for the BBC and paying indirectly for Commercial TV, the fact you are forced to pay the TV License to watch ANY sort of television. Even if you never watch any of the BBC’s output, you are still paying to own your television. Therefore surely we have greater rights to control what the BBC broadcasts. No one is forcing you to watch a Commercial channel like ITV, and you are not paying especially to watch it. So we can’t have power over a broadcaster if we don’t directly fund them (and I don’t consider buying Nike trainers a way of paying to watch ITV). Subscription channels are a different matter – personally I think in return the viewer should have to endure no adverts, or at least fewer than normal. If we fund a channel, we should have a say. If you buy something from Tesco you don’t like, you take it back and get a refund. It’s our right to do so. It should be similar with Subscription TV: we should be allowed to play a role in deciding what is broadcast and what isn’t.

yellow.
(sorry for the rant...)

I don't pretend that the licience fee or the BBC is perfect but it is a small price to pay for a relatively independant news organisation with no hidden agenda. At present we have been lucky in this country with news and information bias - look to the USA and the likes of the right wing lobbyists have huge sway over what is broadcast & dropped. That is not far away these days. The Springer opera complaints were about 85% generated by right wing groups from the US.

you're paying for ITV even if you don't own a TV

The same thing is true if I buy a jar of Dolmio (not that I would). I would be paying for the muppet characters to appear on ITV whether I choose to watch or not.



I refer the gentleman to the answer I gave some moments ago.



Irrespective of your personal view, the fact is you are. And more so than the example of pasta sauce I highlighted.



The BBC operate public debates for you to go along and make your feelings known. An announcement for one in Scotland appeared on BBC Scotland last night. I can't think of a commercial broadcaster who does this.



I'm afraid that is simply not true. Consumer law does not provide for people who decide they "don't like" a thing to demand a refund. Not unless there is something wrong with it, or it breaches the Trades Description Act. Some of course may choose to allow it, but it is not your "right".

The power you do have as a viewer is to choose not to watch a programme. Commercial broadcasters will respond to ratings (allowing them to charge more to Nike and Dolmio - and in turn me); but it will be a case of majority rule. As the BBC are not held to these same pressures (or at least shouldn't be), there is more chance that many tastes will be met, and programmes will appear that would never be considered on a commercial broadcaster.

'Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a bucket of water...'

Move along...nothing to see here

Re-join?

Didn't get banned, did you?

Since when has that ever been the case? Are you honestly saying that if you bought a jar of the exampled pasta sauce, opened it up, cooked a meal but then found out you didnt like the taste you would scrape the whole lot up, put in back in the jar and ask for a refund? Get real! Far too many people now seem to think they know their 'rights' when in most cases they're talking utter rubbish.

Not sure about pasta sauce, but that system definitely works if you get a bottle of corked wine from Tesco.

Pour the first glass back into the bottle, shove the cork back in, give it back to your van driver next week and the credit comes through a few days later.