Is the BBC concentrating on too-much off-screen activity?

Just wondering what your thoughts are on the BBC's off-screen activities?


Is it really a valuable use of the licence fee to make BBC programmes - and even channels - available online?

On the one hand it means the licence payer gets more chances to see them, but on the other the BBC is set up to provide TV and Radio services - not multi-media.

Do you think the BBC are right to branch into local TV news programming - providing a TV service on a similar par to BBC Radio. Is there really a public demand for this - I mean where I live they struggle to fill the local papers with news, never mind a TV bulletin!


And what about bbc.co.uk. News, Sport and programming websites without a doubt are in the public interest - but some other content really isn't!


So what do you think - are you happy the BBC is moving with the times - or do you think they should stick to TV and Radio!

I must agree when I watch the local news bulliten (on either cahnnel) it's normally very uninteresting short films about local gardens and a woman who lives on a council estate wanting compensation for falling over. I'm tarring that brush! But I don't think it's a bad thing that the BBC are moving forward.

BBCi is beyond anything ITV have created, and it's always updated, with news. People trust the BBC (sometimes too much, Hutton par chance) and so when they try something that people may not feel too sure about, like the internet or digital services, they almost want to be there and hold your hand. The BBC 'entertain, educate and inform', and by using the technology's they're really trying to fulfill that promise.

Yes, as long at the ISP of the viewer is matched up so that it is only those in the UK that can view them.
If someone from Austria can watch the next series of Little Britain over the internet on bbc.co.uk , then I would want to watch some of ORF's output here in the UK on orf.at.


Actually I think you'll find in the next BBC royal charter the on-line activities are mentioned. And remember, last year the DCMS ordered a report into the BBC on line 'empire' , so when it's signed off the BBC is actually now a tri-media organziation - and is much the better for it.


Well the West Midlands super-regional service is only a 9 month trial, so maybe they will find the potential lack of news in some areas out for themselves.
I welcome what the BBC is doing in the West Midlands by covering news stories to a more localised area, rather than what Central News has become over the past year, which is a gradual shift way from 'proper' news to a mix of human interest and weak timefillers.

Which is why some mini-sites were closed down last year on the back of the previously mentioned report. As long as eyes are kept on this part of the BBC and new media produce content relevant to the site, which engages the BBC audience whilst surfing the net, then I don't have a problem with it.

If the BBC did not embrace the internet age then it's existance to move with the times would be in question, and that would provide a whole bunch of new sticks to beat them with.
It's a fine balance though, and one that they are getting right.
My only concern is the streaming of BBC TV channels - it has to be only for the UK audience, otherwise I really can see a logical arguement for overseas webheads to watch programmes for F-all that we've paid for via the licence fee.

I think the BBC streamed the World Cup or Wimbeldon can't remember the sport event, but were only allowed to do it in the UK as that's where they had the rights. If streaming can be prevented from 'leaving the country' as it were, could they do they with all programming they show, so not to anger the licence fee payers.

Yes, I think ideas like the iMP and Creative Archive are really really good, it's our BBC and so it's our content. And they already block non-UK IPs from accessing content, plus the iMP is very secure.



Well, that's a valid point, it's all very well saying they'll do this, and it looks like a good public service, but even here in the middle of London the front page of the local newspaper for Camden is just Jon Snow protesting about something half the time. God knows what it's like in the sticks.

Still, it's an experiment at the moment, so let's see what comes of that. I value the BBC innovating and coming up with new ideas, anyway.



To be honest I quite liked some of the sections that were closed. Now the site is much more of a companion service to the TV & Radio output, but it's still the best of it's kind in the world, and the internet's a better place for it.

In a way it feels a little bit like when they branched out from radio into TV (although of course the circumstances were very different!).

This reminds me of a conversation I was having with someone from Holland. Apparently nearly everyone there receives British terrestrial television and actually most english speaking Dutch people (which is about 90% of the population) watch more British television than Dutch TV. So, the BBC might as well accept this and try to get some money out of it!
Yes, I do realise that this would present a few legal problems, but surely they could get some money out of these freeloaders! Both countries are after all in the common market, so shouldn't television services be supposed to flow freely between them?
I would love to see a TV licence-detector van driving around the streets of Holland!

And the BBC can be picked up in Southern Ireland?
I've always thought the Netherlands example was because of the travelling capabillity of the UHF tv signals, so is rather out of the BBC's control.

By the BBC putting the programmes on the web themselves, it would be upto them to find a way of blocking overseas viewing for all.

The Netherlands cable deal is a commercial deal that the BBC have with Dutch cable operators. (BBC programme rights contracts for UK/Eire rights have a clause that includes the Netherlands and other European cable rights as well - often with a tiny supplement)

The Dutch cable companies pay the BBC for rights to re-broadcast BBC One and Two. Until relatively recently these were picked up off-air from large aerial arrays (in a similar way to the Channel Islands at that time) These days the BBC One and Two feeds are from DSat receivers - hence the skeleton text service that was re-introduced.

well the local tv pilot is not just news. the bbc has committed itself to opening up the service to showcase content produced by the community. the service is an hour loop (updated through the day) divided up between the local radio areas (in this case: bbc wm, bbc cwr, bbc hereford & worcs, bbc shropshire and bbc stoke). part of the news will be reversioned from midlands today (giving greater access to content already paid for), part of it will be produced by vj's and as i said before, community content - not paid for by the bbc.

so to be fair the running costs will not be great at any stretch of the imagination.

Post removed- same as Noggin's post

DG

Ah, so that's why there's the "Viewers not in the UK" message, never quite understood that.

The BBC seems to have some funny ideas about what it is supposed to do. Its new 'open centre' in Hull is a glorified internet cafe and flogs coffee - Iv'e not seen that anywhere in the BBC charter - they claim to have had 100,000 people through the door since it opened and are very proud of the fact. Should they not concentrate on improving programming rather than these non core activities?