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TV Licence Fee Decision

No Continued universal over 75's exemption (June 2019)

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JA
james-2001
Andrew posted:
james-2001 posted:
Pete posted:

Anyone who suggests Radio 1 and commercial pop stations are the same has clearly never listened to one or the other.


The commercial stations actually play music, Radio 1 has far too much DJ waffle Razz

The commercial stations play a limited playlist back to back, very short links stringing out a snippet of gossip from a tabloid across about half an hour, one minute of news an hour mostly showbiz, and about twenty seconds of travel.

The BBC stations actually produce radio programmes, and that applies to 1 and 2 depending on your preference.


Whenever I've listened to Radio 1 in recent years (usually because someone whose car I'm in listens to it), it drives me mad because it's just inane waffle, with maybe 1 or 2 songs thrown in every half hour, if you're lucky. Maybe I've just been listening at the wrong times with DJs like Nick Grimshaw and Scott Mills who seem to love the sounds of their own voices. Steve Wright on Radio 2 isn't much better (and I remember him being just as bad on Radio 1 in the mid 90s).

Not that I'm one of those people who think they should close something down because it doesn't appeal to me, I just think it's awful.
Last edited by james-2001 on 12 June 2019 10:18pm
NJ
Neil Jones Founding member
AlexS posted:
ITV produce plentiful numbers of period dramas so there is simply no need for the BBC to make any. Some of the obscure BBC2 and BBC4 documentaries require degree level knowledge to fully understand and are therefore of no use to most people (one was actually pitched at such a level that it was considered equivalent to an academic article published in a journal as part of my degree).


Can I remind the honourable gentleman that the BBC's mission is to inform, educate and entertain. The fact this mythical documentary ticked none of the above boxes for you doesn't change that basic status.

Quote:
As for sport, there is absolutely no reason for the BBC to purchase anything that other FTA broadcasters are interested in such as Wimbledon (and there is no reason why the first round of the girls tournament, for example, deserves coverage in any case) and the FA cup final


Can I remind the honourable gentleman about "inform, educate and entertain".
Can I also remind him that the correct term is "Women's" football tournament, not the "girls", the men's football is not called the "boys football".

Quote:
and certain minority interest middle class sports such as equestrian simply do not deserve or require coverage and if the minority of people interested are willing to pay they could increasingly choose to do so. The drama budget, for example, should be net zero with only programmes that can cover their costs of production through overseas and DVD sales being made as this content has absolutely no public service value and is directly competing with commercial broadcasters. The BBC should be focussing on serving audiences and types of programmes that are accessible to the majority while not being made by the commercial sector.


Your argument just gets silly at this point. Only make programmes that can be sold overseas and on DVD? Really? And what would the BBC do with the other 18 hours a day?

Quote:
Such areas include reliable and accurate journalism, factual programming and documentaries pitched at a level to be widely accessible (which is more the BBC one and Stacy Dooley level than the Horizon and BBC4 one), and sports that aren't being covered by the commercial sector.


Deary me, if Stacey Dooley is the level we all need to aspire to then we're clearly totally stuffed.
MarkT76, nwtv2003 and Inspector Sands gave kudos
JO
Joe
james-2001 posted:
Andrew posted:
james-2001 posted:

The commercial stations actually play music, Radio 1 has far too much DJ waffle Razz

The commercial stations play a limited playlist back to back, very short links stringing out a snippet of gossip from a tabloid across about half an hour, one minute of news an hour mostly showbiz, and about twenty seconds of travel.

The BBC stations actually produce radio programmes, and that applies to 1 and 2 depending on your preference.


Whenever I've listened to Radio 1 in recent years (usually because someone whose car I'm in listens to it), it drives me mad because it's just inane waffle, with maybe 1 or 2 songs thrown in every half hour, if you're lucky. Maybe I've just been listening at the wrong times with DJs like Nick Grimshaw and Scott Mills who seem to love the sounds of their own voices.

You’ve clearly not listened much then. 1 or 2 per 30 minutes? I think it’s an average of 12 or 13 per hour, something like that.


This licence fee always comes down to the same thing every time. People always want to cut what they happen not to like or use.
Last edited by Joe on 13 June 2019 11:16am
JA
james-2001
Joe posted:

You’ve clearly not listened much then. 1 or 2 per 30 minutes? I think it’s an average of 12 or 13 per hour, something like that.


Depends which DJs it is, the ones I've mentioned seem to be masters of inane waffle. There's no way you'd get 12 or 13 songs per hour in amongst innuendo bingo and the other banal things they waffle on about. Maybe I just tend to hear the bad ones as it's inevitably during the daytime.

Not that I'm saying they should close it down because I personally don't like it, just that I find it tedious listening.
Last edited by james-2001 on 12 June 2019 10:29pm
JO
Jon
james-2001 posted:
Pete posted:
Riaz posted:
I'm also wondering whether the BBC should continue with Radio 1 or whether it's a relic from the late 20th century offering a service that can easily be covered by commercial and internet radio stations nowadays.


Anyone who suggests Radio 1 and commercial pop stations are the same has clearly never listened to one or the other.


The commercial stations actually play music, Radio 1 has far too much DJ waffle Razz

But Radio 1 is a perfect example of public service broadcasting, the music policy makes it appealing to it’s target audience and then they listen to a lot a speech based content they probably wouldn’t if the station didn’t exist.

The Newsbeat bulletins are probably the only full length news broadcasts a lot of the target audience are exposed to.

Yes it could play more music but then it wouldn’t really be offering any more choice.

You may personally prefer the offering of commercial stations but at least now you have choice of what type of station you want to listen to.
Hatton Cross, tightrope78 and scottishtv gave kudos
WW
WW Update
AlexS posted:
If the BBC needs to save money it could slash its budget for high brow drama and documentaries pitched at a level the typical man cannot understand that is only watched by the middle classes who can afford sky and are well catered for elsewhere.


But intellectually curious people (regardless of their education level) also pay the license fee. Why should they be deprived of quality television? Especially since commercial television is essentially all about serving the "unwashed masses," an approach that often results in an awfully bland output.

Besides, the BBC built its global reputation of high-brow drama, serious documentaries, and news -- while still being accessible to a broad audience. Without those elements, it's just another broadcaster. After all, commercial TV could easily make the likes EastEnders and Strictly Come Dancing, but few commercial broadcasters have a sustained commitment to in-depth coverage of "high-brow" topics such as the arts, international politics, history, global affairs, minority cultures, and other content that sheds light on the human condition.
Last edited by WW Update on 12 June 2019 10:46pm
JO
Joe
james-2001 posted:
Joe posted:

You’ve clearly not listened much then. 1 or 2 per 30 minutes? I think it’s an average of 12 or 13 per hour, something like that.


Depends which DJs it is, the ones I've mentioned seem to be masters of inane waffle. There's no way you'd get 12 or 13 songs per hour in amongst innuendo bingo and the other banal things they waffle on about. Maybe I just tend to hear the bad ones as it's inevitably during the daytime.

Not that I'm saying they should close it down because I personally don't like it, just that I find it tedious listening.

14 hours is literally the average of today’s Scott Mills show from which the banal features, including the Innuendo Bingo that you mention, are most prevalent on.


Honestly in my experience it’s foolish to pass judgement on things you haven’t much experience of. You admit you’ve not listened to much of the station, and have picked out a couple of shows. You’ve not mentioned the breakfast show, the even more music heavy mid morning show, the extended news bulletins, documentaries, mental health discussion, ‘real life’ issue discussion, evening and overnight specialist music shows.

It’s exactly what I mean about this discussion always going the same. It’s impossible to understand the value of a service as a whole when you haven’t really experienced the big picture.
Last edited by Joe on 13 June 2019 11:17am - 2 times in total
JA
james-2001
At least I'm not advocating shutting anything down or that they should only make content for the unwashed masses, unlike some people here Razz
PA
Parker
Round and around we go same old arguments same old drivel trotted out. In the end the same conclusion is the result - we are better off with than without the BBC. Now that has been said we can start all the arguments all over again.
SC
scottishtv Founding member
james-2001 posted:
There's no way you'd get 12 or 13 songs per hour in amongst innuendo bingo and the other banal things they waffle on about.


I don't know why I'm replying as this thread is dire, but let's look at some basic facts. For example, Scott Mills:

Today: 42 tracks played = 14.0 per hour
Yesterday: 41 tracks played = 13.6 per hour
Monday: 43 tracks played = 14.3 per hour

I think some posters on here need to inform and educate themselves.
RI
Riaz
Jon posted:
But Radio 1 is a perfect example of public service broadcasting, the music policy makes it appealing to it’s target audience and then they listen to a lot a speech based content they probably wouldn’t if the station didn’t exist.


?????????????

I can't prove this but I'm inclined to say that Radio 1 is not as popular today with a demographic similar to that which regularly listened to Radio 1 in the late 20th century.

I, and some people I know, have found Radio 1 to be bit jack of all trades with its choice of music for a youthful audience (over the course of a day) and anybody who is keen on a particular style or genre can often find a better choice elsewhere.

Radio 1 is probably one of these institutions that is used by many but only a fraction has any strong loyalty or emotional attachment to it. It's the sort of thing that the youth might listen to in a car but less so at home like the youth of the 1970s and 80s did. In more recent years Radio 1 has faced competition for ears with internet radio stations or music videos on YouTube, and probably more so than any other BBC radio stations.
JO
John
Free bus passes and free licence fees were vote bribing by Gordon Brown.

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