Thames Pageant

[manna]

G'Day Gents

And with the immortal line................Ee, it's an upp an' under, thar' e goooooos

manna

Rugby, not my game........anyone for tiddlywinks !!!!!!!!

[Horsetan]

"The Now Show" on Radio 4 had a very good send-up of the possibility of celebrations taking place if the Leveson Enquiry reaches its 60th year

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

The way its going, Horsetan.....

[strang steel]

Now Alan Titchmarsh has joined the chorus of TV Jubilee bashers,

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/06 ... d%3D113682

[brsince78]

Now Alan Titchmarsh has joined the chorus of TV Jubilee bashers,

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/06 ... d%3D113682

It looks like the number of complaints has been steadily rising..... "The corporation received more than 4,500 complaints, mostly about the river pageant and the commentary, during the national celebrations.

As I intimated in my earlier post; If you accept there is a need for a public broadcasting service then events such as this are what should be under this remit, and not blatently commercial ventures like "The Voice". Much is made of the fact that it is "your BBC" but you have no choice but to fund it (unless you wish to cease operating the receiving equipment and thus lose access to any TV channel). Then there is the cost of administering the licence fee; surely this could more cheaply recovered in general taxation.

One final comment..... Just because there is (an arguable) need for a public broadcasting service, it does not have to be provided by the BBC.

[giner]

Absolutely. The Public Broadcasting System (PBS) in the U.S. is a great example of this.

http://www.pbs.org/

PBS exists solely on donations from corporations and from private individuals. Every six months or so, they run subscription drives to generate operating funds. These are very successful and the quality of programming is well in excess of that of the commercial stations.

[richard]

...but it should be noted that a large proportion of the quality TV offered by PBS is imported - almost always from the UK, and probably at least half from the BBC! So much so that "BBC" is almost a synonym for British produced shows like Downton Abbey, Poirot, etc which, of course, they have nothing to do with.

The radio equivalent (the NPR network and other smaller shadow networks) probably does a better job of competing with BBC national radio in terms of breadth and depth. The mix of programs varies between stations but Radio 4 would be the closest (some stations mix in a lot of music that isn't in the charts - might be classical, jazz, indie,etc). Radio drama is notably lacking from US public radio though - in fact, it is close to being extinct.

[Mickey]

...but it should be noted that a large proportion of the quality TV offered by PBS is imported - almost always from the UK, and probably at least half from the BBC! So much so that "BBC" is almost a synonym for British produced shows like Downton Abbey, Poirot, etc which, of course, they have nothing to do with.

The radio equivalent (the NPR network and other smaller shadow networks) probably does a better job of competing with BBC national radio in terms of breadth and depth. The mix of programs varies between stations but Radio 4 would be the closest (some stations mix in a lot of music that isn't in the charts - might be classical, jazz, indie,etc). Radio drama is notably lacking from US public radio though - in fact, it is close to being extinct.

And of course you have the right-wing 'shock jocks' on some radio stations in the US where anyone of the centre or of a mildly left wing attitude is 'mercilessly' shot down on air!!.

[giner]

...but it should be noted that a large proportion of the quality TV offered by PBS is imported - almost always from the UK, and probably at least half from the BBC! So much so that "BBC" is almost a synonym for British produced shows like Downton Abbey, Poirot, etc which, of course, they have nothing to do with.

Yes, indeed, but the point I was making was that the BBC could follow the business model of PBS and save the UK population the 'forcible contributing' imposed on them to see any TV at all, commercial or otherwise. We're really not that much better off here in Canada, though. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), heavily modelled on the Beeb, is paid for with public money from federal taxes. They produce very little in the way of quality drama, though.

Whether or not the BBC could continue to produce quality drama series on the financial basis that PBS operates on, I don't know.

[strang steel]

Without getting too political, I believe that those on the political right would love to see the BBC financed from general taxation because that would give government the chance to squeeze the corporation's finances to such an extent that quality programming would become a thing of the past, and so they could cut budgets even more - thus creating a vicious circle which would slowly kill the BBC (as we know it today).

The corporation's 'crime' apparently, is their attempt to be fair minded and give all sides a decent hearing, which right wingers take as a bias for the left. For this reason, I view all major assaults on the BBC with extreme suspicion.

[Horsetan]

Meanwhile, Woman's Hour on Radio 4 today features.....Katie Price

[giner]

Fair points, Strang Steel.

Horsetan: Katie Price? I'll have to look her up on Google.

Later: I just looked her up. Dude, not my bag.

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

Giner - I had to do the same. (shudder)

[Horsetan]

I remember the days when Jordan was either a country or a brand of toothbrush.

[strang steel]

You mean that Jordan and Katie Price are the same person?

Phew! That's a relief, I thought there were two of them.