Privatisise the BBC?

Posted by: Laurie Saunders on 01 July 2004

I`ve been following the discussions on this recently.

My own feelings are:

(1) The BBC has its own inimitable style...at its best it is unbeatable- like Naim

(2) These days I am finding I hardly ever find anything on BBC1(especially) and BBC2 that I find worth watching

(3) I resent having to pay the Licence "tax" regardless of my viewing habits especially as I SUSPECT that a good chunk of it goes towards the cost of screening sporting events, which are of zero (or less) interest to me. As for the rest.....(eg "lifestyle" programs or "reality" TV...many of these seem to be more a justification for those making and presenting them with scant regard for the viewer)

(4) the licence is something of an anachronism...let those who want to watch it pay a subscription...similarly for those who don`t...

(5) the "public service" tag seems to be wearing a bit "thin"....I cannot remember the last time I saw a programme covering current affairs/science that was little more than superficial

(6) radio 3 & 4 are sacrosanct...they MUST be preserved

i`m not quite sure how I would reconcile all the above

Any thoughts.....?

laurie S

Posted on: 08 July 2004 by Laurie Saunders

quote:
but (ideally?) aims to raise standards,

Is it not rather arrogant to tell a paying customer that their preferred choice in viewing is not of a suitably high standard?

I once had a similar experience in a (very well known) hi-fi dealer during a dem. When I criticised some aspect of the performance of an amplifier that the demonstrator obviously loved, he suggested that my (implied: poor) choice of artiste was being exposed for what it really was. I wound up the dem very quickly and noted that I would never use that dealer again

( for the record , the amplifier was I think a Musical Fidelity A1000...I criticised it for sounding undynamic)

Laurie S

Posted on: 08 July 2004 by Former member

It probably is arrogant, but relativism is to be resisted as a philosophy in my opinion! Mills & Boon is not as good as Shakespeare, it's not a valid alternative. This is regarded as controversial, unfortunately.
The politics comes in in that if we reduce all facets of life to a customer/supplier model, I think we lose some important things.
Choosing an amplifier is a customer/supplier situation. The dealer was certainly guilty of poor salesmanship, the amp as you describe! I've experienced this too ("multi-miked classical recordings cannot sound good"!).
What was the music?