UK PM Boris Johnson takes aim at the BBC

[TheBigA]

A quick look at the CBP's FY 2020 budget shows that it's main source of income is the Congressional appropriation of $445 Million.

Keep in mind that CPB's sole purpose for existence is to be a buffer between Congress and the stations. That's how it's explained in the Act. The BBC, on the other hand, is a full-fledged TV and radio network, creating programming, and operating stations. Two very different kinds of operations.

 

[davideduardo]

Didn't know that. Of course here we pay higher rates to providers for HDTV service. I imagine they do too.

As mentioned, until rather recently, pensioners (over 70 I believe) were not required to pay the telly tax. But that privilege was taken away in a partisan political more, and now people on more meager pensions have to decide between food and the Beeb.

Because of the divisive nature of the recent elections in the UK, the BBC is now mixed up in both the victory dance by the Tories and the blaming by Labour.

 

[Miss Tuned]

And those transmitters cost money for maintenance. If the BBC takes a financial hit, they'll have to cut back services. That is likely to be felt more in rural areas than in London.

Something they've been doing in recent years is cutting back on AM signals. A lot of the BBC's national and regional services are simulcast on FM, AM and DAB. That's three lots of transmission expenses for one station, and no one (even in the rural areas) is listening to AM because FM and DAB coverage is largely complete (something like 97% population for DAB and 99% for FM).

 

[davideduardo]

Something they've been doing in recent years is cutting back on AM signals. A lot of the BBC's national and regional services are simulcast on FM, AM and DAB. That's three lots of transmission expenses for one station, and no one (even in the rural areas) is listening to AM because FM and DAB coverage is largely complete (something like 97% population for DAB and 99% for FM).

If you talk to anyone in the smaller cities, towns and rural areas, they will tell you that DAB is nowhere near complete. It may or may not come in in the car, but in many homes not at all.

But the government coverage maps show "everyone" can get a good DAB signal, so it must be so.

The fact is, even FM has deficiencies. People in dense apartment situations, folks with the basement flat or the inner courtyard flat get bad FM and no DAB. But the maps say otherwise, and the government is always right.

 

[Miss Tuned]

If you talk to anyone in the smaller cities, towns and rural areas, they will tell you that DAB is nowhere near complete. It may or may not come in in the car, but in many homes not at all.

But the government coverage maps show "everyone" can get a good DAB signal, so it must be so.

The fact is, even FM has deficiencies. People in dense apartment situations, folks with the basement flat or the inner courtyard flat get bad FM and no DAB. But the maps say otherwise, and the government is always right.

If you're in the basement flat, you can launch an app on your phone or yell at Alexa to play BBC Radio 2 and get perfect audio straight away. As in all developed markets, stations in the UK are heavily promoting their smart speaker availability. Broadcast radio is only really relevant on the move, and in that situation DAB and FM are largely fine. What you won't receive in the basement flat or steel-framed apartment block is AM - it just won't make it.

BBC local/regional radio stations have clung onto AM largely as a way to offer additional services, usually overflow sports commentaries, rather than as a way to cover unserved parts of their market. DAB offers the opportunity for stations to run split services, so this is now redundant. The BBC cutbacks have targeted AM transmitters in recent years and the simulcasts have ended on a few stations - I expect that 2020 will bring more AM closures, particularly as many areas in the UK have buoyant real estate markets where the AM site is more valuable for a bunch of houses than as a transmitter.

 

[TheBigA]

If you're in the basement flat, you can launch an app on your phone or yell at Alexa to play BBC Radio 2 and get perfect audio straight away.

Assuming you have high speed internet or a smart phone. We're talking about a government owned network, not a profit making company.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-51270012

Now one of the BBC Talent is talking about a Voluntary fee similar to how local NPR and PBS affiliates are funded.

 

[TheBigA]

Now one of the BBC Talent is talking about a Voluntary fee similar to how local NPR and PBS affiliates are funded.

The catch is it will require a change in laws to allow for what NPR & PBS can do, which is fundraise directly from viewers and corporations.

 

[CTListener]

The catch is it will require a change in laws to allow for what NPR & PBS can do, which is fundraise directly from viewers and corporations.

That would certainly lead to a shrunken BBC, unless the laws can be rewritten still further to allow donations from people and businesses here in the United States, a much more populous nation in which BBC programming is held in very high regard by many, especially those in well-educated, high-earning demographics.