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Channel 4 privatisation to go ahead

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Channel 4 privatisation to go ahead

#41

Post by pdpi »

djaychela wrote: post #20
gpmcadam wrote: post #6

Its odd in a democracy in 2022 that a government should own a media/news organisation. If the argument that this is profitable is true, then it should be capable of carrying on its endeavours privately with no issue whatsoever.

>it should be capable of carrying on its endeavours privately with no issue whatsoever. But that's not the way that things like this work. C4 produces some programming that no other broadcaster in the UK does. The programmes may not be "everything for everyone", but there is definitely something for everyone, and just about everything they've ever made is still available to watch. It will not remain that way if it is…

> There's too much pressure to serve shareholder interests and make everything profitable.

This is the perfect example of why I don’t like the “serve shareholder interests” line of reasoning. The state is the shareholder, and they their own interests being served.

The current administration is probably less profit-driven than a hypothetical private one, but there’s still somebody at the helm.

Re: Channel 4 privatisation to go ahead

#42

Post by Lio »

d--b wrote: post #39

> Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said: "Channel 4 rightly holds a cherished place in British life and I want that to remain the case. I have come to the conclusion that government ownership is holding Channel 4 back from competing against streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon. A change of ownership will give Channel 4 the tools and freedom to flourish and thrive as a public service broadcaster long into the futu…

FYI Channel 4 is a completely separate company to the BBC and BBC4.

Re: Channel 4 privatisation to go ahead

#43

Post by timthorn »

d--b wrote: post #39

> Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said: "Channel 4 rightly holds a cherished place in British life and I want that to remain the case. I have come to the conclusion that government ownership is holding Channel 4 back from competing against streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon. A change of ownership will give Channel 4 the tools and freedom to flourish and thrive as a public service broadcaster long into the futu…

The broadcasting licence it is issued with will contain conditions describing content it must produce. For example, it might say that it must broadcast 15h of original news per week, or commission 20% of its output as documentary programmes.

Re: Channel 4 privatisation to go ahead

#44

Post by traceroute66 »

pdpi wrote: post #36
Zhyl wrote: post #2

From a Hackernews point of view the most relevant part of this will be their video distribution platform 'All4' (previously '4 On Demand'). All4 is one of the buggiest platforms of all of the big channels. The others may be lacking in features but even Channel 5 has a pretty smooth user experience. All4 consistently crashes, shows ads but then no programme, doesn't show programmes in its search results, doesn't keep…

It’s hard to believe channel 4 needs to be privatised in order to get better at streaming. All you need to do is look at BBC iPlayer, which is miles better.

> BBC iPlayer, which is miles better

iPlayer and "miles better" in the same phrase, really ?

iPlayer has the most ludicrously useless interface.

Low hanging fruit example: looking up things based on the schedule ? Forget about it.

For clarity I'm not saying Channel 4 is the best, but at least they cover all the blatantly obvious low-hanging fruit that the BBC singularly fails to do.

Re: Channel 4 privatisation to go ahead

#45

Post by traceroute66 »

gpmcadam wrote: post #18
secretsatan wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yay! Cos all privatised channels that show high brow or educational programming have maintained their standards of quality and don't just show endless shows about ufos and nazis

Clearly you’ve never seen some of the bizarre stuff that C4 had put out over the years then? Perhaps the thing to take from this is that people want to watch bizarre stuff?

> Clearly you’ve never seen some of the bizarre stuff that C4 had put out over the years then?

Bring back Eurotrash I say !!! ;-)

Re: Channel 4 privatisation to go ahead

#46

Post by a_humean »

Nadine Dorries... I mean I don't know what I can say that is polite language. She should not be a minster let alone a cabinet minister.

This decision is brain-dead and I would not be surprised if it dies a death in the lords or commons.

Re: Channel 4 privatisation to go ahead

#47

Post by scandox »

Zhyl wrote: post #2

From a Hackernews point of view the most relevant part of this will be their video distribution platform 'All4' (previously '4 On Demand'). All4 is one of the buggiest platforms of all of the big channels. The others may be lacking in features but even Channel 5 has a pretty smooth user experience. All4 consistently crashes, shows ads but then no programme, doesn't show programmes in its search results, doesn't keep…

I use All4 a lot and never had a single issue with it. I use it in the Browser. Is there any data to support it being "buggiest"?

Re: Channel 4 privatisation to go ahead

#48

Post by Veen »

andy_ppp wrote: post #40
gadders wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We already have the BBC - why do we need a second state broadcaster?

Well Channel 4 actually critique the government for one… secondarily they produce different content than the BBC which will also soon be privatised.

We must watch different programs on the BBC. I see BBC presenters and journalists criticizing the government every day.

Re: Channel 4 privatisation to go ahead

#49

Post by M2Ys4U »

gadders wrote: post #33
stuaxo wrote: post #5

This is vandalism. Channel 4 uses no government money and has a remit to show programming other channels cannot. The only reason this is on the table is because they critised the current government.

We already have the BBC - why do we need a second state broadcaster?

Neither the BBC nor Channel 4 are state broadcasters.

They are both editorially and operationally independent from the government (which is why this government hates both of them).

Re: Channel 4 privatisation to go ahead

#50

Post by lapser »

Veen wrote: post #48
andy_ppp wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well Channel 4 actually critique the government for one… secondarily they produce different content than the BBC which will also soon be privatised.

We must watch different programs on the BBC. I see BBC presenters and journalists criticizing the government every day.

To be fair, it's not up to the BBC to criticise. They should be reporting impartially and let the folks make up their mind.
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