The bargain at the heart of the BBC is fraying • Hacker News Board

Re: The bargain at the heart of the BBC is fraying

#71

Post by iso1210 » Wed, Sep 08, 2021, 8:03 PM UTC

MattPalmer1086 wrote: post #56

throwaway287391 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think linear TV will still be going in 10 years time, but probably not 30 I think you're probably right, but I'm one of the few millennials who will miss it when it's gone. I still like being able to turn on the news or some dumb show as background noise, it's an old habit from my boomer parent upbringing. I'm a bit surprised I haven't really met anyone else around my age with a nostalgic attachment to linear TV.…

I agree with all of that. Streaming is about choice, but linear TV is about an event and/or serendipity. I have a lot of movies on Plex, but when we browse them it's rare for us to select one. On the other hand, we often watch those movies when they're on TV. "We have that on Plex" has become a household joke.

Netflix have a "watch something" button. I've never used it, but I assume it's there to match the serendipity aspect.

Amazon I think have a "watch party" feature, but that's not the same as 10 million people all watching Mr Blobby get gunged. There seemed to be a small amount of cultural "togetherness" with the guy doing the PE (Joe Someone?) during lockdown, not sure as I didn't watch it (too busy working).

But yes, events (sport, moon landings, etc) are great on linear tv. I suspect that even after most of the spectrum gets removed, there will remain a BBC linear TV channel for events for some time, and most households will have a working antenna for a long time to come.

Re: The bargain at the heart of the BBC is fraying

#72

Post by deadbunny » Wed, Sep 08, 2021, 8:03 PM UTC

parenthesis wrote: post #59

Why isn't everything the BBC has ever made available on a streaming service for license free payers? I'd love to able to watch the TV news for days when interesting things happened; old dramas with `low production values' but actual acting and writing and stories and no constant gratuitous cuts and close-ups …

I believe there is historical reasons. When they started iPlayer they were told they coudln't just put up everything the BBC had produced in it's history as it would be "an unfair commercial advantage" or some other bullshit.

Re: The bargain at the heart of the BBC is fraying

#73

Post by thrillgore » Wed, Sep 08, 2021, 8:04 PM UTC

If getting the BBC more money is the issue, do what Canada does with Foreign Movie/TV Productions, and tax the revenue to return back to its state-owned production company, the ONF/NFB. They can't get by on TV licenses and their deal with AMC Networks forever.

Re: The bargain at the heart of the BBC is fraying

#74

Post by deadbunny » Wed, Sep 08, 2021, 8:09 PM UTC

mbreese wrote: post #28

mdoms wrote: post #11

Why the hand-wringing over show budgets? One of the greatest shows I have ever watched, People Just Do Nothing - a BBC production - must have had a budget one one thousandth of a Marvel show but I would re-watch it a hundred times before I bothered with a single episode of that generic PG-13 comic book dreck. And I can say the same for all of the BBC greats. BBC doesn't need to compete on budget. Netflix may pour bil…

Ironically, if that’s the same show, “People Just Do Nothing” is on Netflix in the US. At least they aren’t keeping all their shows behind iPlayer anymore and these shows are more available outside the UK.

> At least they aren’t keeping all their shows behind iPlayer anymore and these shows are more available outside the UK.

They have always sold their content overseas...

Re: The bargain at the heart of the BBC is fraying

#75

Post by dreen » Wed, Sep 08, 2021, 8:09 PM UTC

laurencerowe wrote: post #58

dreen wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right, I was thinking of BBC Worldwide which is now part of BBC Studios. Still, it makes a lot more money than the group gets from the license fee, which was my point.

That's not correct. "Licence fee accounted for 71% of BBC funding in 2019/20" https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-...

Looks like someone gave me wrong information. Thank you, I stand corrected

Re: The bargain at the heart of the BBC is fraying

#76

Post by deadbunny » Wed, Sep 08, 2021, 8:10 PM UTC

EricE wrote: post #48

"The BBC’s legitimacy is predicated on it being a universal service." And this is the issue. Once they got super political they ceased being universal :p

The BBC are super political?

Re: The bargain at the heart of the BBC is fraying

#77

Post by revolvingocelot » Wed, Sep 08, 2021, 8:13 PM UTC

iso1210 wrote: post #16

My kids have no concept of linear TV. My 9 year old came back and told me that a friend had a broken TV as when they turned it on, the program was already half way through. Their 'channels' are netflix, amazon and disney. When I had the choice and they were pre-school then sure, we watched things like Alphablocks on iplayer. I can force them to watch Attenborough or Blue Peter, and they enjoy it, just not enough to w…

>I think Star Trek was right with its outlandish prediction from 1988

Ah, classic TNG. S1E25 "The Neutral Zone". [0]

Other near-term predictions from 90s Star Trek include terrorism-powered Irish reunification in 2024 [1] (how's Brexit coming along, again?), as well as a DS9 time-travel episode set in the same year that's not exactly about UBI and censorship and othering the poor, but those words might be the best way to describe the fake-issues of that episode's San Francisco [2].

And, uh, the periodic nuclear exchanges of World War III, starting in 2026 and continuing for a few decades, with a death toll of at least six hundred million.

[0] https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Neutral_Zone_(episo...

[1] a throwaway reference in https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Hunted_(episode)

[2] https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Past_Tense,_Part_I_(epi...

Re: The bargain at the heart of the BBC is fraying

#78

Post by deadbunny » Wed, Sep 08, 2021, 8:13 PM UTC

teamonkey wrote: post #62

spinningslate wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Won't argue with the your observation on consumption: I see the same with my children. However: there's nothing intrinsic to the BBC that requires linear delivery or consumption. iPlayer was, after all, one of the first streaming services: a genuine bit of innovation from the Beeb. I dearly want to see the BBC not only survive, but to prosper. That may be rose-tinted/delusional/whatever. Why? Because it represents a…

> iPlayer was, after all, one of the first streaming services: a genuine bit of innovation from the Beeb. This is absolutely worth remembering, iPlayer was revelatory 12 or 13 years ago. Infuriatingly the innovation seems to have stopped there. Case in point, it's a corporation nearly 100 years old, yet its back catalogue is extremely poor. You should be able to watch every episode of Doctor Who on demand since the o…

> Case in point, it's a corporation nearly 100 years old, yet its back catalogue is extremely poor.

This was due to the Competition Commission saying the BBC putting up their back catalogue would stifle competition.

Re: The bargain at the heart of the BBC is fraying

#79

Post by nerdawson » Wed, Sep 08, 2021, 8:13 PM UTC

iso1210 wrote: post #16

My kids have no concept of linear TV. My 9 year old came back and told me that a friend had a broken TV as when they turned it on, the program was already half way through. Their 'channels' are netflix, amazon and disney. When I had the choice and they were pre-school then sure, we watched things like Alphablocks on iplayer. I can force them to watch Attenborough or Blue Peter, and they enjoy it, just not enough to w…

Euro 2020 only reinforced how important the BBC actually is. iPlayer were streaming matches in 4K HDR while ITV were pumping out shockingly poor resolution low frame rate content that was barely watchable. Hard to believe that ITV were the ones with commercial funding behind them. Seeing that a match was going to be aired on ITV filled me with dread.

Re: The bargain at the heart of the BBC is fraying

#80

Post by deadbunny » Wed, Sep 08, 2021, 8:16 PM UTC

gorgoiler wrote: post #50

How dreadful would life be if Auntie went radio only? It’s the only content I really care for. TMS, Radio4 to Radio2 inclusive, and a 198LW service detectable in the deepest of valleys. The gutting of the R4 schedule with repeats and the downsizing of the radio news team could happily be reversed. The jewel in the crown is R1Xtra. It’s absolutely at the cutting edge. How?! Oh, and erm The Last Kingdom, I guess. Thank…

> How dreadful would life be if Auntie went radio only?

Pretty awful for those of us that enjoy (some) of their TV output.

> It’s the only content I really care for.

And this is where the problem lies, because the BBC has to try and please everyone you get people assuming because everything doesn't appeal to them then the rest should be axed.