Save the BBC as we know it

Save the BBC as we know it

I have signed. I could not cope without BBC Radio 4's output. There is nothing anywhere else that competes.
"All life is here" on Radio 4. News to silly humour.

I think many people are fed up of paying the licence fee for very little - I'm not talking about radio (which I listen to all day). When people talk about the licence fee they mean TV output. Lets face it there is very little worth watching on BBC these days (if you are not into soaps, "reality" TV or quiz shows). Where are the quality programmes BBC used to produce? I am also fed up of reading about the huge salaries paid to the same "celebrities" on every programme. Why doesn't the BBC have a look at those working in local TV and radio and give them a chance - most of them would probably be better than the current crop of the usual suspects because they would want it more and not be blase. The BBC does need to be shaken up, by having the licence fee the BBC doesn't need to chase ratings by giving us mind numbingly boring programmes but can use it to make some quality ones instead. Yes, I know there have been the occasional good drama but these are noticeable simply because there are so few of them.

If you listen to radio all day you are getting your money's worth. If you pay for Sky or other television you also get to listen to BBC radio.

I think the BBC is worth every penny. Why is this government against everything worthwhile?

I am not saying I want to see the end of the BBC (or the licence fee), all I am saying is that the BBC does need to look at its TV programming and how it spends the huge amount of money it receives each year. I don't pay for Sky or any other television subscription. Just as I expect to get good value for money on anything else I buy I also expect the same from the BBC. Just because something is traditional doesn't mean it can't (or shouldn't) be changed.

Time was when you had to pay a licence for having a radio. I can't remember when the TV licence superseded the wireless licence.

Thanks Nellie

If you can't get something from the multitude of BBC programmes across radio and TV then I'm amazed. Whether it's history, the natural world, politics, drama, comedy, the various children's channels, and yes some of the more populist programmes, like Strictly or soaps.

To misquote JFK "ask not what your BBC can do for you, ask what you can do for your BBC".

We can't have the government, any government dictating what the Beeb can and cannot broadcast that's the last straw.

How can the beeb please all viewers? A Tory MP complained about The Voice and Strictly , I don't watch the voice but I enjoy strictly , so many viewers went into a state of hysteria over Top Gear, I didn't watch it . Some enjoy drama , some don't , some love sport I only watch the Six Nations and tennis. So I could say an avid sports viewer is getting good value for their licence fee but I am not .

So Annie what are you saying? You think the BBC should be downsized?

The BBC has been a part of our culture since its inception. How many times when looking at a history doc. is the BBC in the background. It is the channel of choice when there is anything major going on and the drama, natural history, music etc etc is outstanding. It is respected throughout the world and sells so many of its programmes abroad.

I will attempt to keep politics out of it! But I am cross

Anya, no, not saying it should be downsized, just a case of impossible to please all the viewers and listeners all of the time. Radio 1 has been criticised , I have never tuned into it, when I go around our building sites i
certainly hear it because the workers have it on their radio. Only radio 4 is played in my home . I just think of SKY and all those American programmes , yuck . I love the BBC, do get grumpy over the beeb gravy train though

Just thought, if I have SKY news on and there is a news flash I switch to BBC news , suppose this sums up the BBC for me

Agree, I'd hate for the BBC to become another commercial Channel. And if paying for our tv licence helps, then so be it. We also support the National Trust, despite the fact we live abroad and us it little.

I am in several minds about this.
Personally, I only watch Eastenders and The Apprentice from the BBC, so I wouldnt miss it.
But others do appear to like it.

I suppose I do see the occasional documentary, but presumably, if the BBC didnt exist, it would be made by a different channel.

The licence is less than 40p a day.

S2B I'd never watch either of those two programmes, neither could my brain cope with being in more than two mind about most things! But surely even those programmes you do watch are worth than 40p?

And the BBC is the last bastion again the excesses of governments.

Very little worth watching? Take a look at BBC i-player's list - Here are 64 programmes that start with "A" Everything from "A city crowned with green" to "Authors live" by way of "A Song for Jenny", "Andy's dinosaur adventures" and "Ask the Family"

There are 25 other initial letters.

'There are 25 other initial letters'

Hope some people will sign the petition [pleading face emoticon]

I think there's little worth watching on BBC, I'm sick of seeing incessant repeats advertised and reading about the vastly overrated and overpaid personalities/celebrities/ newsreaders too. I can't remember the last time I actually watched a soap or a serial on TV.

I do listen to R4 and local BBC radio; I don't subscribe to Sky etc.
For the money they receive I think we get a real bum deal personally.

As a matter of interest Jeremy Vine is currently discussing how to stack a dishwasher!!!!!

I don't remember EVER watching a soap, on BBC or anywhere else. Some serials, yes, and some one-off dramas. Documentaries galore, and before anyone says "How boring", documentaries are about any subject you can think of. Anyone who finds all of them equally boring has very little interest in anything at all.

David Attenborough.

Who can say they have never enjoyed any of his stuff?

BBC line up for tonight from 7.00pm to 10.00 pm:
BBC1 - The One Show, Question of Sport, Eastenders, Celebrity Masterchef, News
BBC2 - Golf (since 9.00 am), BBC Proms, Morecombe and Wise
BBC3 - Top Gear(R), Don't tell the Bride(R), Crime Carnage and Cancum (R)
BBC4 - World News, Chopin, BBC Proms, Carole King story(R), Rock & Roll America, How The Brits Rocked America (R).

Obviously I haven't included the News Channel or BBC Parliament. I have no reason to switch on CBBC or CBeebies.

Again I am not saying I want to see the end of the BBC or the licence fee, just that it needs to get back to making good dramas and programmes which stretch the intelligence of the viewer.