Comments on Obsolete: Slow start to the death of the BBC.

Rinse streams over the net, admittedly in poor qua...

2010-09-18T00:36:44.963+01:00

Rinse streams over the net, admittedly in poor quality, as do most of the pirates now; I'm not in London myself. I can't see how privatising Radio 1 would affect its current output by any great margin; it's output during the day might not be quite as crap as Kiss FM's is, but they manage a reasonably decent schedule at night.

I'm aware of Rinse FM, but it only broadcasts ...

2010-09-18T00:16:51.315+01:00

I'm aware of Rinse FM, but it only broadcasts in London - same goes for 99% of decent pirate stations. On a national level there's still nothing that comes close to Radio 1. It's certainly not perfect, but it'll hardly be improved by marginalisation and funding cuts based on an incorrect assumption that other stations cater better for the same audience (one that even the BBC's staunchest defenders seem to make) - outside the capital they just don't.

Alex: I don't buy this argument that there'...

2010-09-17T19:00:09.776+01:00

Alex: I don't buy this argument that there's no one else that duplicates the brilliance which is either Zane Lowe or Annie Mac; Radio 1's glory days are long gone. Where there used to be either Mark and Lard or the Evening Session, as well as previously employing the likes of Chris Morris, there's now Greg James and the aforementioned. The best shows it ghettoises in the early hours of the morning, and even Mary Anne Hobbs has left now. Admittedly the slack mainly falls not on commercial but pirate radio, which can be incredibly hit or miss, yet Rinse FM for example has just got a licence and if you can put up with the the tuneless funky which makes up most of its daytime playlist it comes alive later at night. The creativity is out there, it just needs to be tapped.

I have to pull you up on this assumption made by a...

2010-09-17T16:13:41.106+01:00

I have to pull you up on this assumption made by a lot of people (who presumably do not listen to it) that Radio 1 is a "worthy target" for cuts as its output is duplicated elsewhere. Maybe London is different, but I live in Manchester - hardly a musical wasteland - and no commercial station here comes even remotely close to Radio 1, especially in the evenings. By the same logic you could say 6 Music is a worthy target because XFM exists. 99% of commercial radio (though again I can't speak for London) is utter shit - Britain's radio landscape would be a much bleaker place without any one of the BBC stations.

Fuck Moyles though.

@FlipC In fact the BBC channels are the most watch...

2010-09-17T11:45:43.600+01:00

@FlipC In fact the BBC channels are the most watched of anything in the country. A satellite or cable subscription pays for providing the service to your home and any pay-TV channels, not for the BBC channels. And absolutely everyone watches BBC channels, whatever means they use to receive their television stations.

Show me a cable or satellite subscriber who never watches the BBC. I am not aware that there are any.

The real point here is that the BBC needs to develop a spine and stand up to attacks from commercial media moguls - and their friends in Parliament on both sides of the House - who have a lot to gain by successfully throttling the Corporation. The BBC is not a government department: the idea of cuts at the BBC is purely ideological and commercial competitor-inspired and has little or nothing to do with anything else. The BBC is still the best broadcasting organisation in the world and I'm more than happy to pay for it via the licence fee. Hands off the BBC!

I think it's the fact that it's mandatory ...

2010-09-17T10:24:36.868+01:00

I think it's the fact that it's mandatory is the main complaint. With so many signing up to Sky or Cable and watching them almost exclusively and paying directly for the privilege. Why should they in effect subsidise the BBC?

Perhaps the BBC should shift to Pay per View :-P