slothian Posted July 25, 2015 Report Share Posted July 25, 2015 Over here in Britannia, the BBC is facing cutbacks from the new government, who are largely right wing and much prefer the broadcasting approach of that amiable chap Rupert Murdoch. For my part, whilst it is a regular whipping dog of the public, entrenched as it is with the British establishment, I value its public service and the independant contribution it offers as a whole. I've started this thread because, as this is an American website/forum at the end of the day, I was wondering what the opinion of the BBC was from you non-Brits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightWing Posted July 25, 2015 Report Share Posted July 25, 2015 I've always found the idea of a tax-funded major TV network to be really odd, actually. If it were entirely educational and/or non-fiction content, then it would make sense, but since the BBC is so entertainment-focused, it's hard to make sense of it. In America, something like the BBC would be eliminated immediately, since no one wants to be forced to pay for entertainment that they might not want anyway. It's like... if you bought a DVD player, and were then taxed on your ownership of said DVD player, and then sent DVDs by the government made using said tax money. Even if you're getting your money's worth in the end, is it worth it if it's not something everyone wants? That isn't at all to speak of the BBC's quality, of course. Doctor Who forever, yo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted July 25, 2015 Report Share Posted July 25, 2015 We have PBS in America, which is not a thousand miles away from what the BBC is in terms of how it's funded and what it was designed to do, but it doesn't have nearly the dominance over the everyday cultural landscape. Aaron's not wrong; if we were forced by law to pay for a TV channel, it would not go over well here. In terms of quality, we here in America generally only get the good stuff. Until maybe ten years ago, it was easy to assume the the BBC pumped out nothing but quality period drama, fiercely intelligent comedy, and murder mysteries by the bucketload. Now that BBC America has to program its schedule and needs more content than just a couple of hours on Sunday night, some of the less highbrow stuff has made it over, but we really don't get a lot of some of the truly dreadful shit I know the BBC is capable of putting out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted July 26, 2015 Report Share Posted July 26, 2015 BBC does in three channels what American and Canadian TV can't provide in 50 channels as far as quality television. At least that's my impression from when I lived there. In Canada we have the CBC which even our fascist Prime Minister doesn't have the balls to cut. We'd Mussolini the fuck out of him for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koete Posted November 23, 2015 Report Share Posted November 23, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted November 24, 2015 Report Share Posted November 24, 2015 It's funny that in the months since I made my last post in this thread, our fascist fuckwad of a PM went after the CBC and cut it mercilessly, almost to the point of no return now that we got rid of him. I hope BBC finds it's battle a little easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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