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With Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, YouTube, etc. the BBC have a hard time justifying the license these days. The only exception would be live sporting events

With Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, YouTube, etc. the BBC have a hard time justifying the license these days. The only exception would be live sporting events, which is something I don't watch. Given I only watch about 1 hour of "TV" a day I was very glad to stop my license last year. It will not be missed.

chrisseaton 6y ago
It's called a 'TV licence' but know that it also pays for all your radio. I don't watch much TV but I do listen to a lot of radio every day, like many British people.
- CodeGlitch 6y ago
  I've not listened to the radio in 10+ years - my audio consumption is all from Podcasts, which IMHO blows any radio out of the water. It's not live but I don't need it to be.
  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    > Podcasts, which IMHO blows any radio out of the water Can you please share which breathtaking podcasts you're listening to, because I've never found anything even close to as good as landmark BBC radio shows like Today, PM, Today in Parliament, In Our Time, The Moral Maze, Blood, Sex, and Money, From Our Own Correspondent, The Essay, and Night Tracks.
    - pm215 6y ago
      I listen to In Our Time as a podcast :-) It's actually better than the radio-broadcast version because it includes 10-15 minutes of extra time with the guests where they have a bit more discussion. (rss feed: https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/b006qykl.rss https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/b006qykl.rss)
      - chrisseaton 6y ago
        Right but that's still paid for by the 'TV licence' and it's made by the same people.
    - CodeGlitch 6y ago
      No idea what any of those shows you listed are. My interests are science, history, computing, polictics - and there are numerous podcasts covering these subjects. To name just a few in case anyone is intersted: * Dan Snow's History Hits * Triggernometry * Lex Fridman Podcast * Atomic Hobo * Jason Scott Talks his way out of it * Darknet Diaries * Omega Tau * Rob Reid After On * Anatomy of Next * page 94 - Private Eye Podcast * Command line heroes * Full Fact * Guido Talks * Dan Carlin's Hardcore History * The Bellingcat Podcast * On The Metal Some of these podcasts have won awards (See Bellingcat, Page94). My point being that given the shear number of high-quality content out there, I felt it wasn't worth paying £120 to the BBC every year.
      - chrisseaton 6y ago
        > No idea what any of those shows you listed are ... My interests are science, history, computing, polictics Well I don't know what to say apart from that absolutely astounds me. They're the background noise of many British homes and you're severely missing out if these are your interests. For example, In Our Time alone is 900 45-minute episodes each about an individual topic of science, history, maths, politics, art, culture, religion, etc, sometimes even computing, with genuine experts coming to discuss and debate it starting with a basic introduction anyone can follow and then going into the details. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_In_Our_Time_programmes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_In_Our_Time_programmes I think literally nobody else in the world produces this kind of super-high-quality and enduring intelligent spoken-word content. Even the NPR in the US is very poor in comparison. And have you really never heard of the Today Programme or are you exaggerating for effect? It really sets the national daily political agenda in the UK like nothing else. I can't practically understand how you can follow politics and never had heard anyone say 'they said on the Today Programme...' > I felt it wasn't worth paying £120 to the BBC every year ...but you don't have to, for radio.
        CodeGlitch 6y ago
        In Our Time does indeed sound very good - I'll have to check it out - thanks. > And have you really never heard of the Today Programme or are you exaggerating for effect? I've heard of it - never seen an episode so couldn't say what it was about (although the name probably gives it away). Traditionally I've not really watched much "broadcast" TV, even as a kid. I spent most my childhood in front of a computer... > ...but you don't have to, for radio. True, but does feel like free-loading a little?
    - Veen 6y ago
      I listen to most of those too, but as podcasts. The BBC has a very good selection of Radio 4 podcasts.
      - chrisseaton 6y ago
        > I listen to most of those too, but as podcasts I don't understand what practical difference you think that makes... it's the same shows, made by the same people, how you listen to it doesn't make any difference.
        jamienicol 6y ago
        Especially since listening to the radio doesn't require a TV license anyway, so it's not like only watching catch-up TV to avoid needing one.
        Veen 6y ago
        You might be confused because you have, for some reason, interpreted my comment as an attempt to argue against your points. It was, in fact, a simple statement of information I thought might be useful to people who are not aware of the BBC's podcasts.
    - anon1385 6y ago
      'Today' is tabloid bilge and has played a big part in the dumbing down of political discourse in the UK. It's hard to take any of the rest of your recommendations seriously when they start with Today. Certainly there are other BBC programs that are better, and a small number that are very good, but at this point I honestly don't think they are enough to make up for how awful BBC News is and how much damage it's doing to UK society. In the past I would have made excuses for the regressive way the BBC is funded, but it's really hard to do that now.
  - alkonaut 6y ago
    I think the key benefit of a narrow selection of live programming is the idea that a lot of people listen to the same things. The discussions that follow a program, between people who watched or listened to it (which could be a significant chunk of your friends or coworkers) is to me at least as important as the content itself. With podcasts and streaming I often find the discussion starts and ends with "yes I listened to an interesting podcast about that...". Perhaps that will make someone else listen to it the next day, but the window of opportunity for discussion is gone.
    - CodeGlitch 6y ago
      Yes that's a good point. Although I have met people who have listened to the same podcasts as me, so it does happen.
LatteLazy 6y ago
Respectfully, you're not just wrong, you're wrongly wrong. The nature coverage on BBC is an order of magnitude better than anything else on TV. The science coverage on BBC is better than anyone else on TV. The news coverage on BBC is better than anything else on TV. And that's just the starters. The podcast revolution were in right now? Brits have had that since the 70s with radio 4 producing great audio programs. Everything from science to history to drama to comedy. Their programming makes up a big chunk of the best podcasts and another chunk are ripoffs of BBC shows. Streaming? BBC iPlayer was the trailblazer in that space. And we're still not done. The UK has a similar problem to US media: its mostly owned by crazy right wingers and what isn't spends a lot of time navel gazing and sharing cat in tree stories. Not the BBC, they keep breaking big stories. They don't care or have to care about the editorial line or commercial interests of their advertisers or even their viewers prejudices. And educated, informed voters are one reason we have maintained (just) decent healthcare and a semi working benefit system. They actually force other media to be better. That's why we don't have Foxx news and our antivaxx movement is smaller than the US or Frances. I'm not saying they're perfect. I'm not saying they're always right or they couldn't do better. I'm just saying, we need more than just the commercial model, be it ads or subscription based. There are 1001 things it doesn't do well. It does other things great. But it can't give you everything. Why not keep both? Thanks for reading my rant.
- CodeGlitch 6y ago
  Thanks for your response - feel free to rant. I agree with what you said, but given there's only so many hours in the day, and I only watch TV to "switch my brain off", I didn't feel it worth the cost given that Netflix et al fills that hole just fine- for far less. To get my science / nature / news I turn to podcasts.
  - LatteLazy 6y ago
    Thanks for YOUR response! Sorry if mine was too confrontational. I definately know what you mean. I've spent more time vegitating in front of Brooklyn Nine-nine than watching enriching educational material myself. May I recommend 2 BBC podcasts for science etc as our ships pass in the night? The life scientific 40 to 60min interviews with scientists about what they do, how they did it, why they ended up in the field. Very interesting! https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b015sqc7 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b015sqc7 More or Less A statistics program. Only about 20m per episode, they take a statistical question or a lie or similar and research where it came from and what the truth is. There are some really good episodes on Covid stats recently as well as a few that answer (disprove) articles that have cropped up here. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrss1/episodes/downloads https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrss1/episodes/downloads Both have RSS feeds.

chrisseaton 6y ago

It's called a 'TV licence' but know that it also pays for all your radio. I don't watch much TV but I do listen to a lot of radio every day, like many British people.

CodeGlitch 6y ago
I've not listened to the radio in 10+ years - my audio consumption is all from Podcasts, which IMHO blows any radio out of the water. It's not live but I don't need it to be.
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  > Podcasts, which IMHO blows any radio out of the water Can you please share which breathtaking podcasts you're listening to, because I've never found anything even close to as good as landmark BBC radio shows like Today, PM, Today in Parliament, In Our Time, The Moral Maze, Blood, Sex, and Money, From Our Own Correspondent, The Essay, and Night Tracks.
  - pm215 6y ago
    I listen to In Our Time as a podcast :-) It's actually better than the radio-broadcast version because it includes 10-15 minutes of extra time with the guests where they have a bit more discussion. (rss feed: https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/b006qykl.rss https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/b006qykl.rss)
    - chrisseaton 6y ago
      Right but that's still paid for by the 'TV licence' and it's made by the same people.
  - CodeGlitch 6y ago
    No idea what any of those shows you listed are. My interests are science, history, computing, polictics - and there are numerous podcasts covering these subjects. To name just a few in case anyone is intersted: * Dan Snow's History Hits * Triggernometry * Lex Fridman Podcast * Atomic Hobo * Jason Scott Talks his way out of it * Darknet Diaries * Omega Tau * Rob Reid After On * Anatomy of Next * page 94 - Private Eye Podcast * Command line heroes * Full Fact * Guido Talks * Dan Carlin's Hardcore History * The Bellingcat Podcast * On The Metal Some of these podcasts have won awards (See Bellingcat, Page94). My point being that given the shear number of high-quality content out there, I felt it wasn't worth paying £120 to the BBC every year.
    - chrisseaton 6y ago
      > No idea what any of those shows you listed are ... My interests are science, history, computing, polictics Well I don't know what to say apart from that absolutely astounds me. They're the background noise of many British homes and you're severely missing out if these are your interests. For example, In Our Time alone is 900 45-minute episodes each about an individual topic of science, history, maths, politics, art, culture, religion, etc, sometimes even computing, with genuine experts coming to discuss and debate it starting with a basic introduction anyone can follow and then going into the details. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_In_Our_Time_programmes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_In_Our_Time_programmes I think literally nobody else in the world produces this kind of super-high-quality and enduring intelligent spoken-word content. Even the NPR in the US is very poor in comparison. And have you really never heard of the Today Programme or are you exaggerating for effect? It really sets the national daily political agenda in the UK like nothing else. I can't practically understand how you can follow politics and never had heard anyone say 'they said on the Today Programme...' > I felt it wasn't worth paying £120 to the BBC every year ...but you don't have to, for radio.
      - CodeGlitch 6y ago
        In Our Time does indeed sound very good - I'll have to check it out - thanks. > And have you really never heard of the Today Programme or are you exaggerating for effect? I've heard of it - never seen an episode so couldn't say what it was about (although the name probably gives it away). Traditionally I've not really watched much "broadcast" TV, even as a kid. I spent most my childhood in front of a computer... > ...but you don't have to, for radio. True, but does feel like free-loading a little?
  - Veen 6y ago
    I listen to most of those too, but as podcasts. The BBC has a very good selection of Radio 4 podcasts.
    - chrisseaton 6y ago
      > I listen to most of those too, but as podcasts I don't understand what practical difference you think that makes... it's the same shows, made by the same people, how you listen to it doesn't make any difference.
      - jamienicol 6y ago
        Especially since listening to the radio doesn't require a TV license anyway, so it's not like only watching catch-up TV to avoid needing one.
      - Veen 6y ago
        You might be confused because you have, for some reason, interpreted my comment as an attempt to argue against your points. It was, in fact, a simple statement of information I thought might be useful to people who are not aware of the BBC's podcasts.
  - anon1385 6y ago
    'Today' is tabloid bilge and has played a big part in the dumbing down of political discourse in the UK. It's hard to take any of the rest of your recommendations seriously when they start with Today. Certainly there are other BBC programs that are better, and a small number that are very good, but at this point I honestly don't think they are enough to make up for how awful BBC News is and how much damage it's doing to UK society. In the past I would have made excuses for the regressive way the BBC is funded, but it's really hard to do that now.
- alkonaut 6y ago
  I think the key benefit of a narrow selection of live programming is the idea that a lot of people listen to the same things. The discussions that follow a program, between people who watched or listened to it (which could be a significant chunk of your friends or coworkers) is to me at least as important as the content itself. With podcasts and streaming I often find the discussion starts and ends with "yes I listened to an interesting podcast about that...". Perhaps that will make someone else listen to it the next day, but the window of opportunity for discussion is gone.
  - CodeGlitch 6y ago
    Yes that's a good point. Although I have met people who have listened to the same podcasts as me, so it does happen.

LatteLazy 6y ago

Respectfully, you're not just wrong, you're wrongly wrong. The nature coverage on BBC is an order of magnitude better than anything else on TV. The science coverage on BBC is better than anyone else on TV. The news coverage on BBC is better than anything else on TV. And that's just the starters. The podcast revolution were in right now? Brits have had that since the 70s with radio 4 producing great audio programs. Everything from science to history to drama to comedy. Their programming makes up a big chunk of the best podcasts and another chunk are ripoffs of BBC shows. Streaming? BBC iPlayer was the trailblazer in that space. And we're still not done. The UK has a similar problem to US media: its mostly owned by crazy right wingers and what isn't spends a lot of time navel gazing and sharing cat in tree stories. Not the BBC, they keep breaking big stories. They don't care or have to care about the editorial line or commercial interests of their advertisers or even their viewers prejudices. And educated, informed voters are one reason we have maintained (just) decent healthcare and a semi working benefit system. They actually force other media to be better. That's why we don't have Foxx news and our antivaxx movement is smaller than the US or Frances. I'm not saying they're perfect. I'm not saying they're always right or they couldn't do better. I'm just saying, we need more than just the commercial model, be it ads or subscription based. There are 1001 things it doesn't do well. It does other things great. But it can't give you everything. Why not keep both? Thanks for reading my rant.

CodeGlitch 6y ago
Thanks for your response - feel free to rant. I agree with what you said, but given there's only so many hours in the day, and I only watch TV to "switch my brain off", I didn't feel it worth the cost given that Netflix et al fills that hole just fine- for far less. To get my science / nature / news I turn to podcasts.
- LatteLazy 6y ago
  Thanks for YOUR response! Sorry if mine was too confrontational. I definately know what you mean. I've spent more time vegitating in front of Brooklyn Nine-nine than watching enriching educational material myself. May I recommend 2 BBC podcasts for science etc as our ships pass in the night? The life scientific 40 to 60min interviews with scientists about what they do, how they did it, why they ended up in the field. Very interesting! https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b015sqc7 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b015sqc7 More or Less A statistics program. Only about 20m per episode, they take a statistical question or a lie or similar and research where it came from and what the truth is. There are some really good episodes on Covid stats recently as well as a few that answer (disprove) articles that have cropped up here. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrss1/episodes/downloads https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrss1/episodes/downloads Both have RSS feeds.