EBME Forums Forums Free discussion Out of Hours Television's Birthday

I thought you might like to know regular broadcasts of Television programmes started 75 years ago today. We have come a long way in one lifetime.

For all the moans and groans that we hear (many justified, unfortunately, in my view), the good old BBC is still most likely the best broadcaster in the world.

Now all they need to do is to stop paying such OTT salaries* to mediocre "personalities" (and so-called "auto-cuties") and senior managers, and get back to the core business of Public Service Broadcasting!

And, while they're at it ... bring back Muffin the Mule!

* Which (if I'm not mistaken) come out of the Licence Fee paid by all owners of TV sets in the UK - the non-payment of which can end up getting you jailed!

Well, whereas I wouldn't agree with bringing back 'muffin' except possibly Pixar-ized and in 3D , I would definitely agree with the removal of stupid salaries for stupid celebrities...

Thank God Jonathan Ross has gone - does anyone find that man remotely funny?

I'm sure the BBC and Alexandra Palace didn't have him in mind 75 years ago...

Far better to pay Gary Lineker his £2 Million a year salary and Mr Hansen not far behind him .... what for ... stating the bleeding obvious.

I'm pretty sure that Lord Reith didn't have any of the current lot of loonies, lefties and luvvies in mind!

As I have already alluded to, the real problem with the BBC is the way it's funded. Many folk have become fed up with paying for the 80% that is [censored] just to get the 20% that they actually want (you know, like the weather forecast), as well as funding the over-inflated egos of a bunch of untalented "stars".

Whilst other folk (like me, for example) have became fed up with it being way over the top in the PC stakes (as in, bending over backwards whilst jumping through all the hoops at the same time). I doubt that John Reith would have had much truck with any of that nonsense, either.

Perhaps I should point out that I haven't owned a television set myself for over twenty years, and hardly ever listen to the radio these days either. Not even Radio 4. And I gave up tuning in to BBC local radio after becoming fed up with Glaswegian accents on BBC Radio Gloucester (it's meant to be local for [censored] sake)!

In fact my only interaction with the BBC is an occasional glance at their news website. But (as we know) "other sites are available", especially for folk who are interested in looking a bit deeper, or from a different angle, as it were.

But ... going back to the birth of television:- yes, that was back in the days when the BBC had a thriving and pioneering (obviously) engineering department. What has become of all that now?

Or maybe I'm mistaken. Perhaps they are amongst the twenty or so who have been frog-marched up to Manchester! Ha, ha.

Geoff

If you want things from a different angle get a Short Wave receiver.Most countries have their own english language stations and it's quite interesting in hearing say Radio India's take on for example the current squabbles (news) coming out of Europe, Radio China is also umm different! Of course you can also get most of this on the internet!

Suppose being a good citizen you've bought a licence Geoff, for listening to the radio

I think your feelings about the BBC roughly correlate with mine Geoff, though I do pay my licence at the moment, though don't know for how much longer.There are various cases of people refusing to pay the licence fee for valid (what the consider to be valid anyway) and as far as I know there have been no prosecutions as the BBC is rather scared of losing a test case in the courts as it would open the floodgates
You may find these websites useful:
http://www.tpuc.org/stoppayingtvlicencefees
http://tpuc.org/node/142

@Dave: what? For a hour a year (at most) on the car radio? That's the only radio I have. I won't argue ... but see for yourself.

I've always been a "pay for what you use" type of guy! If I had a TV to "enjoy" on-air content at a fixed address, then I would pay for that "service" (because that's what the Law requires).

@Denis: yes ... what is the BBC? Is it part of the government (I don't think so), or what? Just like so much of our (over-bearing) legislation, the TV Licensing Laws have failed to keep up with technology and the general circumstances of modern life.

@Dicky: the same goes for on-line news streams ... like this one for example. And this (amongst many others).

For what it's worth, I believe that Public Service Broadcasting should be funded from General Taxation. You know, just like all the other "services" we are obliged to fork out for (contribute to), and are presumably meant to "enjoy"!

Meanwhile, the TV Licence is just another gouge. For instance, why should Colour cost more than B&W? There's no sense to it.

I agree with Dicky, Internet radio is fascinating to get a different take on Global issues from countries such as South Africa and Australia!!