Dines' Days : Auntie may have to hand over some of her dosh

Auntie may have to hand over some of her dosh

ACCORDING to an Internet gossip site, 13 employees of the BBC spent five days in New York on a fact finding mission to study the latest trendiest web designers, digital shops, and production boutiques. They stayed at the $525 dollar per room per night Hotel on Rivington. Wining and dining would have been extra and I wonder if they travelled economy class or either club or first class.

You and I pay for such merry-making jaunts from the licence fee, which naturally the BBC thinks is far too low. So it's great to read that the Television regulator Ofcom wants some of the BBC's licence fee to go to other broadcasters.

Ofcom says investment in UK-made sitcoms, children's programmes, current affairs, films, comedy, regional news and single dramas on non-BBC channels channels are in jeopardy through a lack of funding. It believes licence fee money could be redirected to other broadcasters after terrestrial switch-off in 2012.

The report comes in the wake of a 17% decline in the public service channels' share of viewing between 2003 and 2007, rising to 22% amongst 16 to 24-year-olds, who have grown up with multichannel TV and the internet.

Top slicing the licence fee and reducing the cash available to the BBC might force the Corporation to live in the real world. When you see hundreds of camermen, technicians, journalists, presenters and executives representing the BBC at the Labour Party conference, you can begin to see how savings could be made.without reducing the quality of the Corporation's out put.

posted on 10 April 2008 14:21 by Graham Dines

Comments

10 April 2008 22:44 by John w

# re: Auntie may have to hand over somne of her dosh

Absoloutly agree, government departments, councils both Suffolk and the lower tiers,the bbc the EA, the ex nationalised industries with a monopoly such as the utility "services" the bloody railways, nhs oh!Mps with their exspense accounts ... please dont` get me started.

14 April 2008 14:35 by Andrew Cann

# re: Auntie may have to hand over some of her dosh

Graham

It's always fascinating how many BBC staff are needed to cover 'Super Tuesday', The Olympics or the World Cup isn' it?

Perhaps a solution is for the role of Offcom to be beefed up in order that they can monitor use of what is effectievly our money. A brief to ensure more of our money goes into programming and content rather than unnecessary costs.

Despite these criticisms however I would pay my license fee for Radio 4 alone (and I know many others who would do so as well).

So a leaner BBC, yes. But those of us who value quality broadcasting will never let a real cut in the BBC's fee go ahead. The BBC is still valued the world over as the finest public service broadcasting organisation and it's unique funding maintains that.