I was thinking more of the service itself - read a few posts on this board and you'd believe that all we had left was a couple of Cessnas.
About TV, though: veering wildly offtopic here, the problem with the BBC seems to be that its metric of success is simply audience numbers, which is of course exactly the same way that all broadcasters judge themselves. Because of this, the BBC ends up just doing the same thing as everyone else, which defeats the object of their special status. The entire purpose of funding the BBC in the way that it is funded, at least these days now there are commercial broadcasters, is to ensure there's a broadcaster who does not have to chase the whim of the audience, that is not required to be populist to survive. I think the dissatisfaction that's felt is because they are failing to take advantage of this privileged position.
It is a very good idea in principle and for a very long time it ensured that the UK produced the best television in the world. This is no longer a title on which we have a firm grip, and because the BBC is now effectively indistinguishable from the commercial broadcasters, I agree that the purpose of the current BBC, as it exists today, is unclear (my opinion is that Channel 4 now do a rather better job of some things, notwithstanding their tendency toward voyeurism).
As to putting it out to pasture, I would much rather the BBC clean up its act and start using its unique position for the common good, as opposed to joining the headlong rush downmarket that's characterised the world of TV ever since digital television and the internet changed the way things work. Disestablishing the BBC would not solve the problem of there being no good public service broascaster. I just wish they'd do a bit more to justify why they deserve their special status.
I'm sure I could bore you to death with my opinion on current TV but, as always, I'm very much aware of being a guest on this forum and I don't want to bore everyone to death with my offtopic ramblings.
P
Last edited by Phil_R; 30th June 2012 at 14:11.