Comments in The Telegraph

[Teddy Bear]

In todays' Telegraph, following an article on Anger at the BBC about not receiving as much as they wanted from the license fee, there is a comment section as shown below. One can see how many people there are who are very aware of the BBC mediocrity and bias. I urge everybody to post there.

Do we get good value for money from the BBC?
Posted at: 13:30
Tessa Jowell, the UK's Culture Secretary, has announced a 3 percent rise for the next two years in the license fee that funds the BBC, a boost in line with current inflation but significantly below what the corporation had asked for.

From April 1 each British household with a TV will have to pay £135.50 ($267.10 or Euros 206.27) to support the BBC. Do you think this is good value for money?

The BBC's director general, Mark Thompson, has already described the increase as a "real disappointment". But do you think the BBC, with its terrestrial and digital TV channels, national, regional, local and digital radio stations and huge Internet presence, is trying to do too much?

What do you think of its programmes? Should it entertain less and inform and educate more? Or vice versa? Is it fulfilling the "public purposes" laid down in its Charter such as "sustaining citizenship and civil society," "promoting education and learning" and "stimulating creativity and cultural excellence"?

The BBC's supporters argue that the corporation is the "envy of the world". If you live abroad, would you like your national public service broadcaster to be more like the BBC? Would you pay for the pleasure?

To post a comment click here

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[Teddy Bear]

Today the Telegraph questions the BBC spending of £700,000 for new idents, especially coming so soon after their previous spending of £1.2 million for the same.

BBC splashes out £700k more on TV links
By Sally Peck and agencies
Last Updated: 1:45am GMT 14/02/2007



The BBC has spent another £700,000 of licence payers' money replacing its on-screen links between programmes, it announced today.


The new idents will appear from February 18
The corporation racked up the bill while creating seven different scenarios - made into 14 short clips - in which the camera pulls back to reveal the viewer is looking at the world in an unexpected way through the figure "2".

Three of the new BBC2 shorts were shot in South Africa, apparently because the film-makers wanted sunny weather.

BBC2's latest "idents", as they are officially known, are designed to convey that the channel has become a "window on the world", but the shorts, shot in various exotic locations, are expected to raise concerns over costs, particularly as the corporation is in the process of cutting more than 3,700 jobs as part of its cost-saving exercise.

Last September, the corporation came under fire for spending £1.2 million on a new set of BBC1 idents to replace the old clips of tango dancers and disabled basketball players.

The new BBC2 idents include a chocolate "2" sprinkled onto a cappuccino; a "2"-shaped car mirror; a "2" cut into the door of a tent to reveal a pop festival, beach or polar landscape; a "2"-shaped car sunroof; a "2"-shaped breakwater; a sci-fi scene viewed through the "2"-shaped windows of a zoetrope; and a dramatic chase scene involving a man being chased through a "2"-shaped portal.

The logo has been rebranded in a deep aqua colour with a "more contemporary font".

Roly Keating, the BBC2 controller, said: "Our famous '2' is one of the most recognisable and durable brand images in British media, and this latest evolution takes it into fresh and exciting territory.


The BBC drew criticism last year for spending £1.2m on new idents for BBC1 featuring surfers and computer-generated hippopotami

"These new idents embody all of BBC2's distinctive humour, creativity, playfulness and surprise - and they're also beautifully-executed pieces of film-making in their own right."

The shorts, designed by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, will be on air from February 18.

BBC journalists and technical staff are planning to stage a 24-hour strike in a row over job cuts.

Members of Bectu and the National Union of Journalists will walk out on February 26 after votes in favour of industrial action.