Post by Teddy Bear on Nov 27, 2014 17:57:14 GMT
Judging by the few programmes on the BBC I feel inclined to watch, the number of any kind of quality are few and far between. I do notice how often the BBC advertise Dr. Who, which memory tells me began about 50+ years ago, and is considered one of their best outputs. The other is Top Gear, which is not made by them, but does rather well in the UK and the rest of the world.
Perhaps somebody else will point me in the direction of anything made by them in the last 15 years that showed some sort of excellence for creativity and quality. Anything that they can be commended for. I see that they're idea of entertainment for Radio 4 on New Years Day is a 10 hour broadcast of Tolstoy's War and Peace
As it is they have been receiving £3.7 billion a year for regurgitating shows made years ago, and many or most of those weren't that good to begin with. They feel now it is a threat to state that any more cuts could affect programmes, but could it really get any worse?
So long as they use their money to feather their own nests and hire people on the basis that they go along with their existing agenda nothing will change. It will only end when their automatic earnings via the licence fee is terminated once and for all.
Perhaps somebody else will point me in the direction of anything made by them in the last 15 years that showed some sort of excellence for creativity and quality. Anything that they can be commended for. I see that they're idea of entertainment for Radio 4 on New Years Day is a 10 hour broadcast of Tolstoy's War and Peace
Radio 4's cure for the New Year hangover? 10 hours of War and Peace
BBC Radio 4 is to broadcast a ten hour dramatisation of War and Peace on New Year's Day, pausing only for the news and the Archers
BBC Radio 4 is to broadcast a ten hour dramatisation of War and Peace on New Year's Day, pausing only for the news and the Archers
As it is they have been receiving £3.7 billion a year for regurgitating shows made years ago, and many or most of those weren't that good to begin with. They feel now it is a threat to state that any more cuts could affect programmes, but could it really get any worse?
So long as they use their money to feather their own nests and hire people on the basis that they go along with their existing agenda nothing will change. It will only end when their automatic earnings via the licence fee is terminated once and for all.
BBC efficiency drive saves £1.1billion a year by slashing back on staff and fees for 'talent' but bosses warn more cuts could affect programmes
By Alasdair Glennie for the Daily Mail
The BBC is saving £1.1billion a year more than seven years ago after slashing 1,000 staff and top 'talent' - but could still have to take the axe to programmes, its finance director has warned.
Publishing a new report on ‘BBC efficiency’, Anne Bulford said the corporation still needs to find an extra £400million a year by 2017 and 'the challenge to avoid having to cut content is very real'.
The cuts included £35million a year from the £229million-a-year talent budget compared to five years ago, after widespread criticism of high salaries paid to top stars.
The departures of Susanna Reid and Jeremy Paxman have helped reduce the annual BBC talent budget
Former BBC presenters prompted anger when their salaries were revealed, including the £6million a year reportedly paid to Jonathan Ross before he moved to ITV in 2010.
Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman was also thought to be earning more than £500,000 before he left this year - with the highest-paid 'talent' now thought to be stars such as Graham Norton and Jeremy Clarkson.
The departure of Susanna Reid, who departed for ITV and a reported £400,000 salary in April, has also helped trim BBC budgets.
But because many of the other cuts that were made to date - including more than 1,000 redundancies and a string of property sales - were one-off savings, bosses are expected to target the BBC programming budget next to save more cash.
The BBC’s director general Tony Hall has already announced plans to axe youth channel BBC3 and make it online-only, angering many of his own TV presenters.
But according to an insider, bosses are prepared to make further ‘tough choices’ in order to save more money, meaning services such as the arts channel BBC4 could also find itself under threat.
A source said yesterday that it is ‘increasingly likely’ that other stations and programmes will be slimmed down or cut as the corporation puts further pressure on its budgets.
Although no plans have been drawn up, the BBC would prefer to make a few dramatic cuts, such as by axing an entire channel, than to make many smaller savings to programme budgets.
Miss Bulford, who is paid £395,000 as the BBC’s managing director of finance and operations, said: ‘Many savings delivered in this charter period come from structural or one-off initiatives that can’t easily be repeated, making it more likely that content and services will be impacted if the real terms value of the Licence Fee continues to be reduced.’
In recent years, the BBC has repeatedly come under fire for wasting money. The controversial IT project known as the Digital Media Initiative was axed by Lord Hall at a cost of £100million to the licence fee payer.
And the corporation was castigated by MPs after a report by the National Audit Office discovered it had handed out £369million in severance payments to its staff over eight years.
However, Miss Bulford argued that the BBC’s efficiency ‘compares well’ to Government departments and boasted that it is ‘on track’ to achieve £1.5billion in savings by 2017.
To save more money, Lord Hall will introduce a ‘compete or compare’ strategy that will force programme makers to slash their costs and compete with independent production companies.
The decision to axe BBC3 – which is expected to save around £100million a year – must be approved by the corporation’s governing body before it can go ahead.
Stars including comedian Jack Whitehall and DJ Greg James have already criticised the idea in public. In 2010, the BBC was forced to abandon plans to axe Radio 6Music after its stars organised a vocal public protest.
- A new report on BBC efficiency said an extra £400 million had to be cut
- The Corporation has already saved £1.1billion a year by sacking 1,000 staff
- £35million has also been shaved off the £229million spend on 'talent'
- It came after criticism of high salaries including £6m for Jonathan Ross
- Director general Tony Hall previously announced the end of BBC3
- Now, BBC4 is under threat as part of the new cash-saving measures
By Alasdair Glennie for the Daily Mail
The BBC is saving £1.1billion a year more than seven years ago after slashing 1,000 staff and top 'talent' - but could still have to take the axe to programmes, its finance director has warned.
Publishing a new report on ‘BBC efficiency’, Anne Bulford said the corporation still needs to find an extra £400million a year by 2017 and 'the challenge to avoid having to cut content is very real'.
The cuts included £35million a year from the £229million-a-year talent budget compared to five years ago, after widespread criticism of high salaries paid to top stars.
The departures of Susanna Reid and Jeremy Paxman have helped reduce the annual BBC talent budget
Former BBC presenters prompted anger when their salaries were revealed, including the £6million a year reportedly paid to Jonathan Ross before he moved to ITV in 2010.
Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman was also thought to be earning more than £500,000 before he left this year - with the highest-paid 'talent' now thought to be stars such as Graham Norton and Jeremy Clarkson.
The departure of Susanna Reid, who departed for ITV and a reported £400,000 salary in April, has also helped trim BBC budgets.
But because many of the other cuts that were made to date - including more than 1,000 redundancies and a string of property sales - were one-off savings, bosses are expected to target the BBC programming budget next to save more cash.
The BBC’s director general Tony Hall has already announced plans to axe youth channel BBC3 and make it online-only, angering many of his own TV presenters.
But according to an insider, bosses are prepared to make further ‘tough choices’ in order to save more money, meaning services such as the arts channel BBC4 could also find itself under threat.
A source said yesterday that it is ‘increasingly likely’ that other stations and programmes will be slimmed down or cut as the corporation puts further pressure on its budgets.
Although no plans have been drawn up, the BBC would prefer to make a few dramatic cuts, such as by axing an entire channel, than to make many smaller savings to programme budgets.
Miss Bulford, who is paid £395,000 as the BBC’s managing director of finance and operations, said: ‘Many savings delivered in this charter period come from structural or one-off initiatives that can’t easily be repeated, making it more likely that content and services will be impacted if the real terms value of the Licence Fee continues to be reduced.’
In recent years, the BBC has repeatedly come under fire for wasting money. The controversial IT project known as the Digital Media Initiative was axed by Lord Hall at a cost of £100million to the licence fee payer.
And the corporation was castigated by MPs after a report by the National Audit Office discovered it had handed out £369million in severance payments to its staff over eight years.
However, Miss Bulford argued that the BBC’s efficiency ‘compares well’ to Government departments and boasted that it is ‘on track’ to achieve £1.5billion in savings by 2017.
To save more money, Lord Hall will introduce a ‘compete or compare’ strategy that will force programme makers to slash their costs and compete with independent production companies.
The decision to axe BBC3 – which is expected to save around £100million a year – must be approved by the corporation’s governing body before it can go ahead.
Stars including comedian Jack Whitehall and DJ Greg James have already criticised the idea in public. In 2010, the BBC was forced to abandon plans to axe Radio 6Music after its stars organised a vocal public protest.