03-30-2010, 07:52 AM | #1 | |
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BBC postpones iPhone apps
crossposted from The Digital Reader
The BBC is reporting: Quote:
FYI: The underlying problem here is not apps, but the fact that the BBC is a tax funded organization in the UK, and it competes with news organizations like The Guardian, The Times, etc. The BBC has no profit incentive, so they give their content away for free. I find the complaints about the free apps to be a little silly. Isn’t this same BBC content already available on mobile devices for free (via the browser)? |
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03-30-2010, 08:05 AM | #2 | |
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Quote:
BBC Worldwide for example. |
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03-30-2010, 08:30 AM | #3 |
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BBC Worldwide is the non-mandate arm of the BBC. BBC News, which I'd imagine the apps would be under, is covered by the taxpayer funded, public service mandate.
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03-30-2010, 10:07 AM | #4 |
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this is a shame. bbc always seem so on it, and ahead of the curve in a lot of ways (eg iplayer) but oh well, plenty of other options to keep me going!
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03-30-2010, 10:33 AM | #5 | |
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They have as much incentive to make a profit as any business. The difference is that the profit is not distributed to share-holders, but is used to finance its public service broadcasting obligations. |
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03-30-2010, 10:52 AM | #6 | ||
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Quote:
Quote:
BTW, that's one thing I love about your tv shows. There are shows being made in the UK that would never have been made in the US. Jekyll had only 6 episodes. Life on Mars stopped at (I think) 16. |
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03-30-2010, 12:41 PM | #7 |
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BBC programme scheduling is arranged around 4 "seasons" a year (basically corresponding to the geographical seasons), so a "full season" show is generally 13 episodes; a half-season show is 6 or 7.
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03-30-2010, 02:11 PM | #8 |
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03-30-2010, 03:10 PM | #9 |
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03-30-2010, 04:31 PM | #10 | |
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You can own a TV without paying for a TV license so long as you do not watch any TV stations via it. If you only play video games, watch videos or dvd's on it then you do not need a license. If you watch any TV stations however (even if you do so via a computer rather than TV) then you need a license. I do know someone who has had a TV for many years now and has not once paid for a TV license. They spoke to the people who do the licensing and were assured they did not require a license for the purposes of only watching videos and gaming and to date have never had an issue with that. Unless something has changed in the last 2 years, you also do not need a tv license to watch on-demand programming. Which does (or did) include iPlayer. That's a loophole likely to be closed however (assuming it hasn't already). I do understand your comparison though. Even if you never watch any of the BBC services and only watch commercial stations you still need a license and that's one of the things that has caused issues several times, even more so now we have services like Sky. In a way it is like a tax as you're having to pay for services you may not want nor consume. |
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03-30-2010, 05:07 PM | #11 |
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It's worse in a way, as I suspect in the case of BBC3 we are paying for a service that nobody really wants.
6 Music now... oh, but that's a whole other discussion. Graham |
03-30-2010, 05:35 PM | #12 |
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Having lived elsewhere, I'm happy to pay the license fee and have the BBC. I can't see any other way that BBC4, for example, would exist, and I'm glad it does.
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03-31-2010, 07:11 AM | #13 | |
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Also, you don't need a licence to watch TV other than "over the air". A growing number of people choose to watch TV by other means, mainly via the internet. Those people don't need a licence. Anyway, my main point was that the BBC is not "tax funded". There's a common misconception that it gets it funding from the government, and is therefore somehow influenced by government policy. It was that point that I was refuting, rather than the issue of who is or is not obliged to buy a licence. |
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03-31-2010, 07:41 AM | #14 |
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03-31-2010, 07:51 AM | #15 |
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I believe that you do need a TV licence if you use the BBC's live streaming services (eg of the BBC News Channel), or if you download TV programmes from the BBC iPlayer. That's why these services are restricted to people in the UK, whereas radio programmes (for which no licence is needed) are available world-wide.
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