‘Radically Reshaped’ BBC to Include Fewer Jobs and More Reruns

[Gerald]

LONDON — The British Broadcasting Corporation announced Thursday that it would eliminate 2,000 jobs, cut its sports budget, show more reruns, and broadcast fewer talk and game shows. Mark Thompson, the broadcaster’s director general, told his staff that the changes — which amount to cuts of about $1.03 billion a year, or a 20 percent reduction in spending over five years — would lead to a “smaller, radically reshaped BBC.” He said that no television or radio stations would be closed down and that some money would be reinvested in new programming and services. The BBC is financed mostly through a government-approved license fee, paid every year by every household in Britain that owns a television set. The fee brings in about $5.5 billion a year. In the early part of the century, spending increased annually, allowing the broadcaster to expand its services and introduce channels. But after a series of embarrassing episodes, including the disclosure of the huge salaries paid to bureaucrats in the organization, the BBC was forced to curtail spending. Last year, confronted with a Conservative-led government skeptical of its financing model, the BBC agreed to freeze the license fee at its current rate of £145.60, or about $224, a year until 2017.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/world/europe/new-cutbacks-announced-by-bbc.html?ref=world


Note: October 6, 2011

[Herr-Berbunch]

I'll happily watch reruns of Blackadder, Little Britain, Faulty Towers, The Two Ronnies, Red Dwarf, Dad's Army, The Young Ones, and current favourite - Outnumbered (http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/clips/p00kvmvy/outnumbered_ben_speaks_german/). :yeah:

Whereas if it's just going to be repeats of Eastenders then they can go take a flying...! :nope:


...jump!

[BossMark]

I'll happily watch reruns of Blackadder, Little Britain, Faulty Towers, The Two Ronnies, Red Dwarf, Dad's Army, The Young Ones, and current favourite - Outnumbered (http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/clips/p00kvmvy/outnumbered_ben_speaks_german/). :yeah:

Whereas if it's just going to be repeats of Eastenders then they can go take a flying...! :nope:


...jump!
Agreed on this :D

[August]

I'll happily watch reruns of Blackadder, Little Britain, Faulty Towers, The Two Ronnies, Red Dwarf, Dad's Army, The Young Ones, and current favourite - Outnumbered (http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/clips/p00kvmvy/outnumbered_ben_speaks_german/). :yeah:

Whereas if it's just going to be repeats of Eastenders then they can go take a flying...! :nope:


...jump!

Except for "Outnumbered" (which I don't like but the wife loves) we don't see any of that when they broadcast BBC stuff on PBS.

It's always Vicar of Dibley, Keeping up Appearances, As Time Goes By, To the Manor Born and Last of the Summer Wine ad nauseum.

[Penguin]

Nearly 10% of the personnel fired? Damn, that's bad!

In addition, 1,000 workers will be relocated from London to Salford, near Manchester, where the BBC has moved a portion of its operations.

This is also a drawback for the affected workers, as the BBC has two different paygrades, one for London, one for the Rest of Britain; the wage difference is about 10-15%.

The same crap as anywhere, poor planning by the management leads to kicking the grunts out. :-?

[Tribesman]

This is also a drawback for the affected workers, as the BBC has two different paygrades, one for London, one for the Rest of Britain
No drawback at all, the BBC like any other company which does London weighing pays it strictly because London is that much more expensive to live in. If they move to Salford the employees won't be paying London prices so have no need for the additional London pay rates.

[danlisa]

I'll happily watch reruns of Blackadder, Little Britain, Faulty Towers, The Two Ronnies, Red Dwarf, Dad's Army, The Young Ones....

Forget about Blackadder, Faulty Towers, Red Dwarf and The Young Ones the rights to those have all been sold to other broadcasters. :(

Funny how this 'shake up' of the BBC, coupled with the threat of repeats coincides with the new 'global subscription' model. Charge the world for unique programming and then churn out the old stuff. Clever.:yep:

I expect a reduction in my TV license soon, especially since the cash generated can no longer be earmarked to new and unique programming.

[Penguin]

No drawback at all, the BBC like any other company which does London weighing pays it strictly because London is that much more expensive to live in. If they move to Salford the employees won't be paying London prices so have no need for the additional London pay rates.

The reason behind this is clear to me, however if you had a cheap housing, you still have less money in the pocket. It also affects your "credit rating" (is this the right word for it?) when you earn less. Same with your pension level.

Not to be talking about the fuzz people have where the partner/kids are bound to the city.

[Tribesman]

The reason behind this is clear to me, however if you had a cheap housing, you still have less money in the pocket.
You only have less money in the pocket if the housing and other expenses still cost more than the allowance you were getting for housing and expenses.
Compare manchester prices and London prices, you can do it anywhere, compare Dublin and Galway.

It also affects your "credit rating" (is this the right word for it?) when you earn less. Same with your pension level.

An allowance wouldn't affect your credit rating, do you think the banks take into account Luncheon vouchers employees get?
With the pensions it depends on the set up but most will go on wage not allowances(or bonuses), the only real impact it would have is if the BBC is an organisation that pays the allowance as actual salary instead of an allowance.

[Jimbuna]

I'll happily watch reruns of Blackadder, Little Britain, Faulty Towers, The Two Ronnies, Red Dwarf, Dad's Army, The Young Ones, and current favourite - Outnumbered (http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/clips/p00kvmvy/outnumbered_ben_speaks_german/). :yeah:

Whereas if it's just going to be repeats of Eastenders then they can go take a flying...! :nope:


...jump!

I find myself going back increasingly to the Gold channel these days.

[Herr-Berbunch]

To get a reduction in you TV licence we'll need to get BBC Alba to shut down - I mean who watches it's endless repeats of Rab C. Nesbitt? And then we either need DCMS to close down S4C, or get them to start paying for the BBC programs they use!

Then shut down all the foreign stations, keeping BBC World Service for Johnny who wants to listen to it.

And I think -10 -15% decrease for living in Manchester (or thereabouts) compared to London would see a net increase on comparable living quarters. A move to South Shields would yield even greater increases. :03:

[Egan]

Except for "Outnumbered" (which I don't like but the wife loves) we don't see any of that when they broadcast BBC stuff on PBS.



They don't broadcast any of that on the BBC here either. They franchised the rights to GOLD and DAVE for lots of money. To be honest I've seen then all so often I couldn't watched any of them any more even if I was forced to at gunpoint. Plenty of decent - and new - comedy coming through the BBC.

To be honest, some of the stuff outwith the usual prime time guff has been fantastic on the BBC over the last couple of years. It'll be a shame if the same drama unit that has recently given us State of Play, The Shadow Line, Sherlock and Page 8 is going to be badly affected.

BBC Alba is pretty much ring fenced as - just like STV - the beeb get a grant for indigenous language stuff be it Welsh or one of the Gaelic languages. Now, they can get rid of BBC 3. Any channel that gave Two Pints of Lager to the world deserves to be axed.

Whole thing smacks of punishing everyone to prove a point. Never mind, sooner or later Murdoch will slither back into the Tory good books and they'll close it down for him as a 'welcome back!' present. :shifty:

[Jimbuna]

To get a reduction in you TV licence we'll need to get BBC Alba to shut down - I mean who watches it's endless repeats of Rab C. Nesbitt? And then we either need DCMS to close down S4C, or get them to start paying for the BBC programs they use!

Then shut down all the foreign stations, keeping BBC World Service for Johnny who wants to listen to it.

And I think -10 -15% decrease for living in Manchester (or thereabouts) compared to London would see a net increase on comparable living quarters. A move to South Shields would yield even greater increases. :03:

A move to South Shields will soon entitle you to a free licence :DL

[frau kaleun]

Then shut down all the foreign stations, keeping BBC World Service for Johnny who wants to listen to it.

You'll have to pry my BBC America from my cold, dead hands.




Okay, maybe that's a bit drastic, seeing as how the only thing I ever seem to watch on there is Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, but still.

[Gerald]

A move to South Shields will soon entitle you to a free licence :DL Many famous people live there, :DL

[the_tyrant]

Hmm, Vendor got this news from the NY times, and not the BBC

I wonder why:hmmm:

[Tribesman]

I mean who watches it's endless repeats of Rab C. Nesbitt?
I saw Rab C. with English subtitles once, the subtitles were certainly not the same as what was being said in english:rotfl2:

[MothBalls]

This sucks. I use BBC as a primary news source, as they seem to keep up with the world and not the Kardashians like the US garbage news.

Oh well, as long as they keep the reruns of;
As Time Goes By
Waiting For God
on the air (the only Brit humor I've ever understood)

and Parkinson's interviews, the rest can go away.

[Jimbuna]

Many famous people live there, :DL

I only know of one :smug:

[Gerald]

I only know of one :smug: Yes,yes :haha:

[JU_88]

I'll happily watch reruns of Blackadder, Little Britain, Faulty Towers, The Two Ronnies, Red Dwarf, Dad's Army, The Young Ones, and current favourite - Outnumbered (http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/clips/p00kvmvy/outnumbered_ben_speaks_german/). :yeah:

Whereas if it's just going to be repeats of Eastenders then they can go take a flying...! :nope:


...jump!

^^This +1 :salute:

[Gerald]

Hmm, Vendor got this news from the NY times, and not the BBC

I wonder why:hmmm: There is variation among the news sometimes, :DL

[Jimbuna]

There is variation among the news sometimes, :DL

But not the poster :O:

[JU_88]

There is variation among the news sometimes, :DL

Yeah I never stick to one or two news sources its worth watching a bit of eveything (Except for Fox) :O:

[Jimbuna]

Yeah I never stick to one or two news sources its worth watching a bit of eveything (Except for Fox) :O:

Vendor News is well worth watching (I'll not use your christian name) F :sunny:

[Herr-Berbunch]

Not many famous people live there (S. Shields if a squillion people have posted recently) at all, there have been a few notable 'born theres' like Frank Williams, Cheryl Cole, Eric Idle, Ridley Scott, and the only two I can think that would possibly still live there are Joe McElderry (and he's not been given the right stuff to sing!) and the hilariously funny Sarah Milican.

Jim's not famous, Jim's infamous! :03:

[Jimbuna]

Joe is a personal friend of my bot...no further comment.

[em2nought]

I that US news sucks @ss, hell Al Jezeera is better. :arrgh!:

BBC America/Law & Order UK/BG/X-Files I'm suddenly interested in this new FIOS thing I got this week. Makes that pipe they hit drilling thru my wall easier to swallow. LOL BBC news too! Glad I happened upon this thread or I might have never noticed.

[mapuc]

I'll happily watch reruns of Blackadder, Little Britain, Faulty Towers, The Two Ronnies, Red Dwarf, Dad's Army, The Young Ones, and current favourite - Outnumbered (http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/clips/p00kvmvy/outnumbered_ben_speaks_german/). :yeah:

Whereas if it's just going to be repeats of Eastenders then they can go take a flying...! :nope:


...jump!

I agree on that too

Markus

[Torplexed]

For twenty years on Saturday nights, the local PBS station in the Tacoma area has been running the original 1963-1989 run of Doctor Who in sequence, over and over again. Local aficionados keep sending them the money to keep it on the air somehow.

I imagine those Tardis key chains they get as a token gift must be piling pretty high in the drawers and cabinets. :D

That being said I wish they'd spring for some of the newer episodes.

[Sailor Steve]

For twenty years on Saturday nights, the local PBS station in the Tacoma area has been running the original 1963-1989 run of Doctor Who in sequence, over and over again. Local aficionados keep sending them the money to keep it on the air somehow.
I'm a useless slug. I taped all those when PBS was airing them in the 80s. I own digital copies of them all now, including reconstructed versions of the "missing" episodes. :sunny:

That being said I wish they'd spring for some of the newer episodes.
I'm watching them all on Amazon right now. :D

[Torplexed]

I'm a useless slug. I taped all those when PBS was airing them in the 80s. I own digital copies of them all now, including reconstructed versions of the "missing" episodes. :sunny:

Awww. No Tardis key chain, Dalek clock radio or Doctor Who tote bag for you. :O: Consider yerself lucky.

This PBS affiliate used to follow up the Doctor Who episode with some other classic British sci fi like Blake's Seven or Red Dwarf, but lately it's been back to endless repeats of Are You Being Served?, and As Time Goes By.

[frau kaleun]

Oh the memories... I used to love watching Are You Being Served. Yes it was silly and it's probably terribly dated now and some of the situations that they cooked up for the characters were totally ridiculous, but still.

One of my all-time favorite lines in a sitcom, ever, is from that series. Mrs. Slocombe (spelling?) had tried to get Captain Peacock's attention on the sales floor in a way that he found inappropriate to his station. So in his typically pretentious manner he went into a long explanation of the "proper" way for her to get his attention, which involved her waiting for him to finish whatever he was doing and look in her direction, at which point she would indicate that she needed his assistance, and he would raise his hand and do the little index finger beckoning "wiggle" that everyone instantly recognizes as the signal for "come here."

And that's when Mrs. Slocombe drew herself up in all her offended British matron glory and announced, "Captain Peacock.... I do not respond to any man's finger."

:har:

[Torplexed]

"Captain Peacock.... I do not respond to any man's finger."

:har:

"...and I am unanimous in that!" :03:

I used to think her character's name was spelled Slocum, but I think your spelling is closer.

[frau kaleun]

"...and I am unanimous in that!" :03:


:rotfl2:

:yeah:

[Jimbuna]

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45999000/jpg/_45999938_jex_399019_de27-1.jpg

Actress Mollie Sugden.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8129617.stm

[Gerald]

But not the poster :O: Don't be so sure of that, :03:

[STEED]

Why bother with day time TV, the BBC should just go off air until 5pm just like the 1970's. Of course the fat cats are safe while the poor sod who cleans the bogs out is in the firing line.

[Jimbuna]

Why bother with day time TV, the BBC should just go off air until 5pm just like the 1970's. Of course the fat cats are safe while the poor sod who cleans the bogs out is in the firing line.

Hasn't that always been the case? :hmmm:

[nikimcbee]

Well, then there'll be more time for British porn.
:http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=weijnvNCxqY