Not literally, of course.
I am just referring to the fact that the Today programme on Radio 4 lost 800,000 listeners in the last quarter compared to a year ago. It is down to 7 million listeners, on average.
I very strongly suspect that few who comment here will be surprised: the programme's bias and simultaneous inability to unearth the plot have destroyed its appeal.
I would like to think it could recover. The problem, however, is systemic and deep within the BBC. Sacking a presenter and a switch of editor would not change this. Making the BBC into a fearless public service broadcaster would.
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It’s become dreadful rubbish unfortunately – the presence of the appalling John Humphreys alone is sufficient to disqualify it from being listened to in our household. Part of the problem is the BBC news agenda being controlled by Tory sympathisers; the rest of the problem is that non-Tories are too scared to run stories that are critical of the govt because of the fear that BBC funding will be cut (which it has been, significantly, since 2010, via repeated freezes in the licence fee, and the requirement for the BBC to fund free TV licences for over-75s.) I think fundamental reform is required.
I agree
But I also hate radio advertising….
I can’t remember the last time I watched anything from the BBC. I wish my Tivo box had some sort of system where I could enter TV license number (or not) which would enable/disable BBC content. The only “redeeming” part of the BBC is the World Service which was great when I was a VSO volunteer in the mid-nineties in Nigeria. That said I don’t know how the World Service stacks up now.
Absolutely! This is no surprise to those of us in Scotland who used to rely on the BBC for impartial news, but no longer trust it. A growing number I think. But was the BBC ever an impartial state broadcaster? I wonder. And I doubt that it can ever achieve that condition without a radical change of culture and without very firmly closing the revolving door between the Tory party and the BBC.
Expect the normal corporate-speak responses, such as deployed with Newsnight;
1. DENY there is a problem (‘Seasonal variations …’etc)
2. RESIST any calls for change (‘We will not bow to pressure …’)
3. PROCRASTINATE and wait for circumstances to rescue them.
4. ANNOUNCE a review before it has happened to dampen-down the clamour for change (‘See? We’re doing something’ when they are doing nothing of the sort yet.). Do nothing about it.
5. COSMETICS; change the editor or presenter or producer without changing anything radically, hoping this will appease those seeking change. It won’t.
6. PREVARICATE some more, pointing to the ‘change’ already undertaken, in the hope that it all goes away.
7. REVIEW. Announce that a thorough review is taking place, not as a result of the pressure for change, but as a normal part of ongoing governance activities.
8. WAIT. For as long as possible before being forced to declare what state the ‘Review’ is at. It’s in no state at all.
9. TIME. Declare that a long time has elapsed since pressure first began, ‘circumstances and contexts have changed markedly’, it would not be appropriate to go back and revisit, move on (nothing to see here), ‘we must all learn lessons’ etc etc etc
10. Go back to 1.
Sigh.
Yes Richard and if they keep up their daily dose of Corbyn bashing, I expect them to lose a lot more.
I had to stop listening to Today because – as I listened to it in the car on the way to work – I was worried that I would drive off the road or hit someone because it made me so angry.
The last straws for me have been;
(1) Jon Humphrys – now just a grumpy old man – so grumpy that he is like a blind man shooting at the world. His time was up a long time ago and he should go. When you can’t give new ideas a fair hearing without sounding negative…………well.
(2) Nick Robinson – I once heard him say to a Union official who was defending jobs that he was just being self-interested (who wouldn’t be if your job was on the line!!! For fucks sake!!!) but never said anything about the self interests behind the decisions to make cuts when he interviewed representatives of the company concerned. I ask you……………..?
I know Robinson has been gravely ill and I hope that he remains well but if I ever met the fellow I’d leave him with no doubt as to how appalling he is as a so-called ‘political correspondent’.
In fact he is no a correspondent – he is a Political Respondent – for the Tory party and neo-liberal ‘values’.
Whilst I am here I’m going to moan about PM.
I am pleased that Eddie Mair is leaving. Over the years I have got pretty sick of his bitchy, knowing and coy style handling/baiting of politicians. Although he may have enjoyed being paid to toy with them like a cat plays with a mouse, I very often lost my patience and turned him off when he would just not come out with straightforward questions leading to answers. I often felt that I was the audience to a game being none the wiser after the interview finished.
Still, there is always Newsnight. Or has that tanked too?
I am rarely up for Newsnight
And I don’t think I am missing much
Gosh – you too!
Some of your readers might like to see Alex Salmond’s message to the BBC over Wings over Scotland’s You Tube ban.
I tried to post it on your post of a few days ago entitled “Does the BBC have a right to close down discussion of the news?” but it seems to have been closed for further comments. It has over 4,100 shares and looks set to run and run!
https://viloud.tv/channel/1fa85ba9cc2367a4079ccee9cefac591/video/3e9052d4839e494765cae1d35a0618b
The last link somehow went direct to the London Calling Video.
This is the correct link for the Alex Salmond message to the BBC. Sorry for the confusion.
https://youtu.be/qsgGRszAXKA
Expect Tommy Robinson to follow Farage onto Question Time before Christmas in the name of ‘balance’.
I have to admit that the only reason I switch on R4 is to figure out what line the Tories are peddling. If you are an early bird like me you can catch the kites they fly at 6am and compare them to later versions. The difference is sometimes very informative.
Hi Richard,
well one of those 800,000 is definitely me, I’ve even cancelled my television licence direct debit.
I feel so much better with zero exposure to the BBC now.
but on a brighter note, I understand you’re finding Brexit quite distressing and I wanted to share this with you,
I managed to find, hitherto undiscovered, full footage of the entire UK Government Brexit strategy,
I hope this will be informative and put your mind fully at rest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_JOGmXpe5I
Are you sure you should have cancelled your licence fee?
Nit watching the BBC does not let you off
actually, in all seriousness, it is possible to legitimately decline access to BBC services and stop having a tv licence,
they even sent me a refund for the portion of the year I’d paid ahead,
the process seemed a bit Kafkaesque when I started it online but because I followed it through it was actually quite painless,
I had to give a reason and said that I no longer watched or listened to any BBC output because the bias and propaganda was so distressing that I felt a lot healthier without it, I’d only been using iplayer for the last few years and when I was required to sign up to use it I objected on principle and decided enough was enough,
we have agreed that they will contact me every year or so to see whether I’ve changed my mind.
idk if en mass this would be a good form of leverage or just open the door for the completion of full privatisation?
Matt, that seems a ridiculous over reaction. There’s a lot more to the Beeb than it’s news coverage. For the price of the licence fee, it produces a fantastic range of programs way beyond anything it’s commercial rivals manage. How about, for example, the Prom concerts, one of which I went to last night?
Which of course, is why so many right wingers hate it, and are doing their best to wreck it, just like other great British public sector achievements like the NHS, Civil Service and Welfare State.
I take the view that anything that’s hated by both the hard right and hard left (BBC, the EU etc) has probably worth got a lot going for it. Remember, the BBC has, and is, been under constant attack from ever more partisan politicians and voters and as Howard Reed has pointed out, since 2010 (thanks to another useless Tory, George Osborne) it’s had budget cuts and freezes.
That doesn’t mean to say it’s perfect, or that some of the financial journalism isn’t pretty poor, constantly regurgitating the broken ‘tax and spend’ line.
And as for the ludicrous concept of balance, where a proven liar and climate change denier like Lawson gets invited on………….!
I’ll admit I no longer listen to Today 99% of the time now. This is something that started before Brexit, when I realised that listening to the news first thing in the morning simply put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day. The whole wretched Brexit fiasco was the final straw though. The thought of having to listen to a single word, let alone sentence or more, from any of the Brexit mob is too much to bare. So now I listen to R3 when I get up. far better to listen to great music performed by great musicians than to arrogant, stupid, dishonest, cowardly, hypocritical and vindictive politicians.
What would people on here prefer to the BBC, if it’s so poor? RT, a propaganda arm of Putin’s Russia? Commercial stations, with bloody advert breaks every 5 minutes? Or do you prefer the hate filled echo chamber of so much of the internet?
sickoftaxdodgers says:
“Matt, that seems a ridiculous over reaction. ”
Not by my reckoning. I’m with Matt on this. I haven’t had a TV or licence for years.
It’s bad enough having effluent piped into my living space without being charged a licence fee for the privilege.
I don’t miss it. I’m more than happy to miss the increasingly rare treat. (Especially if I don’t even know I’ve missed it)
well,
I suppose the BBC hasn’t found a way to politicise the music on R3 !
your list of plus points seemed to run out pretty quick after that,
I was only watching Dr Who, listening to Laurie Taylor on Thinking Allowed and Costing the Earth on R4
unfortunately I would have to submit to registration and monitoring to listen to R4 online, such a shame,
maybe I have more reasons for sticking with the BBC than you do?
and if you do want to see, say, John Pilger interviewed them I’m afraid you’ll never see him on the BBC but often on RT,
he had his own prime time shows in the 70’s and 80’s, now he’s persona non grata within the MSM
anyway I can source all the information I need directly from independent journalists and analyst via their websites,
I don’t have to view them through the distorting mirror that is the BBC nowadays,
I kinda agree with this guy, you may have heard of him?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULfqhCNHQPA
Also the radio talk programme LBC is very biased to the right. Nigel Farage has its peak broadcasting time and most of the other presenters lean to the right with one or two exceptions on at less popular hours.
At least two do not
And I would not call mid morning and mid afternoon unpopular slots
What I find sad is that when I first had a flat on my own I bought a radio and it was my fairly constant companion.
Finding myself in a similar position many years later, I bought a Radio. Same manufacturer, and a very serviceable machine except I find the output is defective.
I wish I could get the old model back, but it’s out of production.
I’ve never bought a television and don’t intend to. It’ll nivver catch on. It’s just a fad and no match for a hoola hoop.
A typical example of bias on the BBC. Last night on News at Ten, Peter Moss spent ten minutes or more about the bankrupt Northamptonshire County Council. He interviewed the Council leader and also a women who organises volunteers to help run the libraries ect but she said the stock of volunteers is exhausted. The Council leader of course justified what they have been doing. There was a mention that money from Central government had been halved and Peter Moss asked why not increase Council Tax. Peter Moss made no attempt to interview the relevant Minister from Government and nowhere was the paradox raised that over the years, income tax rates have been steadily lowered and rates of tax evasion have increased. So a country which is now much richer than it was a generation ago, is cutting welfare projects which started a generation ago.
I understand Talk Radio is taking a lot of BBC’s listeners.
Have you been asked to appear there? Their debating style seems much more confrontational. I’m sure it would be great fun to hear you explain your theories in a more combative arena.
Talk Radio is far right nonsense
I have been on. It was an utter waste of time. The interviewer was the far right on that occassion