BBC/ITV Freesat, another tiny drop of info...
 

In article , Kay Robinson wrote:
Given the content changes made to so many BBC progs over the years,
and their adverts for what's on next etc. I've wondered if it's all
preparation for going commercial sometime in the future.

I don't think it's "preparation" in the sense that anyone is*
deliberatley planning for it, but if they're not careful that's the way*
it will go. The BBC needs to remember it's supposed to be a public*
service, not a business, and behave accordingly. If it doesn't give the*
licence-paying public anything different from what it already gets from*
the commercial stations, then what are they paying for?

Rod.

Yes I've always resented the licence fee, especially when I've read
how much they've paid out in fees for sporting rights. My biggest
criticism of the Beeb has to be them letting themselves get trapped
into contracts for live sport that result in entire schedules being
trashed.

I haven't always resented the licence fee. It made sense when there was
only BBC Television and nothing else, and it still made a bit of sense
after ITV came along because the BBC could and did tackle material that ITV
wouldn't find profitable or would simply be inappropriate with adverts. But
the days of the old British television duality have long gone and the BBC
television channels are just a few amongst hundreds, offering very little
in terms of type of programming that isn't available elsewhere. The old
method of paying for it as if it were different is becoming an anachronism,
because most of the time nowadays it's hardly different at all.

Rod.

BBC/ITV Freesat, another tiny drop of info...
 

Yes I've always resented the licence fee, especially when I've read
how much they've paid out in fees for sporting rights. My biggest
criticism of the Beeb has to be them letting themselves get trapped
into contracts for live sport that result in entire schedules being
trashed.

Kay

(\__/)
(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste Bunny into your
(")_(") signature to help him gain world domination.

The licence fee still represents the most cost-effective way to fund
the BBC. If only you knew just how much you were paying for the
privilege of independent television, many times that of the licence
fee each year.
Don't forget that this cost is not just the income of the independant
channels, but also the very high cost of making the adverts too.

Oh, and by the way, as everyone knows, the mice had world domination
long before bunnies even thought of it.

BBC/ITV Freesat, another tiny drop of info...
 

In article , Kay Robinson
scribeth thus
On Thu, 31 Jan 2008 11:48:35 +0000, tony sayer
sharpened a new quill and scratched:

In article , Kay Robinson
scribeth thus

Kay..

As someone who used to be in the TV trade at one point then spent a bit
of time at the other end as it were, the pictures that most everyone
sees on DTV are very poor relation's of what's actually happening in the
studios. These start at some 270 Megabits and get reduced to 2 or 4 for
final consumption.

I doubt you've seen a good analogue picture from a main TX with a good
PAL decoder but it wipes the floor with what passes on freeview and more
resembles what's coming out of the studio.

Now HD is step in the right direction but we have a way to go with that
as yet in the devices that present it and the way its distributed.

I look forward to the day when I can junk my Analogue 4:3 B&O TV for
some digital alternative that is truly "better"

Hi Tony

You seem to suggest that the CRT sets sold to the public are very
inferior to those used in the studios.

No not so .. the CRT albeit old tech is a very good display medium ..

The main gripe was about what's coming out of the studios and what's
seen on the viewers display..

Years ago there was a drive within the Broadcasters to keep standards
very high and digital was seen as a route to do that..

Then digital compression i.e. "throw away information" came along and
its all downhill ever since!....


Not having seen any in the
studios I have no idea, however, a lifetime of experience watching TV
on the CRT sets available on the high street, during which time I've
been a keen amateur photographer as has a good friend of mine. He's
already decided to pass on to his sister the 26" Panasonic flat screen
CRT he bought 3 years ago and buy an LCD set.

I very much expect that over time LCD and Plasma and perhaps other tech
will develop but it seem to me its not there as yet. To put that another
way theres nothing compelling me to throw away my B&O analogue set yet
and go out and get something else as nothing I see is any better.

I noticed the other day that all the sets in Curry's and Comet looked
good and so they ought, all being fed off a DVD at high rates not one
was displaying off-air freeview!...


My eyes don't deceive me, I see more detail than I've ever seen
before, even neighbours that pop in are impressed. I'm sure there are
some minor problem areas, however, in the main, for me it's the best
thing since sliced bread.

So what was better before sliced bread;?..

Think about that;))


--
Tony Sayer

BBC/ITV Freesat, another tiny drop of info...
 

So what did you make of Fred Dibnah then;?..

You forgot 'the late great'. One of my heroes. I do actually like
Fred, just that he's unsuited for some of the stuff he does.

I think .. that we are in agreement on that .. god rest his soul;)...

Kay

(\__/)
(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste Bunny into your
(")_(") signature to help him gain world domination.

--
Tony Sayer

BBC/ITV Freesat, another tiny drop of info...
 

In article , Kay Robinson
scribeth thus
On Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:17:30 -0000, Roderick Stewart
sharpened a new quill and
scratched:

In article , Kay Robinson wrote:
Given the content changes made to so many BBC progs over the years,
and their adverts for what's on next etc. I've wondered if it's all
preparation for going commercial sometime in the future.

I don't think it's "preparation" in the sense that anyone is
deliberatley planning for it, but if they're not careful that's the way
it will go. The BBC needs to remember it's supposed to be a public
service, not a business, and behave accordingly. If it doesn't give the
licence-paying public anything different from what it already gets from
the commercial stations, then what are they paying for?

Rod.

Yes I've always resented the licence fee, especially when I've read
how much they've paid out in fees for sporting rights.

And that bloody Jonathan Ross on his millions is the wally worth it?..

And some of the BBC senior staff like Jenny Abramsky the one who
developed the **** poor DAB service on well over £300K per year and a
pension pot the size of Wales!...


My biggest
criticism of the Beeb has to be them letting themselves get trapped
into contracts for live sport that result in entire schedules being
trashed.

Well if it were their own money they were spending;!..

--
Tony Sayer

BBC/ITV Freesat, another tiny drop of info...
 

tony sayer wrote:
In article , Kay Robinson
scribeth thus
On Thu, 31 Jan 2008 11:48:35 +0000, tony sayer
sharpened a new quill and scratched:

In article , Kay Robinson
scribeth thus
Kay..

As someone who used to be in the TV trade at one point then spent a bit
of time at the other end as it were, the pictures that most everyone
sees on DTV are very poor relation's of what's actually happening in the
studios. These start at some 270 Megabits and get reduced to 2 or 4 for
final consumption.

I doubt you've seen a good analogue picture from a main TX with a good
PAL decoder but it wipes the floor with what passes on freeview and more
resembles what's coming out of the studio.

Now HD is step in the right direction but we have a way to go with that
as yet in the devices that present it and the way its distributed.

I look forward to the day when I can junk my Analogue 4:3 B&O TV for
some digital alternative that is truly "better"
Hi Tony

You seem to suggest that the CRT sets sold to the public are very
inferior to those used in the studios.

No not so .. the CRT albeit old tech is a very good display medium ..

The main gripe was about what's coming out of the studios and what's
seen on the viewers display..

Years ago there was a drive within the Broadcasters to keep standards
very high and digital was seen as a route to do that..

Then digital compression i.e. "throw away information" came along and
its all downhill ever since!....


Not having seen any in the
studios I have no idea, however, a lifetime of experience watching TV
on the CRT sets available on the high street, during which time I've
been a keen amateur photographer as has a good friend of mine. He's
already decided to pass on to his sister the 26" Panasonic flat screen
CRT he bought 3 years ago and buy an LCD set.

I very much expect that over time LCD and Plasma and perhaps other tech
will develop but it seem to me its not there as yet. To put that another
way theres nothing compelling me to throw away my B&O analogue set yet
and go out and get something else as nothing I see is any better.

I noticed the other day that all the sets in Curry's and Comet looked
good and so they ought, all being fed off a DVD at high rates not one
was displaying off-air freeview!...

My eyes don't deceive me, I see more detail than I've ever seen
before, even neighbours that pop in are impressed. I'm sure there are
some minor problem areas, however, in the main, for me it's the best
thing since sliced bread.

So what was better before sliced bread;?..

Think about that;))



In TV terms, the solid oak cabinet with the 12 inch 405 line monochrome
TV :-)

Note: Our local baker would deliver "day old" bread pre-sliced (as the
fresh would not cut properly) and that would have been pre 1953 - just
before I went to "Grammar School". Of course, most people had eaten
sliced bread for over a century - though they had to slice it themselves ;-)

--
PeeGee

The reply address is a spam trap. All mail is reported as spam.
"Nothing should be able to load itself onto a computer without the
knowledge or consent of the computer user. Software should also be able
to be removed from a computer easily."
Peter Cullen, Microsoft Chief Privacy Strategist (Computing 18 Aug 05)

BBC/ITV Freesat, another tiny drop of info...
 

On Feb 1, 11:23 am, Kay Robinson wrote:

But as we are all forced by law to pay it's almost as if it were.

Everyone funds commercial broadcasting, whether or not they have a TV
and radio.

BBC/ITV Freesat, another tiny drop of info...
 

Kay Robinson wrote:

Maybe it's just that I get a stronger signal than you have. I'm 5
miles off Holme Moss and 20 miles off Winter Hill, and high up.


The higher you are the weaker the signal will be due to the way
the antenna system works at the transmitter. The power is sent into
the high population areas, which are usually in the valleys.

Also Holme Moss doesn't transmit television.

BBC/ITV Freesat, another tiny drop of info...
 

So what was better before sliced bread;?..

Think about that;))



In TV terms, the solid oak cabinet with the 12 inch 405 line monochrome
TV :-)

Note: Our local baker would deliver "day old" bread pre-sliced (as the
fresh would not cut properly) and that would have been pre 1953 - just
before I went to "Grammar School". Of course, most people had eaten
sliced bread for over a century - though they had to slice it themselves ;-)


In fact the missus now makes it herself or rather our 12 year old does
they teach them to cook at her school;!..

And very good it is too .. and theres a simple frame device for slicing
it;)...
--
Tony Sayer

BBC/ITV Freesat, another tiny drop of info...
 

In article afbe57ce-7f8a-4072-bd1b-
, Mark Carver wrote:
But as we are all forced by law to pay it's almost as if it were.

Everyone funds commercial broadcasting, whether or not they have a TV
and radio.

True, but look how it appears to the end users, i.e. us. If one
commercial TV company disappeared overnight, it wouldn't make any
noticeable difference to how much we'd have to shell out every year for
our home entertainment, but if the BBC disappeared it would.

There was a time when there would have been a noticeable difference in
the type of programmes available after such a disappearance, but now
they all churn out more or less the same mixture on dozens of channels,
so with a few missing life would carry on unaffected for nearly
everybody. A few people would miss individual programmes, but if there
was enough demand somebody would eventually provide something
equivalent to fill the gap - or of course repeats.

So from that perspective the BBC and commercial channels between them
provide so many entertainment channels that realistically we wouldn't
miss a few, but to one of them we are paying an earmarked sum of money
that we wouldn't have to pay if they weren't there, and to the others
we're not paying anything it would be practical to opt out of.

Rod.