# The BBC - How? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 2, 2005, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482 "2005-10-02T20:39:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482/41 "2005-10-04T16:41:39Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > I should think that the five B.B.C. channels would be more akin to what we call “networks” here. So far as I know, the United Kingdom has an equivalent to what we call “stations” in the United States. > > A television station is a broadcast (not cable or satellite) entity assigned to a specific city or metropolitan area and its license directs it to serve that area. The number of stations in a specific locale, and the signal strength of those stations, are set according to its population. > > An individual station may acquire programming any way it pleases, and stations usually employ a combination: producing it itself (usually only local news programming), purchasing it directly from independent producers and syndicators, and affiliating itself with a network. There are only two terrestrial BBC channels , not five!. All these five (BBC and non BBC) “channels” broadcast over the whole of the UK . Apart for a very few regional “opt-outs”, the same programme on each channel is shown in every part of the country at the same time. So I suppose that this model would be more in line with the networks in the US. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482/42 "2005-10-04T18:50:19Z")
> [@Rayne Man](#): > > There are only two terrestrial BBC channels , not five!. All these five (BBC and non BBC) “channels” broadcast over the whole of the UK . Apart for a very few regional “opt-outs”, the same programme on each channel is shown in every part of the country at the same time. So I suppose that this model would be more in line with the networks in the US. There are eight terrestrial BBC channels, as I keep on repeating! Anyway, yes, I guess you’re right. And the original format of ITV (the first commercial channel in the UK) was influenced by the American network/syndication model, with regional entities choosing when to opt in to and out of national broadcasts. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482/43 "2005-10-04T18:58:55Z")
> [@Usram](#): > > Pro-EU people were caricatured as sophisticated types who holiday in “Chiantishire” - not really a negative characterisation. Anti-EUers were depicted as moronic Little Englanders clad in Union Jacks and venturing no further than Bognor Regis for their hols. It was biased. If I’d seen that bit of it, I’d have been more annoyed by the Chiantishire stereotype. The ‘if they piss everyone off’ comment stands. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482/44 "2005-10-04T19:06:11Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > There are eight terrestrial BBC channels, as I keep on repeating! > > Anyway, yes, I guess you’re right. And the original format of ITV (the first commercial channel in the UK) was influenced by the American network/syndication model, with regional entities choosing when to opt in to and out of national broadcasts. You are correct. I keep thinking only of the analogue channels and forgetting about the digital ones. That’s because I receive my digital channels via satellite and not Freeview. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482/45 "2005-10-04T19:11:47Z")
> [@Rayne Man](#): > > You are correct. I keep thinking only of the analogue channels and forgetting about the digital ones. That’s because I receive my digital channels via satellite and not Freeview. :smack: Well goody for you 😛 I can’t afford satellite and can’t get freeview. Well, I might be able to afford satellite before long… ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482/46 "2005-10-04T19:16:30Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Well goody for you 😛 I can’t afford satellite and can’t get freeview. Well, I might be able to afford satellite before long… I thought that most of Suffolk could receive Freeview. Either from Sudbury or Tacolneston. In the meantime just think of yourself as a second-class citizen 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482/47 "2005-10-04T19:43:05Z")
> [@TwistofFate](#): > > then don’t. > > How right you are. What they should have are giant union flags, the dambusters march playing on repeat in the background, and pathetic caricatures of various european nationalities in stocks, with Richard Littlejohn handing out rotting vegetables to to the audience to throw at them. What I expect from the BBC is impartiality. At this they manifestly failed. As for your contempt, I’ll treat it with the remark it deserves. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482/48 "2005-10-04T20:20:12Z")
This thread is so very British. I don’t like to watch TV here in Chicago–there is alot of moronic programming. And most of our news (onTV) is not news–there is little to no depth to stories, for example. But, when I am in UK, I like to watch TV of an evening. The whole concept is so differently explored over there. Witty commercials. Intelligent shows. Broadcasters who don’t talk down to the audience. Every joke is not explained (which can be a problem for me). All in all, a superb and superior product to American TV. And yet, noone really appreciates it–the complaints in this thread! It must be nice (and I mean no sarcasm) to be so attuned to excellence that calls of bias etc are worthy of such heat. Come watch Scarborough Country or Faux News over here–if you want to see real bias in action. I think this is a case of you don’t know what you’ve got… All news is biased–in editing and in story placement if nothing else. I doubt that BBC news truly has any kind of hidden agenda at all. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482/49 "2005-10-04T20:53:15Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > What I expect from the BBC is impartiality. At this they manifestly failed. > > As for your contempt, I’ll treat it with the remark it deserves. …why do **you** expect the BBC to be impartial? How have they failed, apart from the incident you mentioned in your previous post? What are news programmes do you watch, and how do they compare to the BBC for impartiality? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482/50 "2005-10-04T21:10:08Z")
> [@Rayne Man](#): > > I thought that most of Suffolk could receive Freeview. Either from Sudbury or Tacolneston. In the meantime just think of yourself as a second-class citizen 🙂 Sudbury? _Sudbury?_ We used to _dream_ of Sudbury. Sorry, just watched the _Four Yorkshiremen_ sketch. Seriously, this is the trouble with the government’s policy about analogue switchoff. 99% coverage, let alone 98% or 95%, leaves plenty of people, like me in a huge valley of perhaps thirty metres depth, unable to get digital reception. And it’s not easily-identifiable areas as with problem analogue reception, but small pockets. FWIW, I have no problem picking up foreign FM radio. Maybe I just need to learn a few languages. > [@Quartz](#): > > What I expect from the BBC is impartiality. At this they manifestly failed. All you’ve shown is that you felt insulted by a caricature they used. You’ve not shown a failure to be impartial. > [@eleanorigby](#): > > And yet, noone really appreciates it–the complaints in this thread! It must be nice (and I mean no sarcasm) to be so attuned to excellence that calls of bias etc are worthy of such heat. I, for one, do not take it for granted. I’ll defend the BBC, or at least the principle of serious public service broadcasting, as much as I will defend the welfare state, or free education, or…you get the idea. I fully agree that some people need to be sat down with nothing but free-to-air American TV to see how bad things could be. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482/51 "2005-10-04T21:18:19Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > All you’ve shown is that you felt insulted by a caricature they used. You’ve not shown a failure to be impartial. Exactly which part of > [@Quartz](#): > > Comments which are not pro-EU are cut off, those which are pro-EU are given full play. did you not read? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482/52 "2005-10-04T21:21:18Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Exactly which part of > did you not read? And which part of > [@GorillaMan](#): > > Hmm, I just saw one rampant anti-Europe comment, based on false statements, being accepted without question. Like others have said, if it pisses everybody off, it’s got its position correct. did you not read? You probably didn’t bat an eyelid at some anti comments, the same as I will have been oblivious to some which will have riled you. Opinion != demonstration of bias. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482/53 "2005-10-05T00:28:12Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > I, for one, do not take it for granted. I’ll defend the BBC, or at least the principle of serious public service broadcasting, as much as I will defend the welfare state, or free education, or…you get the idea. I fully agree that some people need to be sat down with nothing but free-to-air American TV to see how bad things could be. Maybe we could start using it in prisons, as a type of torture–to me, it is that bad. I don’t know which I loathe more–the screaming talking heads that say nothing of merit, or the inane and insane world of commercials. At least BBC commercials poke fun at themselves (the few I have seen and can remember which is oh, about 2). [completely irrelevant aside] and nothing beats having a TV in your room after a long day treading thru–insert castle, palace, monastery, fort, museum etc here–dinner, shower and Brit TV…I like that combo. Christ, I’m boring. [/cia] ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482/54 "2005-10-05T01:40:21Z")
You know, it’s weird people comparing British and American TV as if they were completely different things when, in fact, large amounts of British TV are American-produced TV and significant amounts of American TV are British-produced TV. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482/55 "2005-10-05T05:42:23Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > **large** amounts of British TV are American-produced TV and **significant** amounts of American TV are British-produced TV. You need to define your quantities, here - and give us some evidence that the assertions are actually true (as opposed to just being your impression of the situation) ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482/56 "2005-10-05T10:07:05Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > …some people need to be sat down with nothing but free-to-air American TV to see how bad things could be. I don’t think it’s fair to compare advertising-funded TV to what is effectively mandatory subscription TV. It’s like comparing a paid-for newspaper to a freebie. A better comparison would be BBC vs. HBO, although of course the BBC’s remit is much wider. Also, I know the BBC’s marketing department will have you believe they have eight channels, but four of those channels are only on air for half the day, and they show the same programmes over and over again, much of it stuff that is/was on the regular channels anyway. And the eighth channel? Try to restrain the urge to rush out and buy a digibox when I tell you that it’s BBC Parliament. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482/57 "2005-10-05T12:23:12Z")
O.K., here’s a quote from Wikipedia about PBS as to the fact that significant amounts of American TV are British-produced: \> They are known for rebroadcasting British television dramas and comedies \> (acquired from the BBC and other sources); so much of the exposure of \> American audiences to British television (particularly comedies) comes through \> PBS it has been joked that PBS means “Primarily British Series.” However, a \> significant amount of sharing takes place. The BBC and other media outlets in \> the region such as Channel 4 often cooperate with PBS stations, producing \> material that is shown on both sides of the Atlantic. Also, though less frequently, \> Canadian and Australian, among other international, programming appears on \> PBS (such as The Red Green Show; although the other syndicators are more \> likely to offer this programming to the U.S. public stations. And besides PBS, there’s now BBC America, with 24-hour British-produced programs and a fair amount of British shows on A & E. There’s also a fair amount of documentaries on various channels in the U.S. that are British co-productions. I can’t find any similar statements on the amount of American-produced programs on British TV, but I know just from experience that there’s a lot of American TV shown in the U.K. I lived in the U.K. for three years and frequently vacation there, so I think I have a fair idea of what British TV is like. And that’s all I was saying. I wasn’t saying that the majority, or anything close to it, of British TV was produced in the U.S., just a large amount of it. I wasn’t saying that a major part of American TV was produced in the U.K., just a significant part of it. I’ve done some Googling and I can’t find any exact statistics on the amount of American TV shown in the U.K. or on the amount of British TV shown in the U.S. Does anyone have access to such information? ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482/58 "2005-10-05T12:29:58Z")
You can always tell when a BBC programme is co-produced with a US network. It lasts only 50 minutes instead of a full hour , to make room for the commercials when it is shown in the USA. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482/59 "2005-10-05T13:00:53Z")
> [@](#): > > I, for one, do not take it for granted. I’ll defend the BBC, or at least the principle of serious public service broadcasting, as much as I will defend the welfare state, or free education, or…you get the idea. I fully agree that some people need to be sat down with nothing but free-to-air American TV to see how bad things could be. I’ll take The Sopranos, Lost, ER, Six Feet Under etc. etc. over the pap the BBC pumps out anyday. Let’s see what we’re getting for our license fee tonight: BBC News, Road Rage School, Seaside Rescue, T-Rex: A Dinosaur in Holywood, and then two hours of Crimewatch! Whilst over on BBC2 we have an evening of 30 year old repeats, antique auction shows and DIY programs. What a fun filled night we have ahead of us. Perhaps if I’m feeling suicidal I could watch Eastenders just to tip me over the edge. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482/60 "2005-10-05T13:13:32Z")
> [@Dominic Mulligan](#): > > I’ll take The Sopranos, Lost, ER, Six Feet Under etc. etc. over the pap the BBC pumps out anyday. > > Let’s see what we’re getting for our license fee tonight: > BBC News, Road Rage School, Seaside Rescue, T-Rex: A Dinosaur in Holywood, and then two hours of Crimewatch! > > Whilst over on BBC2 we have an evening of 30 year old repeats, antique auction shows and DIY programs. > > What a fun filled night we have ahead of us. Perhaps if I’m feeling suicidal I could watch Eastenders just to tip me over the edge. It only 1 hour and 10 minutes of Crimewatch and the T-Rex programme looks very interesting . As to BBC 2 there is the excellent Space Race , the always watchable Rick Stein a new series of Room 101 and new ( and not “30 year old” ) DIY programme. I don’t know where you are getting the above information from but it certainly is incorrect. From 7.00 pm till 1.20 am there is not one repeat. And, by the way, we spell it programme in this country. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bbc-how/324482.md?page=4)