# Why I hate the BBC **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 3, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145 "2004-08-03T15:30:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lemon\_martini2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@lemon\_martini2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lemon_martini2)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/1 "2004-08-03T15:30:36Z")
My licence fee is £100 a year.For this the BBC promises to educate,entertain and inform me.Today apart from the news and a new episode of Malcolm in the Middle, EVERY SINGLE PROGRAM from 6.30am to 2.30am is a REPEAT!!!most of them rubbish reality shows or shows that we only saw a few months ago.Come on I pay my money,lets get something worthwhile for it. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/2 "2004-08-03T15:45:10Z")
I don’t get the BBC, but I sure hate the _BBC America_ channel. Mostly because it sucks. However, things could be much worse for you. Trust me. I’ve been to England, and overall your television programming is about 47 million times better than the shit here in the states. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/3 "2004-08-03T15:45:26Z")
Well lets see. The progs that I can see that aren’t repeats are: BBC1 Northern Ireland Eastenders Holby City 55 Degrees North News Rail cops Above Suspicion BBC2 Restoration(most of the night) Newsnight BBC3 Most of the night isn’t flagged as repeats BBC4 Again not a lot of repeats flagged Then you’ve got Radio 1,2,3,4,5 and the rest Or a incredibly complete web presence [www.bbc.co.uk](http://www.bbc.co.uk) Try being Irish and have a bag of shite channel like the RTE suite and we’ve got ads **aswell** :mad: ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/4 "2004-08-03T16:02:06Z")
> [@lemon\_martini2](#): > > My licence fee is £100 a year.For this the BBC promises to educate,entertain and inform me.Today apart from the news and a new episode of Malcolm in the Middle, EVERY SINGLE PROGRAM from 6.30am to 2.30am is a REPEAT!!!most of them rubbish reality shows or shows that we only saw a few months ago.Come on I pay my money,lets get something worthwhile for it. I don’t get it. Why come here and post this lying shit? What sort of thrill does it give you to look like a moron? ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/5 "2004-08-03T16:06:24Z")
> [@lemon\_martini2](#): > > EVERY SINGLE PROGRAM from 6.30am to 2.30am is a REPEAT!!! Um, not true. So your rant is not only stupid, but a lie. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/6 "2004-08-03T16:32:49Z")
P’raps the OP meant to read “6.30am to 2.30 pm”? I dunno. If so, then you may have a point (I can’t be buggered to check), but the BBC’s daytime schedule is no worse than any other channel’s. That’s daytime tv for you; it has always sucked, and always will. Get a job, or if you’re a student like me, do some work ;). Now, if you want to start a rant about the me-too nature of some the BBC’s programming (_another_ fucking home improvement celebrity reality vote?), that’s something I can get behind, and I speak as a some-time employee of the Beeb. But if you didn’t typo your times, then please don’t make stuff up. The BBC is grand, and having seen it from the inside I believe there’s a genuine commitment to serving the license-payer. And like **woodstockbirdybird** says, if you haven’t experienced US TV then you can’t possibly appreciate how lucky we are over here. (I’m not bashing US shows, btw, I just appreciate how we get to import the best ones and watch them with no (or nearly no) adverts; Buffy, 24, ER, West Wing, NYPD Blue, etc…) ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/7 "2004-08-03T17:36:42Z")
Perhaps the OP could gouge his eyes out with an ice pick, and when he’s done doing that, stick the pick deep in each ear and wiggle it around a bit. I say this because I understand that blind and deaf people are exempt from the BBC tax. It’s worth looking into … anything to spare you from having to endure REPEATS! ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/8 "2004-08-03T17:36:43Z")
Are there other TV channels in Britain besides the 4 BBC ones? Or is that it? ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/9 "2004-08-03T18:00:44Z")
Hey, we’re not that stone-age :). There are quite a few more channels; there are 5 on terrestrial analogue broadcast: BBC1 and 2, ITV, and channels 4 and 5. ITV, C4 and C5 are all commercial stations and have adverts, but about half as many as in the States. Then there’s digital terrestrial broadcasts, on which there are all the basic channels, some extra BBC ones, second channels for ITV and C4, and then a bunch of 24 hour news channels, shopping channels, music channels and what-not. We also have cable and satellite, which is much like in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/10 "2004-08-03T18:42:21Z")
Yeah. Plus, they STILL haven’t released A Bit of Fry and Laurie on DVD. BASTARDS! ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/11 "2004-08-03T20:26:42Z")
> [@lemon\_martini2](#): > > My licence fee is £100 a year.For this the BBC promises to educate,entertain and inform me.Today apart from the news and a new episode of Malcolm in the Middle, EVERY SINGLE PROGRAM from 6.30am to 2.30am is a REPEAT!!!most of them rubbish reality shows or shows that we only saw a few months ago.Come on I pay my money,lets get something worthwhile for it. So let’s see. £100 a year…so even by your calculation, for less than 30p, on that particular day you got news (information) and Malcolm in the Middle (entertainment). Beyond that you got a days worth of BBC radio which your 30p also has to cover, and which you could enjoy if you’d just turned you television off once and a while. Yeah, what a lousy deal. Ya pillock (which is British for :wally ). ---
**Author:** ![Survivor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/51bf81/32.png) [@Survivor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Survivor)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/12 "2004-08-04T06:25:30Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > I don’t get the BBC, but I sure hate the _BBC America_ channel. Mostly because it sucks. > However, things could be much worse for you. Trust me. I’ve been to England, and overall your television programming is about 47 million times better than the shit here in the states. BBC America has **tons** of great shows… Let’s see… Coupling, My Hero The Office Little Britain 3 Non-Blondes The Saint The Avengers The Prisoner Trailer Park Boys Faking It and more… Nope… doesn’t seem to suck… 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/13 "2004-08-04T07:08:44Z")
> [@Spiff](#): > > Perhaps the OP could gouge his eyes out with an ice pick, and when he’s done doing that, stick the pick deep in each ear and wiggle it around a bit. > > I say this because I understand that blind and deaf people are exempt from the BBC tax. > > It’s worth looking into … anything to spare you from having to endure REPEATS! That is the most disguntingly funny thing I’ve read in these fora in a long… well, today. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lemon\_martini2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@lemon\_martini2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lemon_martini2)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/14 "2004-08-04T09:55:09Z")
Apologies.I didn’t check my post properly :wally :smack: It should have said every program **on BBC2** from 6.30am to 2.30am is a repeat… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![lemon\_martini2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@lemon\_martini2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lemon_martini2)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/15 "2004-08-04T09:58:31Z")
> [@Dead Badger](#): > > P’raps the OP meant to read “6.30am to 2.30 pm”? :smack: See my thread above 🙂 > [@](#): > > I dunno. If so, then you may have a point (I can’t be buggered to check), but the BBC’s daytime schedule is no worse than any other channel’s. That’s daytime tv for you; it has always sucked, and always will. Get a job, or if you’re a student like me, do some work 😉 I have a job.I work 2 days 7-2:30,2 days 10.30-6.30 and have 3 days off. That means every few days I have to end up with daytime TV 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/16 "2004-08-04T10:07:01Z")
BBC2 are obviously missing out on that important “those with nothing else to do in the middle of the day in the middle of summer and who has seen every single programme before” audience percentile. ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/17 "2004-08-04T10:07:14Z")
> [@lemon\_martini2](#): > > Apologies.I didn’t check my post properly :wally :smack: It should have said every program **on BBC2** from 6.30am to 2.30am is a repeat… > :smack: Um, no. [Still not right](http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctwo/listings/index.shtml?service_id=4224). Newsnight - def not a repeat, let alone most of the kid’s programmes, probably. Others may or may not be - but I doubt it. Perhaps every programme you might have been interested in turned out to be a repeat? Otherwise we’ll have to assume you’re just confused. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lemon\_martini2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@lemon\_martini2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lemon_martini2)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/18 "2004-08-04T10:25:20Z")
Newsnight would be classified as a news program 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/19 "2004-08-04T10:27:56Z")
> [@lemon\_martini2](#): > > Newsnight would be classified as a news program 🙂 Newsnight is a current affairs programme. It doesn’t tell you bulletins, etc it engages in discussion about topical issues. ---
**Author:** ![sinical\_brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@sinical\_brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinical_brit)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/20 "2004-08-04T11:34:56Z")
(hijack) We could shift the thread towards why we ALL have to pay the licence fee regardless of weather we watch the bbc channels or not. I refuse to believe that there is no way of blocking bbc broadcasts. So why not a simple box which sits between your aerial and tv blocking bbc. Its got a barcode on it and links to the database which TV licencing keeps on us all. No licence ? - thats ok he cant receive bbc - he bas box #657612536. And a prison sentance for not paying - fucking appalling. (/hijack) Regarding repeats - what i dont understand is why certain programmes are repeated almost religously, whilst others never get a second showing: Dads Fucking Army is on loads, as is Only Fools and Horses. They have been for the last 20 years !! Are they the only ones worth showing - i think not. And if we payed for them in the first place, why cant we get them on DVD now? Or even VHS !! sin [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145.md?page=2)