Damien

Well TV is excellent if you know where to look. Some of the best TV ever made is being made now. The Wire in the USA is contender for best ever show imo. As for the UK the BBC is still making excellent television, an example of NEW shows from the Beeb this year:

Mitchell and Webb Look
Andrew Marr's History of Britain
Jekyll

to add too

Doctor Who
Have I got News for you
Planet Earth
Louis Theroux Documentrys
Extras
Life on Mars
Hustle

As well as some other good one off Documentrys and I think there was a one off Drama that I have forgotten about?

That aired this year. All that in one season, no other channel American or UK can claim they have a line up like that. Also unlike some of the other channels all those above were made by the BBC by British people. Its something to be proud off not to destory.

Would another channel have commited so much into Planet Earth? Or even done it? Would any other channel have taken risks with stuff like the Office? No.

The other channels are lucky to have any orignal british programming. Name me some new english shows from outside the BBC that were of such high quality? Without the BBC we would be like France and other European countrys showing mostly reality programs, poorly written soaps and importing the rest from America.

The BBC is one the best channels in the world. It promotes the UK by ensuring we produce some of the best actors, shows and writers in the world (Hugh Laurie in House, The Office in America, Rome and Band of brothers with HBO/BBC, Michelle Ryan in Bionic Woman on NBC?). Getting rid of the BBC would be a massive blow to British culture and decrease the quality of our programming. The other channels would lose money and take less risks (not that they take much) and the BBC would take a lot less and soon this countrys TV will be America 2 and show nothing of what we can do.