Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Defiant
House holds having more money freed up to spend on channels/packs they want to watch and not what the beeb want you to watch. Channels would be fighting to attract that extra revenue and you know what. It would be things which attract viewers. Not some of the ****e the beeb make/show which attract a few thousands viewers NUFF SAID
|
Well, no, I don't think it's nuff said at all. I do not think it's guaranteed that if everyone suddenly had £121 to spend that they would put it all into their TV pack purchases, so a chunk of money would immediately be lost to the TV programme-making industry.
Of all the digital channels, only Sky One makes a significant effort at original UK programming and what's the result?
Dream Team,
Is Harry on the Boat,
Brainiac and
Kirsty's Home Videos.
Grrrrrreat.
Now these programmes have their place, (according to the Daily Mirror, even the Queen's a fan of Kirsty Gallagher
) but are they a substitute for quality BBC drama like
Waking the Dead or comedy like
Have I got News for You or
They Think it's All Over? And where in the schedule might there be room for quality factual programming like
Watchdog and
Panorama?
I do not believe that the extra cash that would make it into the system would have any significant impact on the ability of channels like Sky to make good TV. And most of the rest of the digital channels don't bother to make original programming at all, preferring to show re-runs of the very shows the BBC would no longer be able to make without the licence fee.
I think you recognise this, or else you wouldn't have gone and bought a Freeview box, which is largely free of re-run-only channels like Granada Plus and UK Gold. And remember D, the reason Sky has invested in Freeview is that they realise there are a large number of households that will
never go for pay-TV of any kind. Freeview boxes don't have a subscriber card in them so you can't move digital terrestrial to a subscription model. People wouldn't pay for it anyway. And what is left on Freeview if the 8 BBC channels go?