Britain - TV License Supported Despite BBC Turnoff

Understandable, seeing as the Guardian is as rabidly anti-American as the BBC.

Here are some things I found interesting in in this Guardian report.

The BBC has figures to show that 81% of people think the licence fee - currently £126.50 - is good value for money and that 41% would be happy to pay twice as much.

I bet the BBC has those figures, and probably from a BBC lunch room poll. Ask yourself, do you know anybody that would "be happy to pay twice as much" for anything?

It is always possible to argue that the BBC is asking for too much. Few will be surprised if the government cuts the bid back a bit.

Given the figures "the BBC has" I would have thought everyone would be surprised, especially those that are "happy to pay twice as much".

And in closing...

At a time when many of our traditional industries have lost their international reputation, the BBC has managed to maintain a blue chip brand of global excellence by combining technological innovation with editorial independence. It has proved a winning combination that is well worth backing for the future.

Perhaps the Guardian could explain the BBC's steep decline in viewing and listening figures then.

The BBC's viewing figures have been falling at about 5% for each of the last two years.

Oddly enough, The Guardian itself reported on the BBC's steep decline in listeners.

BBC digital radio loses listeners

Every one of the BBC's five digital radio stations has lost listeners over the second quarter of this year, despite the corporation ploughing more than £70m into the services.

Audiences have fallen across the board from April to June, compared to the previous three months, with only two of the five stations recording increased audiences over the past year.

And The Guardian calls this a success?
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