John Whittingdale appointed Culture Secretary as Sajid Javid moved to Business

[Frances_iom]

I will be very surprised now if R3 survives the next 5 years in any thing like its current form - maybe a small adjunct to a R4 which concentrates on 'The Archers' listeners - Soma for the over 50's.
Local radio will almost certainly go commercial as I suspect R1 and R2 will. BBC news will be decimated, the last gov(are we now allowed to call it Tory) made a major mistake in saving money on the BBC world service which probably protects more British interests than a fleet of Trident missile carriers ever could.

[french frank]

Surely (again.... sorry) rather than the media being 'biased' (though it puzzles me how folks can go on about the 'leftie' BBC when you see all the nonsense about a rich woman having a baby?) I think it's more that they tell stories, it's all a drama.
I don't think this is a new thing, I think lots of people voted for Regan because he was a convincing actor.
Many people vote for Boris because he is entertaining (even the way that people refer to him as simply 'Boris'). The same goes for Farage, many people vote for him because he makes good telly.
We can learn much from those folks who DO understand the semiotics of theatre and television.

Maybe the trick the Labour party missed (apart from the dodgy wars !) was not getting Glenda Jackson to be leader (I like her, she went to school with my mum.......:joke: but that is one of the ways people make decisions and always has been)

All probably quite true - thought the 'news' includes telling people about what they want to know about. It's probably a sign that you're an intellectual that you're so against the Royles …

You don't seem to have a high opinion of the voting public's ability to make informed choices?

Frances, I do know that there are 'virulent' Marxists (I'm speaking of known individuals, not Marxists in general!) who would willingly destroy Broadcasting House stone by stone, the BBC being the UK equivalent of Fox News. So some people would rejoice. My guess is that there would be more supporters of Radio 3 on the Tory benches than on Labour's.

[MrGongGong]

You don't seem to have a high opinion of the voting public's ability to make informed choices?

I have a very high opinion indeed of peoples ability to make INFORMED choices
but this isn't what happens and i'm not sure that
a: It ever did
and
b: It ever will

[Frances_iom]

My guess is that there would be more supporters of Radio 3 on the Tory benches than on Labour's.

but not I suspect enough to defeat the simple economics - R3 per head reached is way too expensive compared to R6 or R1 + R2 - the law of unforeseen consequences is that trying to punish BBC for the perceived insult to all Rightwingers of daring to question their value system will force BBC even more to go down the Soma route of mindless entertainment for the generations with little or no attention spans and certainly no interest whatsoever in anything outside of their comfort

[french frank]

trying to punish BBC for the perceived insult to all Rightwingers of daring to question their value system will force BBC even more to go down the Soma route of mindless entertainment for the generations with little or no attention spans and certainly no interest whatsoever in anything outside of their comfort

But I think Whittingdale was on record as opposing that - saying there was no need for the BBC to do what commercial broadcasters do, wasn't he?

[Bryn]

But I think Whittingdale was on record as opposing that - saying there was no need for the BBC to do what commercial broadcasters do, wasn't he?

Indeed he was. Have you written to him inviting him to join FoR3 yet?

[Frances_iom]

But I think Whittingdale was on record as opposing that - saying there was no need for the BBC to do what commercial broadcasters do, wasn't he?

but that is where the law of unintended consequences clicks in - BBC 1 & R1 + R2 are obvious commercial lookalikes - removing these 'to allow the BBC to do what it can do' is a great political slogan but to so small an audience that the whole idea of a 'licence' will fall down to Daily Wail logic why pay for what is of no immediate interest thus either the Beeb accepts becoming a minority channel like USA NPR or it goes for the mass market on the too big to mess around with basis

[french frank]

This is what he was actually saying at the time of the Future of the BBC consultation:

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/oct/29/bbc-licence-fee-poll-tax-tory-john-whittingdale

The way the BBC treats culture now, compared with its mass entertainment, isn't anything for them to be proud of.

[Stunsworth]

William Hill have odds of 11/10 on the license fee being abolished by 2020. May mean nothing of course.

[french frank]

William Hill have odds of 11/10 on the license fee being abolished by 2020. May mean nothing of course.

I personally think that the key issue is that the BBC is properly funded to produce public service broadcasting - not how it's funded.

Having a compulsory tax is what leads the BBC and governments to believe that it implies pleasing everyone by giving them what they're clamouring for. IOW, big audiences.

[MrGongGong]

http://theconversation.com/what-to-expect-from-tory-cultural-policy-where-the-axe-will-fall-41628

"Of course, the more culture depends on markets and philanthropy the less any democratic political agendas can be influential. For some voices this will be a delightful prospect. However, given the role of arts and culture in sustaining and supporting social inequality, from educational opportunities, through the makeup of the cultural labour force, through to what is depicted on stage and screen, we should be cautious about welcoming the withdrawal of the state."

Several folks I've been speaking with this week have talked about how "we" (meaning those of us working in music or the arts) need to prepare for a time where things like the BBC and ACE don't exist anymore.
I think they might be right and we will see the end of the BBCSO,BBCCO, BBC Singers etc etc as well as the Proms as we know it.

If everything is a product for sale then who will buy "Hear and Now" ?

[Sir Velo]

William Hill have odds of 11/10 on the license fee being abolished by 2020.

Trust the bookies not to be able to spell.

[Serial_Apologist]

The following "save the BBC" appeal came through from Avaaz yesterday:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/uk_media_loc/?bWTyPeb&v=58392

This could be germane in this connection:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2015657/Phone-hacking-MP-grill-Murdochs-admits-News-Corp-links.html

[french frank]

This could be germane in this connection:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...orp-links.html

Not sure about that bit. I think the committee was thought to have been pretty tough with the Murdochs. Though I think Whittingdale said he regretted the 'custard pie'.

[subcontrabass]

Profile in today's Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/...rupert-murdoch