Auntie Can't Keep a Secret

[Harold Gough]

Well, broadcasting is their business.

https://www.grahamcluley.com/tv-license-website/

Harold

[pandora]

Re: Auntie Can't Keep a Secret

I find it astonishing that you must have a licence to watch tv in the UK. What's to stop one from procuring/watching a telly without one?
If Beeb TV programs are as trite as their "World Radio Station" broadcasts that I've quit tuning into on my pillow radio, then they aren't worth listening to.
Mind you, our very own Auntie, ABC Radio, is not much (if any) better - largely talk back, "Overnight with Trevor Chapel" (groan).
Aussie broadcasting is infested with tv commercials and sport, ugh! ! !

[Harold Gough]

Re: Auntie Can't Keep a Secret

Mark,

Perhaps, at your safe distance, the detector vans might not catch up with you.

The BBC is great value. BBC4 runs a continuous loop of repeats of repeats of repeats. So we need never miss anything.

Harold

[TimP]

Re: Auntie Can't Keep a Secret

That would be the detector vans run by a private company, Crapita I believe.

[pandora]

Re: Auntie Can't Keep a Secret

Mark, Perhaps, at your safe distance, the detector vans might not catch up with you.
Harold

So install your telly in a lead-lined room, simple ...

[Jim Ford]

Re: Auntie Can't Keep a Secret

I find it astonishing that you must have a licence to watch tv in the UK.

The licence fee pay for the high standard of programmes produced by the BBC. There are no adverts.

Jim

[MargaretR]

Re: Auntie Can't Keep a Secret

The licence fee pay for the high standard of programmes produced by the BBC. There are no adverts.

Jim

Except all those 'adverts' for other BBC programmes. Which irritate me almost as much as actual adverts.

[Harold Gough]

Re: Auntie Can't Keep a Secret

Except all those 'adverts' for other BBC programmes. Which irritate me almost as much as actual adverts.

Those are to fill the space left for American commercials.

Harold

[TimP]

Re: Auntie Can't Keep a Secret

Haven’t intentionally watched an advert for years now, rarely watch live TV but have noticed that most progs now seem to have a good 3-4 minutes at the beginning of each where it recaps or shows a precise of the series before actually getting to the new meat. Portillos train journeys is a good example and we usually fast forward to the start where there is a graphic depicting the upcoming journey. I guess it’s like everything where over time you get slightly less for your money, 30 minute TV progs are probably down to 20 minutes of actual new content.

[Otto]

Re: Auntie Can't Keep a Secret

Except all those 'adverts' for other BBC programmes. Which irritate me almost as much as actual adverts.

I agree, and recently the Beeb have not only been incessantly trailing certain programmes, they've started incessantly trailing the same ones on iPlayer after they've been broadcast! However, I find the trails a lot less irritating than the crass and banal commercials put out by other broadcasters.


Yesterday I discovered Firefox Focus, a mini-browser for my iPhone that disables ads, trackers and non-essential cookies and interfaces nicely with Safari, making web browsing on my phone a much less annoying experience. I expect it's available for Androids as well. I was prompted into looking for some sort of ad-blocker for the phone after trying to read an article on techradar.com which had so many ads it was very difficult to work out what was the article and what was advertising. Don't these web sites understand that so much saturation advertising just drives people away? For the desktop I find uBlock Origin much more effective than AdBlock Plus.


@TimP - yes, Portillo's 30-minute programmes definitely fall into the "tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em, tell 'em, then tell 'em what you told 'em" category!

[GyRob]

Re: Auntie Can't Keep a Secret

I really think in this day and age you should be able to opt out of watching the BBC and not have to have a license.
when you see what some of the BBC earn it really is a disgrace.
Rob.

[Naughty Nigel]

Re: Auntie Can't Keep a Secret

I occasionally record documentaries on Channel 5 so that I can skip through the ads. They provide a recap after every commercial break, so a one-hour programme probably only contains half an hour of material. So much for the 'added choice' provided by digital terrestrial television.

I can only presume the constant recaps are needed for those with very limited attention span.

[Harold Gough]

Re: Auntie Can't Keep a Secret

I can only presume the constant recaps are needed for those with very limited attention span.

It is simply to save money, stretching out the on-location footage.

As for attention spans, even one of the better documentaries, Countryfile, breaks each of its weekly two main stories into two halves.

Haroold

[DerekW]

Re: Auntie Can't Keep a Secret

We only watch News programs as they are broadcast, all other programs are pre recoded even if only by a few minutes so that we can skip the unwanted parts of the program.

[Harold Gough]

Re: Auntie Can't Keep a Secret

We only watch News programs as they are broadcast,

The BBC news is just as bad as the other programmes. The headlines clips get longer and longer, such that they contain all the essential content.

Harold