All posts by MikeB
Below are all of MikeB's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
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Chancellor George 18% BBC fee cut to lowest level of BBC TV sinSunday 16 August 2015 9:23PM
Macclesfield
Kbryt: Oh God, another 'I pay my licence fee'...
If your getting a rubbish signal in summer, but a great one in winter, then trees sound about right...leaves on the trees in summer, not in winter. How the terrain has changed so much between analogue and digital that your signal is suddenly rubbish remains a mystery (although every geologist in the country will want to know the answer). Or of course you have far too much signal strength owing to your boosters!
But dont listen to anyone on this website, just get a local TV rigger to advise you - they are local, they will know the terrain, etc. Or just get Freesat - as long as there are no trees in the way, your golden.
And while you continue to moan on about the BBC, you still havn't bothered to include a postcode...
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Which 29 stars wrote Prime Minister Cameron to ask him to proteSunday 16 August 2015 10:36PM
Macclesfield
Nick: I dont work for the BBC - in fact I complained to them the other week about the rubbish radio programme on the Met Office by that prize idiot Quintin Letts.
You dont find Eastenders, etc entertaining? So what? I dont watch Eastenders either, dont really care about the Voice, although my family loves Strictly. The reality is that Strictly got over ten million viewers each time it was on in late 2014, so the fact that you dont like it is just one of those things. A lot of people do. In fact, if you bother to look at the Barb figures for Nov 2014, you'll see that Strictly took the first and second spot for all viewing. I assume you think they were all abnormal?
And as for Eastenders being some sort of crypto-communist agitprop, anyone suggesting that is going to need some more Bacofoil for that tinfoil hat. The writers actually have been using Classical Greek plays as a template for a while - are they secertly trying to make us worship Zeus as well?
If you think the BBC should show nothing but original programming at Christmas on all channels, can you please explain what they are doing to do the rest of the year for money? Original programming costs a lot, and frankly, the BBC shows far more of it at Christmas than anyone else.
The 'paid more than the PM' line is such a cliche, its almost beyond belief. I've often wondered if the papers would use it as much if they had to print the salary of the columnist using it, the pay of the papers editor and the tax status of the newspapers owner - probably not. In fact the BBC is currently trimming down the number of managers, and you havn't asked the number of managers at ITV, C4, C5 and Sky who are also paid more than the PM - that would be an interesting question.
Classic comedies? Before people get fuzzy about the past, think about the fact that Dads Army ran from 1968 until 1977, Are you Being Served ran from 1972 until 1985, Yes Minster from 1980 until 1986 (included Yes Prime Minster), Only Fools and Horses from 1981 until 2003, and Allo Allo from 1982 until 1992. So you taking about 5 comedies over 35 years! If you look at the number of comedies made in that time, the vast majority will be totally forgotten, because they failed. TV producers know this, which is why ITV just gave up for some years, and even now have just the one (Vicious). C5 doesn't bother, so if its wasn't for the BBC and C4, there would be nothing.
The BBC currently have Mrs Browns Boys (rubbish, but really popular), Bad Education, Crims, Mountain Goats (looked rubbish), and Some Girls on Iplayer. I loved Bluestone 42, and there are others as well. Don't like them? Humour is a very individual thing, hence the adage that laughter is priceless, but comedy should be cheap.
'It is now well understood on many internet sources that the 'left' have taken the BBC over, especially the news and political programs'. Its also possible to discover on the web that Hitler's brain is alive and well, living in a jar inside the hollow bit inside the South Pole, that 9/11 was ordered by the Freemasons, and that 10 ffot high blooddrinking aliens are ruling us, disguised as senior politicians and the like (including Prince Philip, so who knows!). Just because its on the web, does not make it true. If your refering to biasedbbc and the like, the last time I looked at that site, I came away with the impression that it was populated by the ideologically driven, possibly paranoid, very possibly insane, and in the case of some comments on one thread, overtly racist.
In fact I posted on this site last year links to research which showed the opposite, that the BBC was actually fair conservative in its reporting. If Nigal Farage thinks the BBC is so biased against him, then why is he the single most invited politician on Questiontime? And since he accused a whole audience of being leftwing during one of the election debates, is he that trustworthy a source?
1000 people a day giving up paying the licence fee? In fact the thruth is a bit different:
' The 1,000 figure comes from a Barb survey which measured the number of households that claim to have no TV, or say they haven't watched it in the past six months. While it is true that number has gone up by 500,000 between the third quarter of 2013 and the fourth quarter of 2014 (hence the 1,000 a day figure), 200,000 of those are new households and the survey makes no reference to whether or not any of those homes watch TV live or catch-up on other devices such as laptops or mobiles or whether they pay a licence fee.'
TV licence loophole exploited by viewers and the BBC's critics | Media | The Guardian
In reality, the number of licence fee payers actually went up slightly at the end of the financial year, and of course the fairly awful 'agreement' with the government means that the catchup loophole will be closed. Saying people are not paying the licence fee if they can get away with it is a bit like saying that people dont believe in governments if they try to avoid paying income tax.
'The BBC is now up against a lot of competition, especially from streamed sources, yet they remain arrogant and pump out what they think we like.' This really made me laugh. Damn them for forcing people to watch programmes like Bake Off, which I know my wife only watches because there is someone behind her with a gun. Oh wait, in the real worl, Bakeoff got a 41.8% share of the TV audience, with 8.9m viewers The Great British Bake Off takes the biscuit with 8.9m viewers | Media | The Guardian
Yes, they are really making us watch stuff like Sherlock, Wolf Hall, Eastenders, Countryfile, Atlantic, etc. Its worth pointing out that ITV's biggest audience, apart from Corrie and Emmerdale for the last Barb figures (pre Bakeoff) was Vera - 3.11m. All of BBC1 top 30 got more than that, as did Dragons Den on BBC2. BBC1 alone got a 19.96% share Viewing summary - BARB
I suspect ITV etc are very glad they get their money in a non competative way, else they would be bankrupt.
'Facts are an alien concept' is an accurate description of your view of the BBC - since they have no basis in reality, and easily checked reality at that. If your going to come on a public forum and spout obvious nonsense, expect pushback. Frankly, after your most recent effort, I'd have to say 'double facepalm', if only for trusting Nigal Farage's judgement!
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What would you like to see on Freeview in place of BBC three?Sunday 16 August 2015 10:44PM
Macclesfield
Nick Anderson: Because then who would pay extra for UK Gold when they could get for free?
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What would you like to see on Freeview in place of BBC three?Monday 17 August 2015 6:32PM
Macclesfield
Dave Rogers: I entirely agree that BBC4 is an excellent channel, and therefore have to disagree with Brian. In fact BBC4 is a kind of BBC Kryptonite - in fan base tends to be older, vocal and often influential - TV critics love it and its the sort of thing that even the likes of John Whittingdale thinks the BBC should be doing. In fact BBC3 actually has better viewing figures, but its audience is less likely to write to the Times in protest, hence its demise.
On the other hand, BBC4 is in HD already, so any move would make no difference.
Brian - I'm not sure that there are that many more or less food programmes on the BBC than 20 years ago. Bakeoff and its offshot is the biggie (or Masterchef when its on), plus on BBC2 Hairy Bikers, Rick Stein, Great British Menu, and so on (the lovely Rachel Khoo with her Little Paris Kitchen was a favourite of mine). However, the BBC can argue that they are popular (we all have to eat), and its hardly constant. If I get time, I'll check on the BBC Genome website to actually see what there was, but I do remember Floyd, Food and Drink, and I can even remember Fanny Craddock!
One thing everyone is forgetting is that BBC3/4 basically 'share' with CBBC/Cbeebies. They stop and then the others start. The Mux is a BBC mux, so channels can't just be handed over to ITV, etc, and if you get rid of a channel, you'll either have to fill it with something, or have a caption card.
In an ideal world, BBC3 would continue its good work where it is. BBC1 + 1 makes a lot of sense, but the Trusts idea of extending the hours of CBBC fits in with the changing bed times of my kids. Extending transmission to 9pm would allow some of the content currently on BBC3 to be shown, or at least versions of it. Certainly stuff like Stacey Doolan Investigates could be cut for either channel (she already does very goos stuff for both stations). Of course after 9pm, there could well be BBC1 + 1.
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What would you like to see on Freeview in place of BBC three?Monday 17 August 2015 8:59PM
Macclesfield
Dave Rodgers: Your quite right - 105 sounds like a very good idea for you! Since I've only just got an HD TV, I'm glad to watch anything, and fortunately get BBC4 in HD in my area. BBC4 has a fan club on Britmovies, and I suspect there are other groups as well.
BBC3 is good, but I suspect it suffered from getting a bad name in the early years, and since its audience is less focused, less vocal and more likely to watch online, etc, its the one that suffered. Being Human was very good, and their Death Row season was excellent, as was Bluestone 42 (ARRSE - the Army Rumour Service, gave it very good marks for athenticity and realistic banter). I actually like Family Guy, but I think they were coming to an end anyway, since the rights had been sold elsewhere. BBC3 always has a difficult job - getting hold of an audience group which is really unfocused, fickle and fragmented. Hopefully they will do their best, whatever the platform.
I had heard that CBBC was being extended until 9, but I suppose 8 is better than nothing, and perhaps Red Button after that might work. CBBC until 9 might be perfect for the kind of shows with lots of crossover appeal. Steve Backshaw (he has a Mumsnet following..), Marrying Mum and Dad, What Are You Made Of?, DareDevil and Junior Bakeoff (my wife was really impressed). And Horrible Histories! Seriously, my kids have much better TV overall than I did at the same age.
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Terry: If you mean can you watch 'free to air channels' by streaming them on your TV without paying for a licence fee, then current, yes. Have a look at 'cutting the cord'. On the other hand, you can't watch live, and when the loophole is closed up, if youe want to stream terrestial channels, you'll need a licence, full stop.
I have no idea what you mean by signing a contract, but Free to air, is just that. Subscriptions are for Virgin or Sky.
Personally, I'd suggest to someone (if you were a customer) to watch or record where you can, and stream wehere you must (not everything can be watched on catchup, or isn't around forever). So a Smart TV (or at least something which is Smart), PVR, Blue Ray and something like Chrome Cast or Apple TV, the world is your oyster, and you'll have more stuff than you can shake a stick at.
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Charles Davison: I know its my default solution to almost any problem, but looking at your original post, you mention that your Panasonic is on 100% signal strength and quality. Since 100% is normally far too powerful a signal for a TV, it could just be that particular Mux is a bit sensitive to the high signal rate, and is 'popping' occasionally.
I've just found the same thing with my new HD box - on certain HD channels its just breaks up every so often (with exactly that sort of 'popping' sound), although having put an attenuator on it, they now seem to be fine. That 'popping' might just be the signal about to break up, but just hitting the audio, whilst leaving the video alone.
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Ventnor (Isle Of Wight, England) Freeview Light transmitterThursday 20 August 2015 6:45PM
Macclesfield
Maureen: Check your aerial - your losing mux's, which sounds like you have a dodgy aerial lead, etc.
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Can I use my ex-contract sky digital satellite receiver to get Thursday 20 August 2015 6:47PM
Macclesfield
Bren: You have to connect it to a dish - read the 'most popular questions' on this site.
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Saturday 15 August 2015 8:08PM
Macclesfield
evelyn: You really should be looking at you manual, since that will answer your questions.
the scan issue is simple - your PVR wants to update its lost of channels, etc. Your manual will tell you who to do that, but something like 'find new channels' on the setup menu is standard.
By the sound of it you've got an LG (hence the spinning box). The TV has not switched off (or else you would not be seeing anything), but something attached to it, such as a DVD, PVR, etc. If you've connected them via HDMI (which you should be), the TV will automatcially select that 'source' when switched on. However, if you switch that external box off, the TV wont go to something else - its waiting for you to tell it to go to the tuner in the TV, the DVD, etc, and so just says 'no signal', becuase of course there isn't one. Just use source on the remote to move around the different boxes.
If the whole TV goes blank when you switch the PVR off, and you get nothing else, then you've not wired up the TV properly into order for the TV istelf to get a signal. As I said before, you'll need to read your manual.