All posts by MikeB
Below are all of MikeB's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Steve: have you checked your signal strength - it could well be that common problem of too much signal - Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you
There seems to be a lot of it around at the moment
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Dave Hagen: And so it begins....
Is there actually 'enormous waste within the BBC'? or is that the anecdote laden coverage by certain parts of the press? Its without doubt that payoffs to senior management were unnecessary and unwide, but they were a tiny proportion of overall spending.
Perhaps if we were looking at waste, we could start with Local TV. Jeremy Hunt's bright idea was seen as a non-hoper by the industry from the start, yet licence fee payers have stumped up millions in startup and running costs Financial Times | Error | Akamai Error
These are supposed to be commercial operations, yet they have been total failures in terms of both viewing figures and advertising. Likewise, why is the licence fee payer shelling out for rural broadband? And what about S4C?
Brianist deliberately headlined one of the paragraph's in the above article 'avoiding hostility', and perhaps we should look at the actual data, rather than simply projecting what certain parts of the media say?
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Seetha Narayanan: Have you ever considered that your signal comes down a thin copper wire, which can get frayed, damaged, worn or get water inside?
Occams Razor probably means that its your system, rather than anything else. You may have checked inside, but I suspect there is a fault somewhere. Was the loss of all signal about the same time as there was heavy rain? Did it come back when the weather inproved? Your down to 60% strength, yet your really very close to Crystal Palace - that again points to your wiring.
And no, broadband has nothing to do with TV reception.
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Ba: Samsung's normally have that message when the aerial has been removed. Which means your aerial system has a problem somewhere.
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Dave Hagen: Certain parts of the media talk about management wate at the BBC, but is there any emperical evidence?
The BBC is a very large complex organisation, and so there will be some waste, as in any other organisation (even the best run will not be perfect, and I'm sure whoever we work for has some flaws).
However, I'd like to see some actual data of the costs of administration, etc, compared with other parts of the industry and other broadcasters overseas. In other words, I'd like to see some actual data, rather than the BBC being singled out because there is a Parliamentry Commitee which produces a report every so often, which is something that ITV and Sky dont have to face.
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Brianist: An interesting point, although perhaps its easier to think of it this way - if you dont bother to vote, its difficult to say what you want. If you dont say, those that do vote tend to have a larger voice. As President Bartlett said in one episode of the West Wing, most of politics is simply showing up.
In a world where the Overton Window has certainly been moved to the right, and the idea that the free market is infalliable is large unquestioned, thats dangerous for not only the BBC, but also its coverage.
The BBC certainly admits to following the news agenda of the Daily Mail, in terms of what it and other papers think is important at any particular time. And BBC coverage of economics, climate change and many other area's is either bland, employs false balance, or simply follows received wisdom and allows lots of screen time to 'Very Serious People' (Paul Krugman's phrase).
The strange thing is that the BBC is vastly more popular, and certainly more trusted, than any of the politicans that appear on it. If there was a BBC/NHS party, I suspect most people would think about voting for it. The BBC is something we all generally like, no matter our occassional gripes. The pols know we trust it, and so fear it, hence the constant battles with it, even from those who approve of the BBC as a public service.
Even the ideologues have problems - they approve of bits of it, but cannot accept that a) it has to appeal to lots of people, not just them, and b) If they downsize, cut or priavtize it, they will kill the things that they love about it. Its difficult to make someone understand something, when they have a massive chunk of cognative dissonence!
Politician's might want to directly control the BBC, but of course are mindful that if they lose an election, then their opponents will too...
The US electorate and its relationship with PSB broadcasting is a bit different. For a start, PBS/NPR is a relatively small player, and very little funding is at a federal level (although that didn't stop the GOP from trying to defund it as some sort of political theatre). However, its clear that political interference, or at least the threat, means that NPR's political coverage is full of inside the Beltway, conventional wisdom, and is as bland as they come.
As for voting, the recent mid terms were horrible for the Democrats. However, most seats were in GOP friendly areas, in a non election year. The turnout was 38% - so think of it more as a bylection, rather than a mandate. Low turnout and general lack of interest is not just a UK thing.
Neil - I totally agree with your final paragraph - it keeps the rest of them honest. And hopefully an MP or too as well!
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Kevin Ross: You havn't given us a postcode, but I willing the bet your signal strength is too high. Check it, and look at this page :https://ukfree.tv/article/1107051892/Freeview_signals_too_much_of_a_good_thing_is_bad_f
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Kevin Ross: Your about 25km from Black Hill, so not that far. Have a look at the signal strength...
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Tuesday 18 November 2014 11:10AM
Mike Buttriss: Your just 14km from Caradon Hill - you have no need of a masthead amp, and if you look at the signal strength of the BBC channels, they are just too high for your tuners. Frankly, your lucky its only happening occasionally.
See here for more info: Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you