The amount of money the BBC has wasted in the past is insane. Some time between the 80's and the present day, its spending got completely out of control. At the same time, the quality of the programming it produces has gone off the rails. The BBC could easily have funded new productions out of foreign sales alone, but instead they relentlessly follow a policy of inventing a new massive expense very few years, be it the switch to digital, interactive, HDTV, or the new one, pointlessly relocating your facilities all over the country for some daft idea about equality and opportunity. Yet this was the company that not so long ago shut down the Pebble Mill studios, and was seemingly did everything it could to make everything more London centric.
While every other TV company has had to reign in its productions costs and excessive spending to face the realities of the modern multi-channel market, the license fee has shielded them. They claim to spend a fair percentage of their budget on production, but when you actually look at what they produce, you have to ask where all the money is going, because it certainly is not on the programmes.
And when you look at the amount of money invested into the BBC by license payers, and look at the investment in technology and the development of cutting edge production departments, wardrobe and studios, etc, you have to ask why they keep selling all these departments off! Do license payers get a rebate?
While every other TV company has had to reign in its productions costs and excessive spending to face the realities of the modern multi-channel market, the license fee has shielded them. They claim to spend a fair percentage of their budget on production, but when you actually look at what they produce, you have to ask where all the money is going, because it certainly is not on the programmes.
And when you look at the amount of money invested into the BBC by license payers, and look at the investment in technology and the development of cutting edge production departments, wardrobe and studios, etc, you have to ask why they keep selling all these departments off! Do license payers get a rebate?