DBWI: The BBC didnt buy DC Comics in 1976?

Looking back at it now, it is kinda funny seeing how much of a row was raised over on both sides of the pond. You had Americans yelling about their entertainment being overrun by "The Second British Invasion" (or Third, if you count burning down the White House), and British yelling about a public company 'wasting' license-payers' money to get kids comic books. If you want an odd read, look up the 'Superman Debates' where Parliament worked out if the BBC was allowed to make this kind of acquisition (nowhere else would you get Margaret Thatcher and Harold Wilson have the next-best thing to a superhero argument).

Anyway, despite all the controversy, and even the resignations among the upper levels of management, it goes without saying this purchase had more than paid off for the Beeb, and was a landmark moment in how it functioned as an entertainment company. The extra revenue made by DC really pushed the experimentalism it could indulge in with its more inhouse work, and DC itself got the shakeup it needed and soared during the '80s (OOC: Moreso than IOTL, because of the injection of cash helping bring in extra talent). It even led to further acquisitions in the coming decades.

So, what if the BBC never made the decision to buy DC, or that Parliament decided against allowing the acquisition to go through? How would the comics, shows and movies be different? Would somebody else buy DC, or would they recover on their own?
 
Well, one you'd have to avert is the financial decline of Kinney National, the previous owners of DC. Perhaps have them buy out Warner Bros-Seven Arts, like they had planned to do in the early 70's. That way, Kinney isn't cash strapped, and not forced to sell DC, which was where the opportunity for the BBC to purchase it arose.

You also have to consider the effects on British comics, given DC purchased Warrior magazine with the help of the BBC.

I also wonder what effect this will have on Alan Moore's career. It was his work on DC's Miracleman, and Swamp Thing, that jumpstarted his career in television.
 
Well we'd probably still have the tv licence in the UK. It was the purchase of DC that gave the Conservatives the extra ammunition they needed to abolish it in the 80s as DC was proving to be a cash generator.
That means no commercials on the BBC. However perhaps Dr Who doesn't get the shot in the arm in terms of creativity that it desperately needed and gets cancelled. So no 30th, 40th and 50th anniversaries.
 
Well we'd probably still have the tv licence in the UK. It was the purchase of DC that gave the Conservatives the extra ammunition they needed to abolish it in the 80s as DC was proving to be a cash generator.
That means no commercials on the BBC. However perhaps Dr Who doesn't get the shot in the arm in terms of creativity that it desperately needed and gets cancelled. So no 30th, 40th and 50th anniversaries.

(OCC: I personally wouldn't have it so the license is removed. ITTL, the BBC is still a publically owned/funded company that just so happens to own some subsidiaries that make money for themselves and the BBC itself. I don't think this is a massive step, some BBC shows today entirely fund themselves through overseas licensing and merchandise. I wanted to try and state it in the OP, but I couldn't work it in convincingly. I know that this isn't the commonly done thing in DB games, but I am overruling it. Sorry :( )
 
(OCC: I personally wouldn't have it so the license is removed. ITTL, the BBC is still a publically owned/funded company that just so happens to own some subsidiaries that make money for themselves and the BBC itself. I don't think this is a massive step, some BBC shows today entirely fund themselves through overseas licensing and merchandise. I wanted to try and state it in the OP, but I couldn't work it in convincingly. I know that this isn't the commonly done thing in DB games, but I am overruling it. Sorry :( )

OOC: It's like Sesame Street and PBS. Yeah, it creates a lot of revenue for PBS, but that is not grounds to revoke its public license.
 
OTL Thatcher wanted to abolish the TV Licence and that was when the BBC was relatively cash strapped. She wanted the BBC to have commercials (like C4 today). Not having the licence doesn't stop the BBC from having the same responsibilities as OTL just the funding is different.
I just can't see a Thatcher Conservative government letting the Beeb keep the licence in these circumstances but it's your OP so nullas anxietas!
 
Bumping, with another question. Let's suppose the decision to buy DC never comes around, and the debate on the legality is postponed. What would the BBC try to buy instead? It would have to be before or after the Thatcher government, given her stance in the Superman Debates, so what companies in the late '70s or '90s have been opportune targets for the BBC? Animation studio? Anime dubbing company?
 
Bumping, with another question. Let's suppose the decision to buy DC never comes around, and the debate on the legality is postponed. What would the BBC try to buy instead? It would have to be before or after the Thatcher government, given her stance in the Superman Debates, so what companies in the late '70s or '90s have been opportune targets for the BBC? Animation studio? Anime dubbing company?

Well i remember i company collapse when their anime about sci-fi was cancelled as their pilot episode was lost during a crash train. was Tatsunoko or something? that would work i can imagine that, focusing in japanimation, heck DC translated that manga Lum the Invader Girl in otl(and BBC dubbed the anime too)

So that means 80's-90's Superman Stories are gone? and the death of batman too? those were seminal stories, taking all their american 'dark, gritty and edgy' counterpart and deconstructed it brutally, the more serial and continuity superman in 80's was simple literaly masterpiece of the era and death of batman was something controversial but show why Batman is more the Hero in Anti-Hero(and we would have loss that Springheeled Jack nod-connection in the movies)
 
Bumping, with another question. Let's suppose the decision to buy DC never comes around, and the debate on the legality is postponed. What would the BBC try to buy instead? It would have to be before or after the Thatcher government, given her stance in the Superman Debates, so what companies in the late '70s or '90s have been opportune targets for the BBC? Animation studio? Anime dubbing company?
Once again, the circumstances to purchase DC came from a very specific sequence of events, stemming from the failure of Kinney to purchase Warner Bros, and later had to sell off its entertainment assets after the US government began to probe into its activities. The BBC decided to take a risk, and purchase it. I doubt you could repeat this sequence of events with any other company. Still, if they wanted, the BBC could have purchased a failing company in the early 90's, like Hanna-Barbera, after the Thatcher government, and in turn, use its properties to launch new programming.

So that means 80's-90's Superman Stories are gone? and the death of batman too? those were seminal stories, taking all their american 'dark, gritty and edgy' counterpart and deconstructed it brutally, the more serial and continuity superman in 80's was simple literaly masterpiece of the era and death of batman was something controversial but show why Batman is more the Hero in Anti-Hero(and we would have loss that Springheeled Jack nod-connection in the movies)

The Death of Batman is definitely the seminal Batman story of the 80's, and probably one of the best Batman stories. It'll be a real shame to lose it.
 
Maybe DC would have aquired the Charlton characters after all, as opposed to Marvel, though i cant see DC doing as well with the likes of Captain Atom and Blue Beetle (both of whom helped kickstart the failing Avengers book back into must-read status).
 
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