Free Roaming: An Alternate BBC

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BBC Now has shown itself to be a massive success. The ability to go anywhere at any moment has proven itself again and again. None more so than during the recent coverage of the Champions League. With Manchester United 4-0 and proceeding to the next round the switch of coverage to the Barcelona/AEK Panathainaikos draw proved flawless.

We are delighted with the channel and satisfied that the naysayers have been silenced

BBC internal report
 
When was the itv digital ballsup?
ITTL I could certainly see a BBC buy up to make it a payperview service that could subsidise the license fee.
 
Hmm. Its possible but the BBC would want to avoid the same kind of embarrassment that ITV Digital had and at the same time rub their noses in the mire.
 
1 Year On

BBC NOW has been a fantastic success in its opening year and has surpassed all our expectations. Now its time for the second phase. BBC Now will be at the forefront of our new digital service.

By pressing the red button on their remote control, viewers will be able to select from a variety of sources. Recordings of reports, documentaries will exist alongside new live programming such as "Sportstalk".

Plus in the future we'll be able to use a combination of webcams and local transmitters so viewers will be able to watch as well as listen to their local BBC radio station.
 
RTE: Irish people are lucky because they get free television. And the Irish television network is great value for money, so you should buy it. And you have to buy it or you go to prison. These are the three kinds of ads they show on RTE for RTE. Sometimes they combine two of the three, and I heard one on the radio that gave equal time to all three.

I can't imagine it's that hard to turn it into a paid streaming and free broadcast service. Almost everyone in Ireland would buy it, and it would sell millions upon millions overseas because there really is good television coming out of the island. There is no political will to make it a legitimate organization.

The problem with RTÉ is that they don't have the funding the BBC has and it has to compete with BBC, ITV and Sky. They have some good shows but compared to the BBC it isn't that great. BTW: George Hook is a great Rugby analyzer.
 

Pangur

Donor
TIMELINE
1991: Brief existence of BBC rolling news radio service during Gulf War galvanises those within BBC to push for a permanent station
1994: Radio 5 Live launches gaining between 4 and 6.5 million. TV bosses are interested.
1997: BBC NOW is launched as part of the corporation's digital output.

Just noticed this thread. I worked for the BBC back then. Radio 5 when it started was not si kindly known i some circles as Radio Toy town. The CNN coverage of the Gulf War certaintly reshaped thinking about news and the rolling 24 hour new channel was talked about quite a lot. By 1994 the internet was also big on the agenda and from what I saw a bit of a hobby horse for John Birt.

The two issues that cross my mind would be that News was very much the domain of Radio 4 and they protected that with a vengence. There is also as already pointed out the matter of advertising. That was and may well still be a no no as they view was that if agreed to then 1: Income from the License fee would first drop and then end 2: It is questionable if there would be enough money for ads to keep all the Broadcasters going.
 
@ Pangur - The Dutch system is better. The licence fee is incorperated in your income tax. The tax rose with only a few guilders in the 1990's and even now 20 year's later it is hardly noticeable. Like 15 Euro a person. Which is cheaper than in Germany, the UK or Ireland.

With that comes the memberships of the broadcaster (optional) and money from commercials

Until the advent of commercial TV in the 1990's Dutch Public TV relied heavily on shows from the USA and the UK.
 
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