Plans to privatise Channel 4 axed, government confirms
Channel 4 will remain publicly owned, with reforms to help boost its sustainability and commercial freedom, Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan says.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said the broadcaster will remain in public ownership "but with greater commercial flexibility, increased investment in skills and jobs across the UK" as well as "new production arrangements to support its long-term sustainability and growth".
Waffle is so much easier than reform, so clearly the BBC is safe too. Not that there was ever any likelihood of the state broadcaster being lanced.
4 comments:
Here's my suggestion for reforming the BBC. Put all the content on one big database, and have different versions ("briefings") for different groups in society. About 100 log-ins for "Elite" (cabinet ministers, top civil servants, heads of quangos, etc); a few thousand "Establishment"; a couple of hundred thousand "Chatterers"; and the rest is all reality TV, soaps and sport.
Nothing much would change, but it would be a lot cheaper and easier to manage.
What a strange Department.
They look after "Digital" ? Apart from grammar where they might have a talk with the Department of Educational, they look after all things digital? Really?
Do they admit that Media is separate from Culture?
And Sport is dumped in there. Why? Do they have an opinion on the offside rule, shouting when serving, scrum collapsing?
This is a make-work department.
We watch little TV but we've just enjoyed the BBC4 rerun of the 1979 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
Tree Mendous. What a cast! We even recognised one character in the dark by his gait. The chap playing Esterhase had developed an idiosyncratic gait which we hadn't noticed until the scene in the dark. Bloody Hell.
And, being from 1979, they didn't play music over the dialogue so I hardly needed the subtitles (which were themselves done very artfully.)
Sam - that database could be all the BBC is worth apart from the physical equipment. Build the database, sell the equipment, sack the staff and charge for access to the database. Those wanting it still have a BBC.
Doonhamer - and it isn't diverse either. What about poor old Analogue? Yes, it is a make-work department.
dearieme - we only watch older material. At the moment it's the Rupert Davies Maigret series from the early sixties. Still watchable.
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