Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[Barrister]

Channel 4's model gets 90% of its revenue from advertising.

It is not allowed to create its own content. It has to operate as a "publisher-broadcaster" and all content spending needs to go to independent suppliers.

It is also not allowed to acquire secondary and international rights as a precondition for buying the (first-run) rights to a programme. Obviously that limits its ability to monetise any of the shows it does license and it doesn't really have the type of long-term IP revenue that, say, a Netflix does.

But that goes back to why it was created which was exactly to help launch and support independent production companies in the UK - and it's been phenomenally successful at that.

Channel 4's response to the goverment's suggestion of privatisation was actually just that the government should get rid of those restrictions and let it get on with it.

Interesting.

I'm going to get all Canadian on you which I'm sure you don't care about.

The rationale behind calls to privatize the CBC is that it takes up about $1.2 Billion dollars per year, while it in turns then uses to compete (with various restrictions) against private broadcasters.  I'm generally in favour of privatizing the CBC, although I admit it serves a niche public policy purpose.

But on the other hand, the province of Alberta owns its own bank - ATB.  The origins of which are lost to the mists of time (goes back to Social Credit philosophy from the 1930s), and I can see no valid reason for the province to own its own bank.  But ATB does not get a government subsidy - indeed it makes the government money.  Although 40+ years ago there were a bunch of really dodgy loans made by ATB for political purposes its corporate governance appears to be quite clean these days, so I'm quite content with the government owning ATB.



p.s. ATB technically isn't a bank because it's not licenced under the federal Bank Act (and rather operates under provincial legislation, which limits it to operate within Alberta only), but fundamentally that is what it is.

[Admiral Yi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uYfRozmZxg

Fly tipping revisited.

Two things: the stuff fly tipped here was just a couple bags, not a heap of construction waste.  And I've never seen garbage cans in front of British homes waiting for trash pickup.

Do youse guys not have garbage trucks that go around picking up trash from homes? 

Don't think I've ever seen a British garbage truck either.

[Sheilbh]

Interesting.

I'm going to get all Canadian on you which I'm sure you don't care about.

The rationale behind calls to privatize the CBC is that it takes up about $1.2 Billion dollars per year, while it in turns then uses to compete (with various restrictions) against private broadcasters.  I'm generally in favour of privatizing the CBC, although I admit it serves a niche public policy purpose.

But on the other hand, the province of Alberta owns its own bank - ATB.  The origins of which are lost to the mists of time (goes back to Social Credit philosophy from the 1930s), and I can see no valid reason for the province to own its own bank.  But ATB does not get a government subsidy - indeed it makes the government money.  Although 40+ years ago there were a bunch of really dodgy loans made by ATB for political purposes its corporate governance appears to be quite clean these days, so I'm quite content with the government owning ATB.

p.s. ATB technically isn't a bank because it's not licenced under the federal Bank Act (and rather operates under provincial legislation, which limits it to operate within Alberta only), but fundamentally that is what it is.

Always interested in people getting all Canadian

Yeah that is interesting - I think Channel 4 the argument is basically like ATB. It doesn't cost the taxpayer any money, it's not really serving a purpose any more. On the promoting a new industry front, even the BBC and ITV acknowledge that independent production companies are occasionally of worth - plus Netflix and Amazon are opening massive studios here - and I've made my views clear on its current programming. The argument for privatising it is basically the state has no business in owning a commercial TV channel.

The BBC is closer to the CBC issues. The argument against them is that it's unfair on private competitors, but also that its funding model is archaic and based on paying a fee to the BBC (actually the TV Licensing Authority) if you have an aerial or watch iPlayer. I think even the most dyed in the wool defender of the BBC would agree that the funding model needs looking at again. There is a lot of talk of a Canadian/Australian model where it's funded from revenue and doesn't have its own tax that it collects and prosecutes, but there are fears that would make it more susceptible to political pressure.

One other media thing - which always annoys me - is that the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV were early on having streaming services (all of which are pretty good). Back in the early 2000s they had a project to work on a shared streaming service which they could use in the UK (for free with different online "channels" of content) while also selling to generate revenue internationally on a subscription model. My understanding is lots of the work on streaming was quite expensive so they basically wanted to help share costs. The then competitions authority came down on them like a tonne of bricks and said it was really anti-competitive and would prevent new entrants into the market. About 15 years later when the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 are all perceived as being at risk from new entrants Netflix and Amazon, they ended up getting back together to launch exactly the same product they'd been discussing - but this time to try and carve out at least some corner of that market and preserve their long-term revenues

Two things: the stuff fly tipped here was just a couple bags, not a heap of construction waste.  And I've never seen garbage cans in front of British homes waiting for trash pickup.

We mainly have wheelie bins which go out on bin day (as well as recycling, food waste boxes etc):

Don't think I've ever seen a British garbage truck either.

They sort of look like this:


I once joined a Twitter space that went wild in the UK about bins abd bin collection days - there is nothing that will get people more angry - and it had I think two thousand people on it It was actually really interesting because a few councillors joined who explained why bin collections were being made less regular (normally fortnightly with recycling weekly - if you're lucky ), issues around where it goes and how bad recycling is - or a guy who built an open data bin app for his city but said it's basically incredibly difficult to do anywhere else because councils don't provide the data consistently etc. It was surprisingly very interesting.

[Grey Fox]

Please note that the 1.2 billions CBC funding BB quoted also includes the French counterpart.

And no one is advocating for cutting or closing that.

[Admiral Yi]

So bins are on the back alley.  That probably explains why I've never seen them.

Your garbage trucks are very stealthy.

[Sheilbh]

So bins are on the back alley.  That probably explains why I've never seen them.

It depends where you are. You put them out on the main street on bin day and take them back at the end of the day.

When I've lived in flats in an old house there'll normally be a place in the front garden where all the flats have their bins. In a block of flats it's different - collection is more regular and there's communal bin rooms where the bins live. In a house you normally keep the wheelie bin in the ugly bit of the garden/alley used for storage.

Recycling and food waste is normally kept in the house in my experience.

Edit: Because, just to be clear, that's a normal residential road not a back alley

[Barrister]

Please note that the 1.2 billions CBC funding BB quoted also includes the French counterpart.

And no one is advocating for cutting or closing that.

Plenty of people advocate privatizing Radio-Canada - like me.  There is plenty of private French-language radio and TV out there right now.  The fact that federal politicians promise not to touch Radio-Canada (while saying they will cut the CBC) is just yet another example of Quebec pandering.

There are a few things CBC/Radio-Canada does that would never be done in the market, like provide radio signals in a ton of remote communities.  I could see the government supporting such activities - but at far less than a billion plus per year.



CBC Hijack!

[Admiral Yi]

Edit: Because, just to be clear, that's a normal residential road not a back alley

Are you shitting me?

[Jacob]

The CBC is great. And the attack on it fits with what we were talking about in the Biden thread - about the right wing's continual attack on established institutions because they see them as arenas for political fights. If they can't control them and dictate the ideological content, they want to undermine and abolish them.

Which is, of course, one of the reasons I'm supportive of the CBC.

[Sheilbh]

Are you shitting me?

No - they're on the pavement outside the fronts of houses. You'd only have bay windows like that at the front.

[Jacob]

Just to be clear, though, we're looking at the sidewalk part of the street not the actual road.

[Admiral Yi]

asoka

[Sheilbh]

Just to be clear, though, we're looking at the sidewalk part of the street not the actual road.

Yeah - the road will be on the other side of that grass curb. It does not go right up to people's front gates on a street like that (it might on a super rural country road).

[Grey Fox]

Please note that the 1.2 billions CBC funding BB quoted also includes the French counterpart.

And no one is advocating for cutting or closing that.

Plenty of people advocate privatizing Radio-Canada - like me.  There is plenty of private French-language radio and TV out there right now.  The fact that federal politicians promise not to touch Radio-Canada (while saying they will cut the CBC) is just yet another example of Quebec pandering.

There are a few things CBC/Radio-Canada does that would never be done in the market, like provide radio signals in a ton of remote communities.  I could see the government supporting such activities - but at far less than a billion plus per year.



CBC Hijack!

In English Canada, those private enterprises do a really shitty job of amplifying Canadian voices. It's an American simulcast 24/7. Even the fake Canadian productions are funded from US money.

On Radio-Canada, yes total Quebec pandering. The Quebec wing of the CPC really shuts those voices down.

There is 3.5* national francophones broadcasters in Canada : Radio-Canada, Quebecor & BCE. Losing R-C would be catastrophic.

The .5 : TV5 Quebec Canada is a non-profit org that comes from an International agreement between France, Belgium, Suisse, Monaco, Canada & Quebec.

[Barrister]

In English Canada, those private enterprises do a really shitty job of amplifying Canadian voices. It's an American simulcast 24/7. Even the fake Canadian productions are funded from US money.

On Radio-Canada, yes total Quebec pandering. The Quebec wing of the CPC really shuts those voices down.

There is 3.5* national francophones broadcasters in Canada : Radio-Canada, Quebecor & BCE. Losing R-C would be catastrophic.

The .5 : TV5 Quebec Canada is a non-profit org that comes from an International agreement between France, Belgium, Suisse, Monaco, Canada & Quebec.

*hijack intensifies*

But really - what is the value in 2022 of having a broadcaster?  I mean in my household if it wasn't for sports we wouldn't watch broadcast tv at all.  Everything is streamed online.  The better question is how (if at all) should the government promote more Canadian content on Netflix / Youtube.

As for "amplifying Canadian voices" - what does that really mean?  Are we really that much more unified as a country because of Murdoch Mysteries?