BBC should be able to fund itself
MUCH is being said and made of the BBC’S position in the media marketplace, but only ever from the point of view of the licence fee. Nothing I’ve read is made of the BBC’S commercial actions within that marketplace. The BBC has a huge library of programmes it has made over the decades, the funding of which has, in the main, come from the licence fee. That library has been releasing content to free to-air-stations, funded by advertising via UKTV. What is UKTV?
A quote, lifted from its website explains: “The broadcaster is a significant investor in British creativity and is committed to working with new and established writers, directors and programmemakers. UKTV is part of BBC Studios, the UK’S most-awarded production company, a world-class distributor with international branded services, and a commercial subsidiary of the world’s leading public service broadcaster, the BBC.”
My question is not why must I pay a licence fee this year when I’ll be 75? My question is why do we have a licence fee at all? The BBC appears to have grown into a multi-national company with a worldwide reach.
Rodney Lang, Douglas.
FURTHER to the recent letter (January 31) regarding the BBC’S silly pronunciation of Scottish place names, I have written numerous letters, over the years, to no avail, getting a solitary reply that was a wonderful exercise in obfuscation and denial portraying, sadly, the ignorance and indifference of its author.
We continue to get our place names and surnames mangled to death, for instances with the generic, i.e. Loch, getting the emphasis when the specific should, ie Ness, Earn and Fyne; similarly Dum-barton, Dun-dee,
THE answer to the ferry issue and the “fiasco at the Ferguson Marine yard” (Letters, February 7) is not to dwell on problems, but just to crack on and reinstate a much larger ferry service, while integrating it with active travel.
For the last 10 years all our family holidays have been on either Bute or Great Cumbrae, mostly because they are among the best places to cycle in Scotland, maybe the UK. The roads are quiet and there are many bays to visit, often with villages and cafes. Yet the islands in the Clyde estuary are neglected and not even fulfilling 10 per cent of their tourist potential.
An integrated ferry and cycling strategy could bring them at least part-way to where they were in their glory days, 100 years ago. In those days there were many more ferry connections and you could hop from island to island. For example, you could go from Kilchatten Bay on Bute across to Millport. And the ferry from
Dun-bar, and so on. Our Scottish surnames are treated similarly hence – Sin-clair, Gar-dyne, Mac-nab, Mac-donald, plainly wrong and silly.
It is the exact reverse in English word usage and structure where the emphasis is on the specific, being the prefix, i.e. Col-chester, Man-chester, Roch-chester. Quite easy to understand and apply, but sadly not so, apparently, with our BBC, which was given the title some decades ago, by the wonderful wit Oliver Brown: “The Anglo Saxophone”.
James Cameron Stuart, Falkirk.
OVER the years we have become accustomed to the image of patriotic Americans standing
Largs to Great Cumbrae used to sensibly go to the port of Millport, rather than the wrong end of the island, motivating people to take the car only for it to sit uselessly on the promenade. erect, hand over heart, uttering the immortal words “God bless America”.
After the recent hate-filled and despicable speeches by their President it would seem it is indeed time to call upon help from the Almighty.
“God bless America” has never been more appropriate.
Hugh Phillips, Bothwell.
ABOUT punk I know nothing, and even less about post-punk, but I happened to spot the name of Harold Budd as I was looking at the adjacent column, Books To Read.
I came across Harold Budd on the same date as today (February 6) but in 2002 when
Cars are the problem, massively subsidised through the Road Equivalent Tariff, each displaces a dozen tourists, making it physically impossible to get enough people on the ferries to regenerate
Verity Sharpe, on Late Junction, Radio 3, played an offering from his CD Silent Thunder. It is a most beautiful piece called Gypsy Violin played on what Neil
Cooper said was the instrument Budd used, an “ambient piano” (“Wobble’s post-punk supergroup and his enduring love of libraries”, The Herald, February 6).
The piece slowly lasts for 21 minutes but is available to be heard 800 per cent slower; fascinating. We are treated to some really interesting information in The Herald. If this an example of what is called “punk” then I have obviously been missing something of interest. Thelma Edwards, Kelso.
IN my rather sheltered life the islands. The Transport Secretary visited our Glasgow Green Cycling Centre recently, which like Great Cumbrae is one the best places to cycle in the UK, not least because of the vast diversity of inclusive bikes. Michael Matheson was open to the idea of regeneration-throughcycling and seemed interested in our idea of giving every cyclist a token to spend on the island, rather than giving each driver an RET tenner, effectively. Moreover, he added to the idea by saying” cyclists go free”.
Greta Thunberg may be coming to Glasgow for COP 26. It would be good to take her on a day trip to Millport on a ferry that actually goes into the port, followed by a bike ride round Great Cumbrae, taking in a free coffee and cake courtesy of the Scottish Government’s commitment to health and the environment. Norman Armstrong,
Glasgow Green Cycling Centre, Glasgow, G40. nowadays I admit I missed Labour MP Tracy Brabin’s inadvertent disclosure of a bit of shoulder flesh at the Despatch Box in the House of Commons, but the bust-up since is surely over-the-top and unwarranted (“MP’S ‘flesh dress’ critics should be ashamed of themselves, February 7).
I am sure most of us are more interested in the content of an MP’S brief, than briefs or other dress items.
R Russell Smith, Kilbirnie.
REGARDING the Six Nations rugby: I do wish the commentators, both on BBC and ITV, would learn to shut up and stop talking constant inane rubbish.
Steve Barnet, Gargunnock.