
Why the BBC will struggle to make iPlayer as good as Netflix - open-source-ux
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/jan/13/the-bbc-will-struggle-to-make-iplayer-as-good-as-netflix
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dazc
Content is King and the BBC have plenty of it. All they need to do is allow
people to access it via a simple subscription service?

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open-source-ux
> _Content is King..._

Indeed it is. The dilemma is that as soon as the BBC opens itself up to
subscription, the pressure to shrink or abolish the license fee will grow. But
once the license fee shrinks or is abandoned, much of the content that is not
commercially viable is unlikely to be produced. That means there will probably
still be a Planet Earth II, but probably not more broadcasts of the annual
Royal Institution Science lectures [1]

It's also easy to forget that the BBC does much more than TV. They have
national, local and international radio services (World Service), they fund
numerous orchestras around the UK. They fund the BBC Proms - the world's
largest classical music festival. They provide live coverage of music
festivals in the UK like Glastonbury, Reading, Leeds. They promote new up-and-
coming music artists through their annual BBC Sound of 2017 [2].

They provide ad-free children's programming (Cbeebies and CBBC). They have
large educational output online for school students (bitesize). Initiatives
like the recent micro:bit programmable computer are perhaps not what you would
expect from a public service broadcaster, but only the BBC would consider or
pull it off.

And just so I don't sound too effusive about the BBC, amongst all the above
there is of course an awful lot of dreck. Still, losing the license fee would
mean losing a lot of good things too.

[1]
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b086t9rn](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b086t9rn)

[2] [http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/e988gw](http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/e988gw)

