CBBC is currently running lessons for primary school children every day, and BBC2 is running at least 2 hours of programmes for secondary school students every day. I don’t see any subscription channels offering that service, completely uninterrupted by advertising. BBC News is respected worldwide, and the range of different types of programme available on demand easily exceeds any subscription channel. BBC Radio is easily superior to anything else, and caters for all kinds of listener groups. Some of the licence fee, don’t forget, goes towards supporting grassroots music and arts projects at local level, and musicians like our very own Fable have had their first exposure at national level through the Introducing series on Radio 6.
The whole argument about the neutrality of the BBC is self-defeating, because of the fact that it is attacked from both left and right. People like Laura Kuenssberg and Fiona Bruce piss me off, but there are plenty of other reporters and presenters who redress the balance, and shows like HIGNFY on TV or the News Quiz on Radio 4 maintain the high standards of satirical holding-to-account for which the BBC is the envy of the world.
The one area where the BBC falls short is in televised sport, and there should probably be a conversation about having a subscription BBC Sports channel to offer some kind of competition to Sky and BT.
