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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/aug/24/dont-throw-web-tax-receipts-at-the-bbc
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Don’t throw web tax receipts at the BBC | Don’t throw web tax receipts at the BBC |
| (2 months later) | |
| The BBC receives over £3bn in licence fees. It is supposed to be one of the great creative centres of talent in the world. Could Jeremy Corbyn (Report, 23 August) explain why it has not been one of the most creative in the world in creating different platforms? It turned down a chance to be part of BSB satellite company in the 1990s and missed the digital revolution as a result. It created an equivalent of a Facebook internally but its board turned it down. It allowed us to watch programmes online without a licence fee for a decade. | The BBC receives over £3bn in licence fees. It is supposed to be one of the great creative centres of talent in the world. Could Jeremy Corbyn (Report, 23 August) explain why it has not been one of the most creative in the world in creating different platforms? It turned down a chance to be part of BSB satellite company in the 1990s and missed the digital revolution as a result. It created an equivalent of a Facebook internally but its board turned it down. It allowed us to watch programmes online without a licence fee for a decade. |
| Viewers and listeners, especially the millennials, have already moved across to the Netflix-Amazon axis. We do not need to find an excuse to throw taxes at the BBC from the software industry when infrastructure, health, housing and education needs it more.Derek WyattLondon | Viewers and listeners, especially the millennials, have already moved across to the Netflix-Amazon axis. We do not need to find an excuse to throw taxes at the BBC from the software industry when infrastructure, health, housing and education needs it more.Derek WyattLondon |
| • While I agree that global media behemoths such as Amazon, Apple and Netflix should pay more tax, I disagree that this money should be used to subsidise the BBC. The link between the licence-fee payer and the BBC is important because it engenders a sense of ownership, which would disappear if it were funded by some faceless global “benefactor”. Although the BBC will never be as big as the multimedia giants, if it stands its ground and avoids being dumbed down, it will be able to maintain its quality niche market. The same applies to British newspapers.Stan LabovitchWindsor, Berkshire | • While I agree that global media behemoths such as Amazon, Apple and Netflix should pay more tax, I disagree that this money should be used to subsidise the BBC. The link between the licence-fee payer and the BBC is important because it engenders a sense of ownership, which would disappear if it were funded by some faceless global “benefactor”. Although the BBC will never be as big as the multimedia giants, if it stands its ground and avoids being dumbed down, it will be able to maintain its quality niche market. The same applies to British newspapers.Stan LabovitchWindsor, Berkshire |
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