I Though The BBC Was Skint? What’s This about Then

It looks like The BBC are looking to spent £14.5 million of tv licence fee on new studios. I thought they were skint?
Source - www.express.co...
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#tvlicence #bbc

[@matthewcb1970]

The more of this type of story I hear, the more certain I am that I will never pay the TV tax ever again.

[@bakedbean37]

Good for you. Enjoy your wall to wall adverts.

[@WTU208]

BBC pay Gary Lineker £1.35 million a year. I know how I would save money........

[@Tom_murray89]

The BBC don’t have a clue when it comes to spending in my opinion

[@marylauder3374]

Easy come, easy go!

[@j0hnf_uk]

They do. It's the easiest thing in the world to spend other people's money, after all.

[@littlealcpfc]

Haven't paid mine for 10 years, legally I might add, thanks to you. I caught one of your early videos, and have watched ever since. Convinced loads of people to do the same and cancel.

[@stevegee8010]

Don't forget the £7 million they spent changing the letters B, B, and C ever so slightly.

[@lucifermorningstar4606]

If they had to make their own money... They wouldn't be able to afford the thousands of staff in those offices. All unrelated to actual TV productions.

[@thelegaloccupier1982]

They don't waste my money Jon, not for the past 7 years now thanks to your advice 💪🍻

[@shadzsta]

Years ago when I used to work at a printing company, we used to do a lot of printing for all the different local council departments and every year when it was coming up for the end of the tax year they would start ordering lots of things to use up their annual department budget allowance as if they didn't then their budget would get reduced next year. Sometimes they would have a quote or estimate for something and they would keep adding extra features, choosing more expensive materials and increasing quantity amounts to increase the invoice up to a certain amount. If they left it too close to the end of the tax year they would even ask for the invoice before the product was made or delivered. This just feels like the same situation to me.

[@pjcnet]

The BBC in Birmingham used to be a few miles outside the city at Pebble Mill studios until 2004, it was a large studio that produced some iconic shows, but with other studios in the country they deemed it surplus to requirement. The BBC moved to The Mailbox which is part of a luxury and very expensive shopping mall on the outskirts of the central shopping area, much smaller, but due to the prime location has to be costing them a fortune which is totally unnecessary. Now there's talk about them moving again in 2026/27 to just outside the centre in Digbeth.

[@iggysfriend4431]

They announce a £14.5M studio project, but once the endless committee meetings and liquid lunches have gotten in the way the bill wil be more like £80M. After all the Easter Ender's film set was supposed to cost £60M but ended up costing £87M and was 4 years late. Meanwhile Granada TV rebuilt the Coronation Street set for £10M. This just goes to show how the BBC handles money and why they are constantly banging on about being skint. Then there's the joys of 500 BBC staff going to Glastonbury. Why not send 10. Fortunately I have now not paid the BBC TV tax for 3 years so I am no longer contributing to this wasteful organisation (term used in the loosest possible way) that spends money like it's water.

[@johnswarbrick2365]

Just like local and national government. Each dept's little empire has to spend its budgetted amount to avoid being questioned as to their "need" for next year.

[@concernedcitizen12577]

They have got creative ways. It's called Linikers salary

[@necropink9200]

I wish I was as skint as the bbc. Even if I was I still wouldn't gift the bbc any money by buying a tv licence. The bbc should be told that come 2027 the licence fee will abolished with no replacement like a media tax put in place.Three years should be more than enough time for bbc to sort out their funding through a subscription service and/or advertising.

[@casper1240]

10 Years Licence free thank you

[@dps8435]

How can it take £3.7 billion to turn out the shit they do every year.

[@enkisdaughter4795]

Most of it goes into pension pots and very large salaries

[@stevegee8010]

Overpaid presenters, way more staff and musicians than they need (who still get paid while sitting at home), first class travel and expensive hotels all paid for (but not even used half the time), after show parties, top tier catering, and they probably pay £100 for a stapler, etc., you know how that one goes.

[@dps8435]

@@stevegee8010 I know,I was being sarky ,I too hate the basdrds.

[@englishciderlover7347]

A lot of the stuff the BBC broadcasts is made by outside production companies. If the BBC can broadcast that stuff, so can any other broadcaster.

[@carolrushton7248]

SCRAP I SAY ITS FULL OF BLOODY REPEATS AND MAKE THEM ADVERTISE LIKE ALL THE OTHER CHANNELS .OR PUT ON PAY PER VIEW LIKE NETFLIX IF YOU DONT WANT TO WATCH IT YOU DONT HAVE TO PAY FOR OR IT I THINK ITS A LOT OF CRAP THEY PUT ON IT ANYWAY I NEVER WATCH BBC FOR THAT REASON

[@chrisinkpen7414]

They waste millions of pounds. And then they have the audacity to charge a license fee for a partially impaired or blind person Absolutely disgusting !!

[@biggobmalc8118]

There is absolutely no justification whatsoever for a compulsory TV Tax, AKA the TV licence. Even if you do not watch listen record or utilise the BBC iPlayer in anyway but wish to watch other channels live broadcasts you are bound by law to contribute, to the inert money pit of an organisation that calls itself the BBC. Why this is 2024 not 1954. TV Tax yes OK but make it voluntary giving everyone the right to watch other broadcasters live television without fear of a fine or prosecution.

[@SJPDurham]

Totally agree. 👍🏻

[@meljen8592]

When you look at the quality and output of some of the creators on KZbin,most on a very tight budget,it amazes me why the bbc needs so much money,and staff.

[@chrispig7748]

They are in the Mailbox in Birmingham , the most expensive place in the city centre

[@user-nx8ii4ef7f]

Over Christmas I tried to work out just what the BBC provides in the way of new TV viewing for the £3.5billion in free benefits they get! S*d-all really! Nice touch if you can get it!

[@elemar5]

Is sod one of these naughty words now?

[@gerrimilner9448]

just shows, that not one of them has ever had to skip a single meal to pay a bill

[@darreno9874]

The only way to spend £87,000,000 on a new set for Eastenders is if something underhand is going on, it smacks of back handers. I think the police should investigate.

[@thomasmorin749]

Who if anyone scrutinises BBC spending.

[@ferretfez6976]

The BBC has not reported on the news for years, they need to start ‘news’ shows with “once upon a time”.

[@littlealcpfc]

Surely BBCStudios should be building them, the clues in the name.

[@jernaugurgeh8110]

Haha not a chance. That's funding 3 letter agencies.

[@rjw4762]

BBC Studios is a Privately-owned Company with 3 Directors....they make BIG profits. Most people are unaware of this Private Enterprise.

[@cedhome7945]

I was an extra on BBC series Terry Jones crusaders and several of us saw the director give Mr Jones a huge bung of cash ! Why did he need cash ? As this was going through the books we assume as an official program......makes you wonder how much this goes on....

[@-11114]

It’s so so easy to spend other peoples hard earned cash and have no accountability for their actions. I’d happily see them out of business. It would be absolutely no loss

[@wildthing6668813]

There's selling the old studio for £10,000,000 so they only have to stump up another £4,500,000 the papers have it wrong the BBC are not paying out £14,500,00 but 45% more than what they sold the old building for.

[@BedsitBob]

They're not wasting my money. 😊

[@bazj5392]

£14 million would buy some programs for those that still watch TV but no just put out the same old trash and more people will stop paying the license, The BBC are clueless.

[@frankbrodie5168]

3.7 billion quid "a lot of money"? Well to paraphrase the oldest saying in the book. I'd probably spend half of it on beer, cigs, and loose women. And waste the rest!

[@marksnow7569]

_Stranger Things_ costs about £24 million per episode, so the BBC could afford 3 episodes per week if they cancelled everything else (they'd struggle with _Rings of Power_ though- that's more like £45 million per episode)

[@robertfreeman8340]

They certainly don't need more money from a rise in the licence cost - do they?

[@stevegee8010]

Hopefully, that'll turn around and bite them where the sun doesn't shine when even more people cancel their licence due to the cost.

[@davidwharton841]

Completely agree. It's like not owning a car but paying road tax. BBC has no appeal to me. Legalised scroungers.

[@richie-ky6uv]

the licence fee payer spends 87 mill for a set for bbc studios who sells eastenders back to us at an unknown price something wrong here

[@QuorkEx]

considering the extremely low viewing figures that Eastenders now attracts, ‎perhaps the BBC should consider counselling the show rather than investing in more outdoor sets. ‎I suspect that the show is no longer attracting younger generations of viewers, ‎so expect it to continue to dwindle in the ratings. ‎as for these new premises, ‎could not the oh so egalitarian BBC find somewhere a little more down to earth and diverse? Bridgeton for example. 🙂

[@GlennPowell-ls3lg]

Never mind a new soap set from a civil engineering point of view you could build a sizeable cable stay bridge for that budget that will last for longer than those soap operas will ever survive.You could even have enough change to build a new Blackpool Tower.Whoever the contractors are on the Eastenders set must be laughing all the way to the bank.

[@ansfridaeyowulfsdottir8095]

It's always like this in the public sector. Underspend by £100k, next year's budget is cut by £100k. Overspend by £100k, next year's budget is increased by £100k. {:o:O:}

[@welsh-3286]

well i watch no live tv and no licence

[@themole1944]

Like many i don't pay the licence fee,so it's non of my money

[@Aubury]

HS2 puts this BBC expenditure into perspective. Austerity has left great swaves of the UK in dire straights, bankrupt councils, and food banks, boarded up shops. The Eastenders set costs, prohibitive disgrace. No such issues with the Archers mind. Inflationary costs are a sea we all swim in, but wages have been festering for over a decade. Something has got to give..

[@jaykevan5120]

How does the commercial arm, BBC Studios, work? Where do the profits go? Is the licence fee (£3.7bn) used to subidise it?

[@stevegee8010]

The licence fee certainly pays for a lot of its content as they recycle old BBC programs on some of their channels, and make ad revenue on top. Where do all the profits go is a great question.

[@timg1246]

BBC Studios makes about £1.2 billion. So the BBC's total income is almost £5 billion.

[@marksnow7569]

@@timg1246 That's the turnover of BBC Studios. Obviously, their profits are a fraction of that. As sole shareholder, the main BBC gets all dividends (which are usually roughly equal to the profits).

[@krpkrp3033]

BBC pays for new studio's, "BBC Studeo's" uses the new facilities and BBC quietly sells it on at cost to BBC Studios.

[@jenniriley482]

If they are getting thousands of licence cancellations each month then thry wont be getting their 3.7bn. But they are still spending like they do have it.

[@evelbsstudio]

This is what councils used to do before the tories changed the system, they had to buy new computers every year and spend money to receive more next financial year. Now they can not afford to pay for mental health services or services for the disabled

[@freespeech878]

Have you noticed only three lords ever turn up when they are reviewing the tv licence fee. Because the lords are skimming the money off the top.

[@Sleepster1999]

What a joke that bbc

[@darrenmitchell5262]

Everyone’s playing the skint card whilst their pockets and bank balances are bulging.

[@MrOneillrobin]

If in the near future, they have to start earning their own money, they'll have a nice new studio to work from...at our expense...

[@johngilbert572]

Why are the bbc "looking into" blocked foot paths through out the realm? I can't see an 8 episode block buster arising from that.

[@alphabetaxenonzzzcat]

It's not just this studio - but also their Elstree one(which is where Eastenders is filmed) is up for sale, and apparently the Beeb plans to lease it back for certain productions. It doesn't seem to have any common sense on how to use its existing facilities and money wisely.

[@paulheath9989]

The only way to spend our money is to hand line acre and all the other cronies a decent bonus

[@robtheplod]

So despite losing 80k subscribers a month (thats £1.1m lost each month) they still splurge..... so glad im not one of the mugs still paying.

[@philiphumphrey1548]

What gets me is if you look at old BBC programs like Dr Who or Blakes 7, you can see they were usually produced on a shoestring and yet commanded big audiences. The reason was the quality of the stories and the acting. Now they spend millions on a set and bore people to death with agenda driven bad scriptwriting and bad acting. Some of the actors can't even speak clearly.

[@davidtomkins2152]

Blake’s 7 filmed in a quarry in winter,

[@philiphumphrey1548]

@@davidtomkins2152 To me it looked like one of the London Brick quarries near Bedford.

[@MrRobo.]

The BBC is taking the piss saying we need to save money because less and less people have a TV licence which they don't need clearly the BBC can survive without it an absolute joke someone in Parliament needs to stand up and say something

[@utube4andydent]

Not all local is funded by the licence. In Bristol UK there are 2 community radio stations. All run by volunteers. Hospital Radio has been one of the training grounds for radio professionals. None of these two get funding by the Licence and I doubt if they would honestly take . The destruction of the once Switched on village pump, a BBC expression not mine, will leave gaps in local radio. Heart has really destroyed what was once local. Radio use to be an exciting place but now it's mere back ground music.

[@enkisdaughter4795]

Heart Radio is abysmal

[@daverickards7647]

Mate, I live in Gloucester . The BBC commissioned a brand new building on the London Road coming out of Gloucester ( if people don't believe me Google it ) that place must have cost millions and now stands empty and up for sale .

[@marksnow7569]

I think it may be a bit more complicated than that. Radio Gloucestershire is at 61-63, joined at upper floor level to the Ministry of Justice buildings at 53-57 (59, the blood donation centre, is in the yard behind)

[@daverickards7647]

@@marksnow7569 thank you for pointing this out my friend . But I will dig a little deeper to find out who commissioned and paid for the building . Kindest regards Dave in Gloucester.

[@paulkeogh3518]

Easy come easy go. I wish the same could be said about the BBC.

[@brianmurray6615]

People still watch eastenders 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@enkisdaughter4795]

Happy to say I’ve never watched it

[@bryanwalkerCT7729]

Put a FOI about how many BBC bots are relateded #BigBrothersCensorship

[@garywheeley5108]

87 million for east enders set 14.5 for a studio with inflation seems like a bargain 😅😅😅

[@philipmilner9638]

The BBC is based down south, the government doesn't mind how much money is spent south of Birmingham, but if people want a tgrain netwolrk across the north that's hersay...

[@kevinpotts9583]

18,000 people at the bbc

[@concernedcitizen12577]

A visualization room is a multi-purpose room is designed to be a laboratory for viewing high-resolution images and data visualizations. A green room is another word for small studio

[@mikehipperson]

I thought a 'green room' was where guests on live and recorded programs got pissed both before and after the show?

[@GreenStreetPlayer1]

Nice little earner for these companies putting these new rooms together for £14.5 million. Begs the question then, are there any ‘BBC’ people or attached receiving part of that £14.5 million? Same with the £80 million spent on the Eastenders set, any interests not declared there? Oh my sceptical mind!

[@j0hnf_uk]

The difference is that it's public money, so of course they're going to find as many inventive ways in order to spend as much of it as they can in order to justify the budget. They always argue, of course, that they're doing it in order to bring the viewers the best quality entertainment there is. Which, evidenced by the state of the shows, is total BS, and is done purely to maintain/bolster the amount of money they claim to, 'need', in order to carry on, with the same money being used to fund private companies, e.g. BBC Studios, that provide profit to those within them. Companies that don't need to invest any of the profits made into programmes when the public at large are there to keep the necessary rolling in, year after year after year. And they have the gall to claim that they don't have enough money and need to keep increasing the licence fee.

[@ronholfly]

The BBC news is a laugh from start to finish, they need two people to tell it, the woman presenting it work three days a week then you get a sport presenter, Government presenters, now the BBC really love sport sometimes it takes up half the news time. Then we get weather reporters outside and inside the studios. Then we get local news they need one to tell it and another local weather reporter. You get this every morning, then there is a dose of BBC self inflicted commercial breaks every twenty minutes, flashing images that last one second at a time , I have to look away or else I go giddy. All this goes on every morning from 5am to 9am Do you think I'm watching to much telly??

[@robertlawrence4827]

Maybe they could spend some on taking down that offensive statue outside

[@x-Lilith-x]

Day 1 BBC recruit: Should we cut the tv license fee since we clearly don't need it and help households struggling on low income while doing so? BBC loyalist employee: em, then who would pay for my pony farm hmm?

[@brojohns4689]

Much like labour, very good at spending others people’s money. Stop the TV licence.

[@laurasands8322]

87 million pounds, i reckon a few palms were greased there. A few fat brown envelopes passed around.

[@vobchopper]

Well John surely when comparing the cost of the EastEnders set to the Coronation Street set you realise that property prices are much higher down south...😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@rogerwalker5169]

If that pic is of the premises then they've obviously found somewhere with an entrance large enough to accommodate Gary Lineker's head (get rid of that cubicle thing first) .. and thereby mouth, so they can get him behind lockable doors to stop him gobsh*ting all the time. BARGAIN at 14.5 mil !! In fact, if this were true, even I would consider purchasing a tv license if it was about a quid a year. I see they've already installed overnight lodgings for him right outside the entrance too!

[@McMillanScottish]

All my life, I have never understood the "budget set by previous expenditures" model. You should justify your budget somewhat by what you spent last year, but creating an incentive to spend money seems like a terrible idea.

[@ianherd569]

They are not skint, the do not know what skint is. Skint is what the BBC is making of pensioners.

[@MrRobo.]

That kind of money The bbc can survive without the TV licence So why is the bbc complaining so much about their budgets without the TV licence it's a load of rubbish they clearly can survive without it

[@John-mz8rj]

Wizard of oz for Christmas, what more do you want.

[@stevetwigg9657]

Someone is making a very nice profit from licence fee revenue!

[@pontpete6618]

If I were in charge I’d be looking at “backhanders” or overcharging. Licence to print money for anyone working for this lot

[@user-gg8iu8ic5k]

Not skint, just morally bankrupt.

[@robertstandley2576]

The BBC may as well move in with the bank of England as it seem's to print is own money and hold its hand out to the gov for moor once it has blown the Licence fees on junk

[@dickdangle1963]

Not with my money.😊

[@user-qj7et4wv3q]

30,000,000 homes how many are licenced and how many are not, that is the question, how many homes are visited on a daily basis to check if they need a licence 8,000, if nobody bought a licence it would take BBC GOONS 10 years to visit all homes just once each so if you were caught watching without a licence a £1,000 fine would still be cheap, a saving of £695 at current licence fee, and dont forget there's also business premises that could say no more BBC BS

[@markchawner1586]

Ha ha ha ! Like yourself, they don't get a single Penny off me .... And, they're not going to ever again. I'll make sure of that .......

[@petemumford9476]

A question I've always wanted to ask...How much do the BBC actually spend on all of these licence "enforcement officers" (salespeople), and the constant stream of threatening letters annually? It must be a vast amount of money, money that they claim they need more of for their real job...broadcasting! Perhaps if they did away with all of this waste, and just stuck a few adverts about needing a licence to watch the services, on the actual services that you need one for, therefore reaching those that obviously do need a licence because they're actually using it, and leaving those that don't need one alone and unbothered by their intimidatory tactics! Perhaps you might consider doing a FOI request on this subject. Oh, and how many trees are cut down to provide the paper for those unnecessary letters (not very green, is it?)?

[@marksnow7569]

£137 million in the 2022-3 financial year

[@petemumford9476]

So that figure must now be markedly higher due to annual rises, inflation etc. It's obscene! @@marksnow7569

[@VXGaming]

As skit as the NHS.

[@johncatto5019]

Let them make their own money, they shouldn't be spending ours with no accountability.

[@user-qj7et4wv3q]

They're not spending any of mine, I don't contribute

[@marksnow7569]

@@user-qj7et4wv3q You probably contribute to channels like Dave and Drama, which are owned by the BBC.

[@user-qj7et4wv3q]

@@marksnow7569 wrong to make assumptions, it makes just one big ass of you

[@marksnow7569]

@@user-qj7et4wv3q Something tells me you don't understand *how* you are probably contributing to channels like Dave and Drama.

[@davidaustin5741]

Should it not be our demacratic right to choose to payit or not, well we are a demacratic, arent we, well our mps are quick to tell the world what a demacratic country we are well are we or no?

[@lovingman41]

i never had one, only got a few letters but no visits from the goons, now i live abroad dont need one, but still dont watch the bbc.....

[@1aberbeeg]

Best shut it down then.

[@johnroberts8093]

🙏🇬🇧🙏

[@jamesdumazel5099]

Another letter today🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃

[@arboclimber]

These scum came after me years back back then we had free legal aid, we had paid as we sadly still do monthly, my wife watches! even took us to court luckily my Wife had all the receipts, poetic justice. I despise paying it, I only ever watch you tube. Keep doing what you're doing pal. Shame these scum to hell!!!

[@kencampbell-rf6ot]

So what is your point ??? Talk about repeating yourself, This nude book is the champion of the internet.

[@MikeEves]

No contribution from me

[@dps8435]

Not mine so couldn't give a fuck.

[@jaysmith6183]

Why pay for tv when all the shows are garbage. My wife watches Eastenders and i swear i lose afew more brain cells.

[@martinreed9565]

BBC new name BBBBIC Bxxxxx Brexit British Bashing Incompetent Corporation , i going to complain to its CEO Mr G Crisp-Bag

[@Veeger]

What do you expect from a tory dominated board of incompetence?

[@timg1246]

You seriously think the BBC is dominated by Tories? The BBC openly despises the Tories. Mind you, so do most Tories these days.

[@englishciderlover7347]

The Tories are socialists, so I would expect waste and extravagance.

[@Veeger]

@@englishciderlover7347 Get educated. The torys are the absolute OPPOSITE of socialist, as in FASCIST. They share with NO-ONE. Its not waste and extravagance. Its Corruption, dodgy contracts and NEXT LEVEL FRAUD. Your analysis lacks!

[@grahamhall8249]

BBC = pure snobbery!

[@jernaugurgeh8110]

It's covered ped made and ped inspired and ped themed statues and stone carvings. Hmmmmmm