So much on TV nowadays is rubbish.  There are very few quality programmes to choose from.  A mix of repeats, retro classics and reality tv.  But two of the nation’s favourite TV programmes are now going head to head on a Saturday night.  Why oh why has the BBC taken the decision to deliberately schedule Strictly Come Dancing against The X Factor?

With a paucity of high quality viewing on a Saturday night, I cannot comprehend the arrogance and short sightedness of the BBC scheduling its top Saturday TV programme against the X Factor. 

The BBC is the only broadcaster that gets a guaranteed income with the license fee so it doesn’t have to focus all its energies on chasing ratings.  It can focus on quality.  So why not, as Simon Cowell has suggested, schedule both programmes on a Saturday night, so the viewing public can have the opportunity to watch both back to back.  Cowell has stated that he and ITV are happy to put the X Factor forward or back in the schedule to avoid the clash, which makes sense for the viewing public.

As a matter of principle, I will watch the X Factor tonight, LIVE TIME, (and add to their viewing figures), and Sky Plus Strictly to watch at a later time.  I urge you to do the same and send a message to the BBC….don’t be so arrogant with your scheduling, listen to your customers ie the viewers.

I for one, could live without the BBC in my daily viewing.  Paying a license fee, a tax, on a Channel I rarely watch feels an invasion of my civil liberties.  I would be happy to programme lock the BBC if offered the chance between paying a fee to watch it or paying no license fee and getting no BBC.  Consumer choice is the most powerful of democratic principles.  Some would say this loses great programmes for minority groups and a first rate news service.  Well the news service is questionable against the quality shown by Sky News, self funded by advertising revenue.

The BBC, as mentioned in previous blog articles on this site, needs urgent reform.  With 47 of the BBC’s Executives earning salaries greater than the Prime Minister’s, this fat, bloated Corporation needs an urgent review and change.

Is Gordon Brown running scared?  Is he frit?  What’s he got to lose by agreeing in principle to Sky News Leaders Election Debate?  Clearly he is troubled by facing the nation and the cameras against Cameron.

His only reply to Sky is that he will consider it when we head into the election campaign.  News to you Gordon….the campaign has started.  The election gun has been fired.  These Party Conferences signal the last chance to rally the troops before the fight starts in earnest.

Gordon’s lack of ability to state his mind is very concerning.  First up did he support Megrahi’s release?  Answer:  He found the scenes of the Libyans celebrating his release disturbing.  No comment on the release.  Next up the Sky Leaders debate.  No answer…yes/no!  What is the point of having a Leader of the Country if he sits on the fence and will not commit an opinion or view?  That’s the definition of a lack of leadership.

Credit to David Cameron for accepting, (indeed championing this cause).  He has the most to lose from such a debate.  Gordon has the most to gain as he is so far behind in the polls, with a demoralised Party, this could be his best option.  But he knows that his drab, monotone dulcet tones will not come across well against a slick, exciting, passionate, inspiring David Cameron.  I bet Mandolsen would relish the chance!

Credit as well to Nick Clegg for accepting…..that just leaves one empty seat.

Just as Have I Got News For You, empty chaired Neil Hattersley and placed a tub of lard in his place, Sky News can empthy chair Brown and replace with a plate of yellow jelly…..probably made of tougher stuff than Gordon!

Great work by Sky.  They trumped the BBC and started this initiative.  I hope it comes off for them.

If you have not done so yet, click on the link below and sign up to Sky’s Online Petition to stage a televised Leaders Election Debate/s.

Like many of you, I remain horrified at the way the BBC reports political events.  Whilst I would dearly love to listen and believe in their protestations of independence and neutrality in their broadcasting, it does not wash when I sit in front of the box and compare coverage to say Sky News.  Perhaps there are suicidal tendencies at the Beeb, not comprehending a major political earthquake aside, the Conservatives are heading towards power and the Beeb is heading for a shakeup.

Whilst Labour don’t have a purely harmonious relationship with the BBC, when it comes to license fee rises, there has been little debate or opposition from this Labour Government.  Labour Ministers have on the whole looked after the BBC and big reform has been kept at bay.

Now the BBC needs to consider this.  David Cameron has a history in broadcasting.  He was raised under Michael Green’s era at Carlton and understands the difficulties and successes commercial tv has.  He understands the privileged position the BBC has enjoyed.

The BBC has not had a good year.  The Jonathon Ross & Russell Brand debacle showed the Beeb to be weak and indecisive.  The huge salaries of Beeb’s top staff did not sit well with a nation suffering under the strains of recession, seeing pay cuts, wage freezes, job losses, businesses going bankrupt.  £800,000 for the Director General of the BBC…..4 times more than the Prime Minister.  Are we saying the head of the BBC is 4 times as important as the Prime Minister?

The BBC is a vast unwieldy beast.  Prime for trimming and facing commercial reality.  Cameron faces several choices.  The nuclear option…cut the license fee completely off and ask the BBC to adjust to free market forces.  However, this seems one step too far as this would see ‘niche’ BBC offerings axed.  And free market zealots will have to concede that many offerings, like regionalised news and stations like BBC Parliament would not be able to survive in a free market as advisers would not flock to those stations with niche viewing figures.  So does the nation benefit from regionalised news and stations like BBC Parliament?  The answer has to be yes.  Hence, a Conservative Government would not prioritise a license fee massacre. 

However, Cameron would be right to freeze the license fee and seek efficiency savings from the BBC.   What also needs discussing is the Beeb’s role.  Especially what should it do online and in mobile phone technology. James Murdoch, News International’s Chairman, believes the BBC restricts the free market in media and impedes fair competition in areas like the internet and other commercial activities.  Murdoch has accused the BBC of ‘trying to create a British Google…funded by the taxpayer’!

This makes an interesting contradiction for Cameron.  Balancing his free market desires against those of his social conscience, offering programmes that the country would otherwise not see.

What is true is the BBC faces big change under Cameron and that will be no bad thing!