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Breaking - BBC Licence Fee axed 2027 TCs to be affected?

Postby LDS

The Guardian Newspaper wrote:The BBC licence fee will be abolished in 2027 and the broadcaster’s funding will be frozen for the next two years, the government has said, in an announcement that will force the corporation to close services and make further redundancies.


https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/b ... d=msedgntp

With lots of below inflation funding prior to that date.

I've no idea if this is a cross-house decision, but this is current policy it seems.

Since the TCs are so closely linked to the BBC, how do you think this might impact the future of the sport?

What is the current contract for them and will they be affordable up until 2027 if not?

Will they still want snooker in a post-licence fee world?

The drama never stops!

Re: Breaking - BBC Licence Fee axed 2027 TCs to be affected?

Postby Pink Ball

HustleKing wrote:Whatever happens to the snooker I'm just glad that's one less state that employs the archaic TV license system, now if only the Irish government had the cajones to do likewise

You won't be saying that when Fair City runs out of dough

Re: Breaking - BBC Licence Fee axed 2027 TCs to be affected?

Postby mick745

The BBC's output will be affected in the next few years there is no doubt about that, leading to more people cancelling their licence fees and making the 2027 decision easier.

I tried to list 10 programmes i'd miss if the bbc went away, i couldnt find 10, some on my list were Radio 4 programmes.

However, it is the big national events such as Royal occasions, olympics, summer football tournaments, etc that bring everybody together and which 90%+ usually follow on the bbc when simultaneously broadcast on other channels, which will still have to be shown somehow.

Re: Breaking - BBC Licence Fee axed 2027 TCs to be affected?

Postby The_Abbott

A lot of people complain about the licence and may not watch much but I bet a lot of people watch events and sports and news on the BBC. I am sure they watached many shows in the past on the BBC.

This is going to really change things up and it could be for teh worse (depends what you watache and like). Snooker could go and be on Amazon or some other pay TV - with adverts. Even iplayer and BBC sport website is better than say, ITV Hub which is HORRENDOUS!!!

Streaming services will no doubt hike their prices when they know people have another 167 quid to play with. And we already have too many of them. BritBox repeats should be free considering we have paid for those programmes to be made and shown once before.

Worrying times. It'll be the 2027 version of eating or heating. It'll be wataching or Crotching (sitting on your ass doing nothing).

Re: Breaking - BBC Licence Fee axed 2027 TCs to be affected?

Postby LDS

I also forgot to mention in the opening post:

2027 is, or rather should have been, a very big year for Snooker - as it marks the 100 year anniversary of the World Championships and professional snooker generally.

I was wondering what kind of gig might be put on, what kind of show/event television we might get. It would be a shame if it passes without much attention because poor ol' Beeb can't afford it.

Re: Breaking - BBC Licence Fee axed 2027 TCs to be affected?

Postby Prop

LDS wrote:I also forgot to mention in the opening post:

2027 is, or rather should have been, a very big year for Snooker - as it marks the 100 year anniversary of the World Championships and professional snooker generally.

I was wondering what kind of gig might be put on, what kind of show/event television we might get. It would be a shame if it passes without much attention because poor ol' Beeb can't afford it.


That’s quite a sad thought. Hopefully these things are already being looked into by the blazers. It’d be one hell of a send-off.

I don’t know if I’m alone in doing a double-take when I remind myself 2027 is only 5 years away. It’ll be here quicker than we realise. Is that the reality, then? BBC Snooker will cease to exist after 2027? It’s a tough one to get your head around :-(

Re: Breaking - BBC Licence Fee axed 2027 TCs to be affected?

Postby McManusFan

There is another possibility here. I'm not sure, but I reckon snooker is probably pretty cheap TV to make, certainly compared to dramas, or even other sports with more expensive licenses and such. So there's a chance they'll put more snooker on as they can't afford anything else!

Re: Breaking - BBC Licence Fee axed 2027 TCs to be affected?

Postby Iranu

McManusFan wrote:There is another possibility here. I'm not sure, but I reckon snooker is probably pretty cheap TV to make, certainly compared to dramas, or even other sports with more expensive licenses and such. So there's a chance they'll put more snooker on as they can't afford anything else!

I thought the same. Particularly if they trim their team down to reduce salary expenditure, which would be easy enough. I guess it would depend if any other networks came in with bids.

Re: Breaking - BBC Licence Fee axed 2027 TCs to be affected?

Postby The_Abbott

Iranu wrote:
McManusFan wrote:There is another possibility here. I'm not sure, but I reckon snooker is probably pretty cheap TV to make, certainly compared to dramas, or even other sports with more expensive licenses and such. So there's a chance they'll put more snooker on as they can't afford anything else!

I thought the same. Particularly if they trim their team down to reduce salary expenditure, which would be easy enough. I guess it would depend if any other networks came in with bids.


Well how much did Dennis and JV cost? They are off the wage bill. Perry and Murphy and Rob Walker could go too without anyone noticing.

I would personally ditch JP now and use this as the reason. No loss.

Re: Breaking - BBC Licence Fee axed 2027 TCs to be affected?

Postby SnookerFan

As much as we criticise the BBC on here, myself included, it would be pretty disastrous if they lost coverage completely. (At least here in the UK.)

The sport isn't popular enough to survive without freeview coverage. And as good as ITV are, I'm not sure having a 17 day, up-to-six session a day tournament is in their remit. They'd want breaks in play on Saturdays, they'd not be able to put the non-televised session on etc.

Watching on Eurosport is an option for some, but not all. And the sport isn't going to attract newer fans if it's tucked away on a channel/App that not everybody has. I'd say most, if not all, of the UK based fans on here became fans by watching it on the BBC. Yes, there are other options, but you need a certain level of fandom/knowledge to know those options exist.

It'd be a disaster for the sport generally without freeview access, especially on a channel as big as the BBC.

Re: Breaking - BBC Licence Fee axed 2027 TCs to be affected?

Postby Iranu

I mean they might drop the UK and/or the Masters and just keep the Worlds, or something.

I can see them getting rid of the UK if they had to choose one. Must be more expensive to cover than the Masters and less ‘worthwhile’ than the Worlds.

Re: Breaking - BBC Licence Fee axed 2027 TCs to be affected?

Postby SnookerFan

Iranu wrote:I mean they might drop the UK and/or the Masters and just keep the Worlds, or something.

I can see them getting rid of the UK if they had to choose one. Must be more expensive to cover than the Masters and less ‘worthwhile’ than the Worlds.


Yeah, I'd agree with that.

They don't even show the last-128 of the UK Championships anyway. (And only two of eight matches in the early stages.) It does take more covering, despite their constant bastardising of it.

Re: Breaking - BBC Licence Fee axed 2027 TCs to be affected?

Postby mick745

I only have freeview but there is probably more snooker on tv now than at any time since the 1980s.

I can watch live coverage of both tables atvthe crucible non stop for 17 days if i want. Plus the other bbc tournaments.

The home nations are shown on quest, at least in the day time, they usually cover the whole final also.

Then there is the CoC and the coral series on itv4 who do excellent coverage.

And the champions league is even covered on Freesports.

Pretty good coverage for snooker fans, it'd be a shame if it reduced. There is notcreally another broadcaster that would wantvthe WSC.

Re: Breaking - BBC Licence Fee axed 2027 TCs to be affected?

Postby Pink Ball

Cheering for the licence fee to be abolished is pure populist bullocks without giving any thought to what it actually means.

I’m not even British, and BBC has been a huge part of my life in one way or another. It’s like that for every British person. You get what you like, someone else likes what you don’t like.

Tories aren’t doing this because BBC isn’t pumping out quality. It’s because they don’t like some of what the station reports.

Re: Breaking - BBC Licence Fee axed 2027 TCs to be affected?

Postby McManusFan

What's ironic is that if the government are doing this for political reasons (not that big an if), it won't have the effect they want. Having lived in Australia, where they have the ABC which is funded directly through taxation rather than a licence fee, I can tell you this won't address any perceived 'leftwing bias'. Watching the ABC makes the BBC look positively facist!

Re: Breaking - BBC Licence Fee axed 2027 TCs to be affected?

Postby LDS

Pink Ball wrote:Cheering for the licence fee to be abolished is pure populist bullocks without giving any thought to what it actually means.

I’m not even British, and BBC has been a huge part of my life in one way or another. It’s like that for every British person. You get what you like, someone else likes what you don’t like.

Tories aren’t doing this because BBC isn’t pumping out quality. It’s because they don’t like some of what the station reports.


Unfortunately it's a lot more political than ever. It's not just populist policy but general concern amongst many neutrals on all sides of the political divide.

I just watched an interview with an old dude who's run a Radio 4 program called "Quote... Unquote" for the past 48 years. He's doing the rounds atm because he's called it a day on the show, citing many issues but including too much BBC interference with who he can and can't have on the show.

You know, he's got to have all ethnicities, all sexualities & all physical disabilities represented every week & he's no longer allowed to quote some people because they have a naughty heritage & all that stuff.

As an auteur, this is a big straw to the camel's back & there's quite a few big names jumping ship atm.

This new order of management, irrespective of money, let alone with tighter money to spend, may consider Snooker to 'problematic' to be broadcast anyway by that point.

The BBC isn't going to die in 2027, it's just going to have to undergo structural and financial re-ordering, which may still involve some form of indirect taxation.

It's going to be difficult for Snooker to adhere to all the inclusivity brackets due to the fact that pretty much all the homegrown players are white straight males. It's not like they can force an extravagantly gay darker skinned person to suddenly become good at the game who can simultaneously also commentate and present and film the event while they themselves also play in the tournament.

AKA, in the Beeb's desperation to more than accurately reflect the idealised diversity of the nation, they are deeply annoying the actual real diversity stats demographic who are, not surprisingly, an actual and real voting demographic.

The cynic in me thinks this is some conspiracy of anti-licence fee manipulators deliberately forcing these weird rules in with the aim of annoying this old person demographic, nudging them to vote for an end to the fee. However, my knowledge of the fanaticism of the extreme left suggests that the management genuinely think what they are doing is 'ideal'. :shrug:

The licence fee does need to go. The BBC has gone 'a bit nuts'. But, yes, the Beeb is still the only place certain things can get made.

The WSC, as we know it, could well be one of those things.

Re: Breaking - BBC Licence Fee axed 2027 TCs to be affected?

Postby McManusFan

I think you're worrying about nothing there LDS. The BBC can and does fulfill diversity obligations in snooker through it's presenting and coverage, whether that's including figures from the women's game, having ethnically diverse presenters, doing features on the disability game etc. Sure it could do more, and maybe it will have to in the future (I don't see how that's a bad thing), for instance having a more diverse commentary team. But the diversity of the sport is and always will be a WST/WPBSA responsibility, and that won't change whether it's shown on the BBC or Eurosport.

Re: Breaking - BBC Licence Fee axed 2027 TCs to be affected?

Postby The_Abbott

McManusFan wrote:I think you're worrying about nothing there LDS. The BBC can and does fulfill diversity obligations in snooker through it's presenting and coverage, whether that's including figures from the women's game, having ethnically diverse presenters, doing features on the disability game etc. Sure it could do more, and maybe it will have to in the future (I don't see how that's a bad thing), for instance having a more diverse commentary team. But the diversity of the sport is and always will be a WST/WPBSA responsibility, and that won't change whether it's shown on the BBC or Eurosport.


Women's football was nowhere 10 years ago but is now on the main channels after giving it more coverage and now has a following. You need the Reanne's etc.. to be getting further in tournaments to gain interest in the women's game. Based on this current structure with Reanne facing a top seed every week it won't happen. The Shootout is the best opportunity to showcase themselves and get far into a competition.

Re: Breaking - BBC Licence Fee axed 2027 TCs to be affected?

Postby LDS

Iranu wrote:Probably best I get don’t get into the rest of your post LDS <laugh> but why would snooker players have to adhere to inclusivity brackets? What other sports do that?


What other sports on the BBC?

I don't know, I don't watch the beeb enough to know what other sports they even have 'as their own' any more. :shrug:

Re: Breaking - BBC Licence Fee axed 2027 TCs to be affected?

Postby McManusFan

LDS wrote:
Iranu wrote:Probably best I get don’t get into the rest of your post LDS <laugh> but why would snooker players have to adhere to inclusivity brackets? What other sports do that?


What other sports on the BBC?

I don't know, I don't watch the beeb enough to know what other sports they even have 'as their own' any more. :shrug:


Also, you're acting as if diversity is something that is exclusively a concern of the BBC. Commercial channels and streaming services are trying to improve the diversity of their output too. There's a wider societal desire for better representation of minorities.

Re: Breaking - BBC Licence Fee axed 2027 TCs to be affected?

Postby McManusFan

LDS wrote:
McManusFan wrote:Sure it could do more


I'm not sure 'doing more' is something that has any long term effect. :shrug:


See The Abbott's post about women's sports.

And look at the effect Ding has had on snooker. His success has helped make snooker thrive internationally.