Why should you have to pay for the BBC?
Radical with Amol Rajan
BBC
4.5 • 919 Ratings
🗓️ 28 March 2024
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
BBC director general Tim Davie has outlined his vision for the future of the BBC. He fired the starting gun on a consultation on the future of the licence fee and spoke of how the BBC could increase its revenue through adverts. So this week Amol and Nick ask, why should you have to pay for the BBC?
They speak to Richard Sharp, the former chairman of the BBC, in his first interview with the BBC since leaving the corporation.
Youtuber and comedian, Max Fosh, explains why younger people are choosing to bypass the BBC and publish their content direct on platforms like YouTube and TikTok.
Plus historian and host of the You're Dead To Me podcast, Greg Jenner, drops in to give his moment of the week.
Episodes of The Today Podcast land every Thursday and watch out for bonus episodes. Subscribe on BBC Sounds to get Amol and Nick's take on the biggest stories of the week, with insights from behind the scenes at the UK's most influential radio news programme. If you would like a question answering, get in touch by sending us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 4346 or email us Today@bbc.co.uk
The Today Podcast is hosted by Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson, both presenters of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the UK’s most influential radio news programme. Amol was the BBC’s media editor for six years and is the former editor of the Independent, he’s also the current presenter of University Challenge. Nick has presented the Today programme since 2015, he was the BBC’s political editor for ten years before that and also previously worked as ITV’s political editor.
The senior producer is Tom Smithard, the producers are Hazel Morgan and Joe Wilkinson. The editor is Louisa Lewis. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths. Technical production from Michael Regaard and digital production from Elliot Ryder.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio Podcasts. |
| 0:04.8 | This podcast is brought to you by The Pips. |
| 0:07.3 | Am I all of you ever struggled to wake up really early in the morning? |
| 0:10.8 | Have I, Nick? |
| 0:11.4 | Of course, every day. |
| 0:12.9 | So have I, as a matter of fact. |
| 0:14.4 | It is tough, especially when you need to sit your alarm at 3.30am. |
| 0:19.0 | So tough. |
| 0:19.8 | But you know what, Nick, I don't struggle anymore. My new alarm clock, the Pips, plays a jarring mixture of Pips that are guaranteed to jolt you out of slumber when they go off in the middle of the night. You'll be wide awake in no time at all. Worried that it's 6am, you're late for your shift, it's enough to bring anyone out in a cold sweat. |
| 0:37.8 | It's so is, Nick. |
| 0:38.8 | And you know what? |
| 0:39.4 | You can feel the same way as a today presenter too, |
| 0:42.6 | just six easy payments of 1999 per month. |
| 0:48.8 | Oh my God, could that be the future of your favourite BBC podcast? |
| 0:53.6 | The thing that always made the BBC different, |
| 0:56.5 | different from the day it was created more than a century ago, |
| 0:59.9 | was that we had no ads. |
| 1:02.7 | Well, not necessarily for much longer, my friend, |
| 1:05.2 | because the BBC's boss, |
| 1:06.3 | the director-general Tim Davy is looking for new ways to raise money, |
| 1:10.7 | and he knows you probably don't want to pay anymore. |
| 1:14.2 | So one idea that's been floated is ads on podcasts. |
... |
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