• GeneralInterest@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    True, they don’t show commercial adverts in the UK, but they do to other countries. People outside the UK can access the BBC website but they’ll see adverts on there, and apparently BBC America (shown in the US) has commercial adverts

    And Channel 4 of course does show commercial adverts in the UK, but I think they still make some decent content, and I don’t think they’re on the verge of self-destruction

    Maybe the real problem is when an entity is chasing profits, because Channel 4 isn’t a normal for-profit business, since they’re owned by the government, and I think they have to abide by some rules

    • Hamartia@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Well the distinction here is that TV license paying citizens of the UK don’t get the ads.

      • GeneralInterest@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        But then you could look at Channel 4, which does show ads to UK people, but I think Channel 4 is still okay and I don’t think it has been ruined by ads. So maybe a profit motive is what causes enshittification, rather than just ads. I definitely hate ads but maybe ads alone don’t destroy platforms.

        • Hamartia@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          You won’t get any disagreement from me on the corrosive effects of advertising.

          I do think that Channel 4 used to regularly produce greater content than it can now. But that probably is more to do with advertising revenue being leeched away to online platforms and the growth of its direct competitors.

          • GeneralInterest@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            Interesting, maybe the content has changed, I probably don’t watch enough TV to have noticed. But I think Channel 4 news is pretty good, and I liked their Paralympics coverage.

            • Hamartia@lemmy.world
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              1 month ago

              They’ve still got a good reputation for news. So good that after a few combative interviews with Tory MPs (back when they were in power a few years ago) the Culture Secretary wanted to sell the channel off.

              Don’t get me wrong they can still produce the occasional good comedy or documentary but they used to do so consistently.

              • GeneralInterest@lemmy.world
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                1 month ago

                True, I remember the government trying to sell off Channel 4. Anyway I guess my point was that ads don’t necessarily ruin a platform if the platform has a decent purpose other than just profit… although I definitely do hate seeing any ads, even on Channel 4 or anything else.