BBC's new boss threatens to axe Left-wing comedy shows

[T_i_B]

So much that's badly wrong with this claptrap it's difficult to know where to start. Not least of which is that right wing comedians like Jim Davidson invariably fail to actually be funny.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/31/exclusive-bbcs-new-boss-threatens-axe-left-wing-comedy-shows/

The BBC’s new director-general is planning to tackle perceived Left-wing bias in the corporation's comedy shows, The Telegraph can disclose.

Tim Davie believes the BBC’s comedy output is seen as too one-sided and needs a radical overhaul in the coming months, senior sources revealed.

In his first speech as director general on Thursday, Mr Davie will set out plans to restore “trust and confidence” in the BBC by better reflecting all sides of the political divide. It is expected that some of the worst-offending shows will be taken off the schedules in the longer term, senior sources said.

As well as cancelling shows altogether, BBC programme makers will be expected to find a better balance of satirical targets rather than constantly aiming jokes at the Tories. Meanwhile, comedy panel shows will be told to book guests with a wider range of views on issues like Brexit, it is understood. There is also concern that too many BBC comedy shows promote a “metropolitan” London-centric and Left-wing view of the world.

[Karadeniz]

1. This is how it starts.

[soothsayer]

2. Which shows? Now I want to see them

[CrispyQ]

3. And when they lose advertisers because right wingers just aren't funny, then what?

At what point do the capitalists stand up & declare that fascism is bad for business? Of course, that would mean we'd have to have a true capitalistic system, not this perversion of one, where the profits are privatized but we all share in the risk. The fed props up the market and that's not socialism, but giving the family down the street food stamps is. What a mean, fucked up society we've created.

[T_i_B]

4. The BBC doesn't have advertisers

The BBC is state owned and it's funded by the TV Licence. As state owned "neutral" media the BBC is loathed by Conservatives. It often produces programmes of significantly higher quality than it's commercial rivals. And this in turn makes people like Rupert Murdoch very unhappy.

If they purge all the comedy talent in favour of unfunny hacks like Lee Hurst then the BBC's commercial rivals will no doubt sign up the funny comics and take those comic's audience with them. Idiotic strategy like this will run the BBC into the ground.

[EarlG]

6. "Idiotic strategy like this will run the BBC into the ground."

I'm guessing this is the real goal of the new DG, am I right?

[T_i_B]

11. Difficult to avoid that suspicion

Expect some reforms to the TV licence that manages to cause more harm than good.

[Soph0571]

5. Yeah cause the right wing is known for its funny bone...

The culture wars are about to go America stylee. I hate these fuckers with a passion

[abqtommy]

7. Add Davie to the long list of politicos in The U.K. that should be given residence in The Tower...

[Borderer]

8. This is part of a wider Conservative strategy to undermine the BBC

The right-wing press hates the BBC not only for being a publicly-funded competitor but also for being a yardstick for quality which puts them to shame. The Conservative Party hates the BBC for providing an alternative to the partisan right-wing outlets it would rather we relied on for all our news. The fact that it has high standards, tries not to offend people unnecessarily and doesn't peddle the lies they would like it to is what makes it "left wing" in their imaginations.

Currently there is much right-wing outrage as the BBC has announced that it will only feature orchestral versions of the traditional "Rule Britannia" and "Land of Hope and Glory" at the Last Night of the Proms performance, lest anyone somehow be offended by lyrics calling on God to expand the Empire or emphasising that "Britons never shall be slaves" written at a time when we were still selling them. Naturally the right-wing sees nothing in the least bit offensive about such lyrics, and views this decision as further evidence of the BBC being run by woke, unpatriotic Marxists.

They would really like to get rid of the BBC altogether if possible, but it is very popular with the electorate so sabotaging it is the best they can do in the short term. Preventing it from airing good quality comedy is just one strand of this, and they are always looking for creative new ways to undermine its funding. They are soon expected to announce that non-payment of the license fee (which everyone with a TV or streaming is required to pay to fund the BBC) will be decriminalised, meaning that people who don't pay would no longer be subject to fines or criminal records and the BBC would have to try to pursue them in the small-claims courts. Naturally this would make non-payment effectively risk-free whilst trying to recover large numbers of small amounts would be uneconomic for the BBC. Once they have caused the income stream to collapse the Tories will feign surprise and announce the need for drastic cuts to balance the budget. The BBC News website is a particular target as the right-wing press really hates there being a higher-quality free-to-view alternative to their own paywall-protected propaganda sites. The Conservatives openly talk about this as a punishment for the BBC for its supposed left-wing bias.

[LeftishBrit]

9. He wants to no-platform them?

A good example of cancel culture!

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. Davie was deputy chairman of the Hammersmith and Fulham Conservative party in the 1990s

Appointed UK Marketing Manager for PepsiCo in 1993, Davie was subsequently promoted to Vice-President, Marketing, Europe and Sub-Sahara Africa, holding several similar appointments, including in the United States, before taking up the Vice-President for Marketing and Franchise post.[8]

Davie stood as a councillor for the Conservative Party in Hammersmith in 1993 and 1994[9] and was deputy chairman of the Hammersmith and Fulham Conservative party in the 1990s.[10][11]

Davie joined the BBC as Director of Marketing, Communications and Audiences in April 2005,[12] succeeding Andy Duncan.[13] He was Director-General Mark Thompson's first senior external appointment.

In June 2008, it was announced that he was replacing Jenny Abramsky, who served at the BBC for 39 years before leaving to chair the Heritage Lottery Fund. Appointed Director of Audio & Music, he sat on the BBC's Executive Board with overall responsibility for all of the BBC's national radio networks and the corporation's music output across all media. This included BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4; as well as the BBC digital radio stations BBC Asian Network, BBC Radio 1Xtra, BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC 7; the three BBC Orchestras based in England; and The Proms. During this time he was involved in abandoned plans to close down Radio 6 Music and the Asian Network.[13] In July 2009 he was on The Guardian's list of the 100 most influential people in the media.[14]

Davie took over as acting Director-General on 11 November 2012 following the resignation of George Entwistle in the wake of the Newsnight broadcast which did not name any individual but which led to Internet speculation which incorrectly identified Conservative Lord McAlpine in the North Wales child abuse case.[15] He became chief executive officer of BBC Worldwide following the appointment of Tony Hall. BBC Worldwide merged with the TV-making arm of the BBC, BBC Studios, in April 2018 and Davie served as both the Chief Executive of BBC Studios and a Director globally.[16]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Davie

So he's been a Tory a lot longer than in the media business. And he came in via "marketing", rather than making programmes, whether on the creative or news side. He then took over radio and all music, despite having no background in either (degree in English, FWIW). Then took over production, again, with no background apart from his time heading Audio and Music.

Seems to me he was an attempt to even up Tory representation in senior BBC jobs, and promoted to keep that up. Now he wants to dumb down comedy because they can't find funny Tories, and Labour isn't doing enough stupid things for satire to aim at.