Changes to live BBC radio streams

[Tim Curtis]

It seems like classic monopoly behavior. In the absence of competition, monopolies always move to exert total control to maximize share holder and executive profit. They typically put out very clever PR that thoroughly obscures the truth. It happens all the time here in the US. It's a constant battle to maintain competitive markets.

Except the BBC is neither a monopoly, nor profit making.  They are funded through, what is to all intents and purposes, taxation and are hemmed about with all sorts of rules to ensure they do nothing anti-competitive.  Part of those rules is to ensure that they have control over where their content is consumed and that's what's driving these changes.

There is a for profit called BBC Worldwide, which is a proper commercial organisation, but these streams are not from there.

Consider that if the BBC is not a monopoly there would exist comparable competition and viable user choice, and non-profits rake in tons of cash same as for-profit organizations, they essentially only differ in how they are funded.

I suppose my perspective could be the result of the crazy scheme used in the US to provide public service broadcasting. It involves 3 non-profit organizations including minimally tax funded CPB and mostly listner-funded PBS and NPR stations. There are 100's of PBS TV stations and 1000's of NPR radio stations. NPR radio stations typically offer free globally accessible radio streams. PBS TV stations have geo-restrictions on what can be viewed globally or live,  but I think anything on http://pbs.org that can be viewed is free and without any log in or account required.

Sounds a lot like the moOde funding model ;-)