Historically the BBC has a duty to provide universal coverage to
licence fee payers so why should viewers of Alba and S4C receive
special treatment?
Scott wrote:
Historically the BBC has a duty to provide universal coverage to
licence fee payers so why should viewers of Alba and S4C receive
special treatment?
I doubt there's much outrage about that ... If the athletes can't be bothered to compete, It's unsurprising that viewers can't be bothered to watch.
There is
no coverage (except perhaps during news broadcasts) on the main BBC
channels with TV rights held by TNT Sports and HBO MAX.
I suspect that the real level of interest in atletics is vastly overstated
On 26/07/2026 22:06, Scott wrote:
There is
no coverage (except perhaps during news broadcasts) on the main BBC
channels with TV rights held by TNT Sports and HBO MAX.
Don't forget there are highlights on CH5
The listings indicate that ALBA has subtitles but not whether these are Gaelic or English?
Haven't the camerapersons been told to limit revealing images so that
will lose part of the audience.-a :-)
On 27/07/2026 08:41, JMB99 wrote:
On 26/07/2026 22:06, Scott wrote:I might have a look at ALBA with subtitles on to find out, but if it is anything like the football coverage where presenters wittering on about
There is
no coverage (except perhaps during news broadcasts) on the main BBC
channels with TV rights held by TNT Sports and HBO MAX.
Don't forget there are highlights on CH5
The listings indicate that ALBA has subtitles but not whether these
are Gaelic or English?
what happened take about as long as the match itself, I will probably
just stick to watching the highlights on CH5.
On 26/07/2026 22:06, Scott wrote:
There is
no coverage (except perhaps during news broadcasts) on the main BBC
channels with TV rights held by TNT Sports and HBO MAX.
Don't forget there are highlights on CH5
The listings indicate that ALBA has subtitles but not whether these are >Gaelic or English?
But even with highlights you will have more of the presenters or pundits rather than the real event. It's a cheap way of filling an hour or two
of TV.
Haven't the camerapersons been told to limit revealing images so that
will lose part of the audience.-a :-)
yes - apparently they have agreed on some guidelines (whatever that means)
The option of wearing some proper shorts appears not to have been considered, although I belive that in some sports its not really an
option - maybe beach volleyball ?
I am still curious why the Welsh and Gaelic sound tracks could not
have been added to the TNT Sports / HBO MAX coverage so viewers of
these services would have to pay the subscription like the rest of us.
On 27/07/2026 15:50, Scott wrote:
I am still curious why the Welsh and Gaelic sound tracks could not
have been added to the TNT Sports / HBO MAX coverage so viewers of
these services would have to pay the subscription like the rest of us.
I had a quick look at Alba, did not see any subtitles at all?
I suppose it is all politics but ALBA must be heavily subsidised by all >viewers so you might have thought they should have been made accessible
to everyone.
Won't be watching any more of the Commonwealth Games.
Is it UK politics? I thought it was some licensing condition imposed
on TNT Sports and HBO MAX designed to protect minority languages.
On 27/07/2026 19:37, Scott wrote:
Is it UK politics? I thought it was some licensing condition imposed
on TNT Sports and HBO MAX designed to protect minority languages.
So it is politics then?
On Tue, 28 Jul 2026 12:02:39 +0100, JMB99 <mb@nospam.net> wrote:
On 27/07/2026 19:37, Scott wrote:
Is it UK politics? I thought it was some licensing condition imposed
on TNT Sports and HBO MAX designed to protect minority languages.
So it is politics then?
Yes politics, but I think it is an international agreement - not
uniquely UK.
Scott <newsgroups@gefion.myzen.co.uk> wrote:
On Tue, 28 Jul 2026 12:02:39 +0100, JMB99 <mb@nospam.net> wrote:
On 27/07/2026 19:37, Scott wrote:Yes politics, but I think it is an international agreement - not
Is it UK politics? I thought it was some licensing condition imposed
on TNT Sports and HBO MAX designed to protect minority languages.
So it is politics then?
uniquely UK.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg8pg8dv9go
"These deals happened because TV rights packages are available to cover many >indigenous languages across Commonwealth countries - not just the main >language.
The BBC was outbid for live English language rights in the UK by
subscription service TNT. Channel 5 later secured a package of two hours of >daily recorded highlights."
ie there were three packages available for UK live broadcast rights:
UK - English
UK - Welsh
UK - Gaelic
and TNT won the bidding for English, S4C for Welsh and BBC Alba for Gaelic.
Had the BBC had more money they could have bid more, but they don't.
As to why not supply the Welsh or Gaelic broadcasts on TNT, well S4C and
Alba are paying for them so they get exclusivity, just like TNT are paying >for exclusivity for English.
So I repeat my question: WTF are Gaelic and Welsh speakers getting a
better deal than the rest of us when the BBC is supposed to be a
universal service with a common licence fee?
On 28/07/2026 17:44, Scott wrote:
So I repeat my question: WTF are Gaelic and Welsh speakers getting a
better deal than the rest of us when the BBC is supposed to be a
universal service with a common licence fee?
So you believe that the regional programmes should be funded solely by >licence money raised in that region?
On 28 Jul 2026 17:36:00 +0100 (BST), Theo
<theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
Scott <newsgroups@gefion.myzen.co.uk> wrote:
On Tue, 28 Jul 2026 12:02:39 +0100, JMB99 <mb@nospam.net> wrote:
On 27/07/2026 19:37, Scott wrote:Yes politics, but I think it is an international agreement - not
Is it UK politics? I thought it was some licensing condition imposed
on TNT Sports and HBO MAX designed to protect minority languages.
So it is politics then?
uniquely UK.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg8pg8dv9go
"These deals happened because TV rights packages are available to cover many >indigenous languages across Commonwealth countries - not just the main >language.
The BBC was outbid for live English language rights in the UK by >subscription service TNT. Channel 5 later secured a package of two hours of >daily recorded highlights."
ie there were three packages available for UK live broadcast rights:
UK - English
UK - Welsh
UK - Gaelic
and TNT won the bidding for English, S4C for Welsh and BBC Alba for Gaelic.
Had the BBC had more money they could have bid more, but they don't.
As to why not supply the Welsh or Gaelic broadcasts on TNT, well S4C and >Alba are paying for them so they get exclusivity, just like TNT are paying >for exclusivity for English.
So I repeat my question: WTF are Gaelic and Welsh speakers getting a
better deal than the rest of us when the BBC is supposed to be a
universal service with a common licence fee?
Scott <newsgroups@gefion.myzen.co.uk> wrote:
On 28 Jul 2026 17:36:00 +0100 (BST), Theo
<theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
Scott <newsgroups@gefion.myzen.co.uk> wrote:So I repeat my question: WTF are Gaelic and Welsh speakers getting a
On Tue, 28 Jul 2026 12:02:39 +0100, JMB99 <mb@nospam.net> wrote:
On 27/07/2026 19:37, Scott wrote:Yes politics, but I think it is an international agreement - not
Is it UK politics? I thought it was some licensing condition imposed >> >> >> on TNT Sports and HBO MAX designed to protect minority languages.
So it is politics then?
uniquely UK.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg8pg8dv9go
"These deals happened because TV rights packages are available to cover many
indigenous languages across Commonwealth countries - not just the main
language.
The BBC was outbid for live English language rights in the UK by
subscription service TNT. Channel 5 later secured a package of two hours of
daily recorded highlights."
ie there were three packages available for UK live broadcast rights:
UK - English
UK - Welsh
UK - Gaelic
and TNT won the bidding for English, S4C for Welsh and BBC Alba for Gaelic. >> >
Had the BBC had more money they could have bid more, but they don't.
As to why not supply the Welsh or Gaelic broadcasts on TNT, well S4C and
Alba are paying for them so they get exclusivity, just like TNT are paying >> >for exclusivity for English.
better deal than the rest of us when the BBC is supposed to be a
universal service with a common licence fee?
Because the prices were likely something like this:
UK - English: $millions
UK - Welsh: $thousands
UK - Gaelic: $thousands
Because there was a lot of competition for the English rights, there were >lots of bids and the price went high. There was much less (possibly zero) >competition for the Welsh and Gaelic rights so they could be bought for >cheap. (Noting the Welsh rights were bought by S4C, not BBC Cymru)
The BBC doesn't have unlimited budgets, so it has to spend them wisely. >Splashing the cash around to compete with commercial bidders with much
deeper pockets is not good use of the licence fee (which is declining, in >terms of people paying it), when there are plenty of other things that need >to be paid using it.
On 28 Jul 2026 22:39:54 +0100 (BST), Theo
<theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
Because the prices were likely something like this:
UK - English: $millions
UK - Welsh: $thousands
UK - Gaelic: $thousands
Because there was a lot of competition for the English rights, there were >lots of bids and the price went high. There was much less (possibly zero) >competition for the Welsh and Gaelic rights so they could be bought for >cheap. (Noting the Welsh rights were bought by S4C, not BBC Cymru)
The BBC doesn't have unlimited budgets, so it has to spend them wisely. >Splashing the cash around to compete with commercial bidders with much >deeper pockets is not good use of the licence fee (which is declining, in >terms of people paying it), when there are plenty of other things that need >to be paid using it.
What would happen to your sums if you divided the numbers by the
populations concerned to provide a cost per household reflecting the
fact that the licence fee is levied on a household basis?
Scott <newsgroups@gefion.myzen.co.uk> wrote:
On 28 Jul 2026 22:39:54 +0100 (BST), Theo
<theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
What would happen to your sums if you divided the numbers by the
Because the prices were likely something like this:
UK - English: $millions
UK - Welsh: $thousands
UK - Gaelic: $thousands
Because there was a lot of competition for the English rights, there were >> >lots of bids and the price went high. There was much less (possibly zero) >> >competition for the Welsh and Gaelic rights so they could be bought for
cheap. (Noting the Welsh rights were bought by S4C, not BBC Cymru)
The BBC doesn't have unlimited budgets, so it has to spend them wisely.
Splashing the cash around to compete with commercial bidders with much
deeper pockets is not good use of the licence fee (which is declining, in >> >terms of people paying it), when there are plenty of other things that need >> >to be paid using it.
populations concerned to provide a cost per household reflecting the
fact that the licence fee is levied on a household basis?
Supposedly the BBC bid u5m, after bidding u10m in 2022.
(source: search preview of this article, which is paywalled: >https://www.thetimes.com/sport/athletics/article/commonwealth-games-puts-cash-first-in-snubbing-bbc-for-tnt-sports-deal-df7z58v5g
)
There are 24 million licences and the full price is u180 each.
That makes the gross budget (before collection costs, discounts, etc)
u4320m.
Assuming they all speak English, that means 2022 cost 0.23% of the
licence fee.
The BBC didn't win the Welsh auction.
We don't know what the bid for Gaelic was, so it's hard to compare.
We also don't know what grants the BBC might have got from eg the Scottish >Government to support Gaelic programming.
There are 24 million licences and the full price is -u180 each.
That makes the gross budget (before collection costs, discounts, etc) -u4320m.
Assuming they all speak English, that means 2022 cost 0.23% of the
licence fee.
On 29/07/2026 18:21, Theo wrote:
There are 24 million licences and the full price is u180 each.
That makes the gross budget (before collection costs, discounts, etc)
u4320m.
Assuming they all speak English, that means 2022 cost 0.23% of the
licence fee.
Arguments like that always seem to assume that the minority group only
watch Welsh or Gaelic programming i.e. never watch or listen to any of
the rest of the BBC's output so do not have to contribute towards those >costs.
My argument purely and simply is that universality comes first. Why
should one group benefit from free coverage and another group not? We
all pay the same licence fee.
On Thu, 30 Jul 2026 07:33:28 +0100, JMB99 <mb@nospam.net> wrote:
On 29/07/2026 18:21, Theo wrote:My argument purely and simply is that universality comes first. Why
There are 24 million licences and the full price is -u180 each.
That makes the gross budget (before collection costs, discounts, etc)
-u4320m.
Assuming they all speak English, that means 2022 cost 0.23% of the
licence fee.
Arguments like that always seem to assume that the minority group only
watch Welsh or Gaelic programming i.e. never watch or listen to any of
the rest of the BBC's output so do not have to contribute towards those
costs.
should one group benefit from free coverage and another group not? We
all pay the same licence fee.
On 29/07/2026 18:21, Theo wrote:
There are 24 million licences and the full price is -u180 each.
That makes the gross budget (before collection costs, discounts, etc) -u4320m.
Assuming they all speak English, that means 2022 cost 0.23% of the
licence fee.
Arguments like that always seem to assume that the minority group only
watch Welsh or Gaelic programming i.e. never watch or listen to any of
the rest of the BBC's output so do not have to contribute towards those costs.
On 30/07/2026 09:56, Scott wrote:
My argument purely and simply is that universality comes first. Why
should one group benefit from free coverage and another group not? We
all pay the same licence fee.
So in the interests of universality I should be able to watch BBC North >West?
Scott <newsgroups@gefion.myzen.co.uk> wrote:
On Thu, 30 Jul 2026 07:33:28 +0100, JMB99 <mb@nospam.net> wrote:Maybe itAs just a backdoor method of getting FTA coverage. CanAt afford it >for the mainstream coverage but low bid costs for this route.
On 29/07/2026 18:21, Theo wrote:My argument purely and simply is that universality comes first. Why
There are 24 million licences and the full price is u180 each.
That makes the gross budget (before collection costs, discounts, etc)
u4320m.
Assuming they all speak English, that means 2022 cost 0.23% of the
licence fee.
Arguments like that always seem to assume that the minority group only
watch Welsh or Gaelic programming i.e. never watch or listen to any of
the rest of the BBC's output so do not have to contribute towards those >>> costs.
should one group benefit from free coverage and another group not? We
all pay the same licence fee.
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