BBC America is not the BBC, as far as I know it is not funded by our TV license fees. (I should hope not!) http://www.bbcamerica.com/faq.jsp agrees that this is the rationale. The BBC is apparently 'not allowed to make a profit', whatever that means, however I understand it wholly owns BBC Worldwide , which does make a profit selling DVD's of Black Adder etc. to you lot. > -----Original Message----- > From: something-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > [mailto:something-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of > Christopher Hickman > Sent: 16 July 2007 15:16 > To: 'General Wunderland.Com Discussion List' > Subject: RE: [Something] Another question for the RabBrits... > > >> *would* if I didn't have TiVo > > > > Which you pay for, right? > > Gladly! I absolutely LOVE my TiVo. > > >>and as for "pledge wheedling," I have no idea what that means > > > > I seem to recall occasions when the American public channel (pbs?), > > which had most of the best TV (IMHO), would raise subscription money > > by interrupting the program until their viewer's pledges > reached some > > threshold. During this break, some PBS people would wheedle ('Please > > please please, pledge, then you can get back to Dr. Who/ Nova/ etc. > > sooner... And support all that other stuff you like to > watch ... ). Do > > they not do that any more? I've been here for nearly 10 years > > so things may have changed. > > Ah, I see. Yes, they do that for the public broadcasting > system. While > main commercial broadcasting stations are owned by > squillionaires who make > their squillions from ridiculous advertisement revenues, PBS > is financed by > viewers donations and charitable grants. They occasionally > have telethons > where they beg for money. It's guilt money, see? Obviously, > if you are > watching their program, you watch the channel. Can you watch > the channel in > good conscience without offering some kind of support? A lot > of people do. > I used to watch a lot of Black Adder and Monty Python as a > kid (I guess PBS > gets BBC leftovers), and I called in to donate $20, which is > significant for > a 12 year old. :) > > You know, I'm pretty sure BBC America has commercial breaks... > > _______________________________________________ > Something mailing list > Something@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > http://lists.looneylabs.com/mailman/listinfo/something >