Can you just use a vpn to listen to the radio? I listen to bbc every morning before work, I will not pay though
this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2025
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Geez, I feel slightly to blame for checking bbc.com a couple times a day and rejecting the cookies
A bizarre decision.
Every paywalled news site is a news site I don't read.
I mean, nobody likes adverts, but I think even fewer people like paying.
I don't like having to have one more login for something, it's more about that then the money even.
The UK obviously is no longer a superpower. But the BBC is the cornerstone of the UKs modern global soft power projection. Broadcasting it free projects the UK government’s voice around the world directly into homes, influencing world policy to their liking.
Putting a paywall in the US sends a message that they feel it is not needed or not effective in the US market.
It also mirrors what paid sport broadcasting in the UK has done. Paywall it for short term gain, at the expense of long term viewership growth. The UK is struggling.
Paywall it for short term gain, at the expense of long term viewership growth.
Making a company worse for increased short term revenue, at the cost of customer retention, product quality, etc. causing increased turnover which further compounds all the other steps. Is a common issue among all modern companies.
In short, there was a shift in MBA education a while back that includes a bunch of lies-by-omission and misrepresented data. Meaning that the only thing on their mind when they graduate, is to please investors at any all costs, including company longevity.
As a Canadian, I'd be upset if we got paywalled. The BBC is where I go to for trusted news on international concerns.
Understandable, but I'd still be upset.
Could just VPN into the UK. Proton offers a free, no login required, VPN tier with several end points in the UK
Makes sense, we pay our licence fee for our public service, why should people abroad get for free what we have to pay for?
I was happy with the current arrangement of adverts supporting the service use abroad, but if it has to migrate to a subscription model to meet modern demands then that's the way it is.
I wouldn't go to another country and ask them to make one of their government's national public services free for me to use, after all.
BBC shows ads on some foreign services, but not in the UK
Nah mate. Information is free the second it leaves its source. Any attempt to curtail it after then is just a cunt's trick.
I imagine you wouldn't be saying this if it was your work being used.
If you went through the painstaking effort or writing a book or something, I imagine you'd be pretty unhappy if nobody wanted to reimburse you, and you were called a cunt for wanting to be paid for your labour.
I work for a living, so I'm used to my work being exploited as a matter of course.
That's exactly my point.
Presumably you're paid for the work you do, and you shouldn't have to do it for free, yes?
Yes. But I'm not paid continuously for the work I've done in the past, and I'm not paid the actual value of my work.
Should we still be paying Homer for his incredible work on the Iliad, do you think?
The world service was always free because it’s a propaganda platform that promotes Britain and British values abroad. I guess they are content just to push Reform propaganda to a domestic audience from now on.
Guess I’ll be using VPN
Given that I'm stateside, this makes me sad. But given that they are funded by UK taxpayers, this is probably the right move.
Of course, that's just one less outlet for USA citizens to get accurate journalism (better than here, anyway) about what's happening in our country. Hope Al Jazeera doesn't follow suit.
Although, you could also argue that those taxes pay for informing and influencing citizens of foreign nations.
America’s media ecosystem is dominated by Fox, Sinclair, and other state party media players. There is a strategic benefit to having a media outlet that doesn’t run through the state media filter.
This is a very important point. There is a reason there is a "cultural victory" in the Civilization games and the UK is definitely ceding cultural influence with this move.
To such an extent that I wonder if there is back-channel influence flowing out of the US pushing for this...
Or the reason why the US has had Radio Free Europe for decades.
I believe all such programs were defunded a few months ago...
Their grants were cut by a Trump EO, and they’re suing to have them reinstated. They’re very much still around.
Glad they're still there - hope they're not working without pay anytime soon.
Guess the Tankies are loving Trump for that one.
Seems fair enough, these things cost money and the #BBC is in a race to diversify it's income in preparation for the license fee going away. The dynamic description sounds like they want to preserve the casual visitors experience of an open site.
I get ads on my BBC podcasts when I'm abroad. I assume that's all part of it.
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