[Gllug] Plug for Ogg Vorbis and OSS on BBC Click Online

[Chris Bell]

On Sun 31 Aug, Richard Turner wrote:
> The BBC seems to have a slightly disjointed but encouraging support for
> OSS - I was really impressed to see that they'd decided to publish the
> lectures as Ogg files instead of their customary Real Audio.  It's a
> shame that most of their site uses Real and Windows Media instead of
> more open standards.  I was using Windows when I downloaded those Oggs -
> there was a link on the same page to the appropriate plug-in for Media
> Player, so it's not as if using Free, open standards excludes those
> people who use Windows, MacOS, etc...
> 

   Unfortunately there is not "a BBC" at present, the previous
administration completely destroyed cooperation by splitting the corporation
into as many pieces ("business units") as possible, forcing them to compete
with each other for any work, while making it as difficult as possible to
use internal resources instead of hiring outside facilities. The government
of the time insisted on very expensive annual external audits, which just
resulted in surprise at the low overall running costs, but they still went
ahead with the changes.
   It used to be possible to obtain the best help and advice available just
by asking around, but trade secrets and other help and assistance became
only available if you would pay for them, right down to the cost of the last
paperclip. Programmes were purchased from anyone they could persuade to make
them, and shared funding was accepted, so they had less control over
content. Very similar programmes made by the same contractor even appeared
without warning on competing channels, sometimes only days before the BBC
"exclusive" version. The content may not have been identical, but it was
still obviously made at the same time.
   There were huge hidden costs, admin staff multiplied to cope with
arranging contracts, and second-guessing what should be written into them,
while the slightest change resulted in huge penalty charges. The current
management is fighting to get some sense back into the system, but it will
be a long battle.


-- 
Chris Bell


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