TellYouGov

The Beeb’s Alright

In light of the publication of its annual report, the BBC is sitting pretty in fifth place on our leaderboard, with a score of +81. The report shows that the BBC has cut overall spending on presenters, journalists and musicians, and is on target to reduce senior management pay by 25% by the end of 2011 (the figure currently stands at 18.3%).

Tygs include…

“+…we must protect this great institution”

“+ £40 a month for Sky? No thanks, I’ll have my BBC for £145 a year ta!”

“-…it was far better [in the past]”.

As part of our wider Sunday Times poll, YouGov spoke to 2,741 British adults on their opinions of the annual licence fee and the standard of television programmes on BBC channels. Your views are broadly in line with those of our nationally representative sample.

The majority of respondents (54%) believe that the standard of television programmes on BBC channels has worsened. This is compared to 19% who think that standards have improved. The majority of respondents in the North think that standards have worsened- 60% think this, compared to 45% of Londoners. Perhaps the move to the North of England will be good for the BBC.

We asked which, if any, television and radio channels should be closed in order to save money. BBC Radio 6 came top, with 37% of respondents thinking that it should be closed. The channel was followed by BBC 4 (29%), BBC Radio 3 (18%), BBC 3 (18%), BBC Radio 5 Live (16%), BBC Radio 4 (16%), CBeebies (13%), CBBC Channel (13%), BBC News 24 (12%), BBC Radio 1 (8%) and BBC Radio 2 (7%).

Interestingly, our results show that almost a third of the British public (31%) do not want the BBC to close any of these channels. So although 65% of British adults think that the licence fee is not good value for money, they are still rooting for it.  Judging by your tygs, so are you.

Keep tygging!

All the best,

The TellYouGov team

Login Problems

Hi Tyggers,

We understand that many of you are having trouble logging onto TellYouGov. We are terribly sorry for any inconvenience caused as a result of this technical issue - we have e-mailed our IT support team, and hope that the issue will be fixed very soon.

All the best,

The TellYouGov team

No more news (of the world).

It comes as no surprise that the News of the World (NOTW) is trending at the very top of our leaderboard. This comes at the end of a momentous week in news culminating in the paper being closed down. Find out more about the allegations and the fallout here.

One of the very few positive tygs on the subject compares the NOTW to Wikileaks, arguing that they both bring news to the public. A second positive tyg points out that the NOTW “…lives and breathes what the readership wants”.

The vast majority of tyggers are happy that the paper will no longer be in circulation after this weekend but some are questioning the motives behind the move. One tygger called the move a cynical and strategic attempt to save the reputation of News International. Another argues that the move by Murdoch took away the public’s right to protest, and so the public must make sure to exercise their rights by “…boycotting all other News International newspapers.” These include The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times.

What do you think about the news that the paper is to be no more after 168 years in circulation? Join in the conversation!

All the best,

The TellYouGov team

“Let them eat vegetables” – TellYouGov on vegetarians

Vegetarians have been taking a beating on TellYouGov in the past week. At the time of writing, the overall score for “Vegetarians” is -49, down 202 in the past 24 hours. The most common complaints against vegetarians seem to be that they are “self-righteous” and “hypocritical”.

Other comments include:

“Just a mildly tedious way of being a picky eater”

“Annoys me that when they come round for dinner I’m expected to cook a special meal for them, but if I go to their place they’re not decent enough to return the favour”

But the veggies have been biting back, arguing that there are environmental, ethical, economic and health reasons for choosing to be vegetarian. They say that a vegetarian diet “has less impact on the environment” and “makes you more creative and experimental in the kitchen”. 

Another dimension to the argument is the process of meat production. “It is not meat eating which is most problematic. It’s the processes and organizational structure of agri-corporations which is unethical. If hunting and fishing is an option, this is preferable,” said one user.

However, a recurring theme is that vegetarianism is a “personal choice” that does not hurt anybody else. In the words of one user, “Live and let live - if you want to eat veg why not - this is hardly a contentious issue.”

Elsewhere, the 5 most discussed topics in the past 24 hours are: Gay Pride, immigration, David Cameron, public sector strikes and Muslim faith schools.

Keep on tygging.

All the best,

The TellYouGov team

This week on TellYouGov

What have you been tygging week? A short selection on…*

…BBC

“Dotun Adebyu is the master on radio5 live.”

“Why does Auntie send reporters out to do pieces to camera eg Downing Street and Houses of Parliament. OK if doing an interview but…Waste of licence fee!”

 …Avocadoes

“They’re neither fruit nor vegetable-what are they and why do people buy them?”

…TellYouGov Survey

“Great way to waste time at work”

…Teachers

“Finding it difficult to sympathise with them. Know they work hard but how many weeks holiday a year12?&(nightmare to all working mothers).INSET DAYS!!)”

“You hate teachers because they have a few holidays? A lot of time off is spent marking, retraining and dealing with the stress from YOUR kids that you can’t bring up properly. And the salary is low.”

…Beans

“On toast spread with marmite. I actualy knew a bloke who only ate beans on toast and egg and wouldn’t eat anything else”

“Probably Could live on that”

…NHS

“I agree that the NHS services are not performing as well as they should, but the alternative is far more scary.”

“I love the NHS. Please save it at all costs!!)”

…The Conservatives

“Sweeping up Labour’s mess- again!!”

…Ed Miliband

“8 points ahead this week on YouGov.”

…Bees

“Bee nice to them.”

…Cheryl Cole

“She’s gonna fight fight fight fight fight for this job.”

…Cannabis

“Nobody has ever died from Cannabis overdose. It’s not addictive. It has great medical potential. It doesn’t lead to fights like booze. Why are we banning this???”

“Most laws are made for the purpose of protecting people. Ignore this if you wish but allowing free use of cannabis will encourage people who do not need it medically to abuse it. This is why we have doctors to help ill people.”

Why don’t you join in the debate? Get in touch and add to the debate by text, email, twitter, tellyougov.com or our new iPhone app!

P.s. last month’s winners have been picked and you have been emailed- please get back to us so that we can send you your cheque!

All the best,

The TellYouGov team

*All comments have been reproduced as they were posted

The Weekly Run Down

This week, TellYouGov users have been voicing their opinions on a number of topics including Burger King (negative) and Sex (overwhelmingly positive). Hope next week’s topics are as wide-ranging and thought provoking!

At the time of writing, the top 5 topics on this week’s leader board were…Conservatives, (David) Cameron, (Margaret) Thatcher, Private Education and Labour. Private Education was the only one of these topics to score a positive rating, with most Tyggers arguing that people should be able to use their hard earned money as they wish and that the state run education system was not up to scratch. What do you think?

The most recent comment posted at 12.12pm today was on the subject of care homes and argued that we ‘Need to improve regulation-the current regulator has proven they’re not fit for purpose’.

Why don’t you join in the debate? Get in touch and add to the debate by text, email, twitter, tellyougov.com or our new iPhone app.

P.s. This months prize winners to be announced next week so keep Tygging!

All the best

The TellYouGov team

Flagging Inappropriate Content

It has come to our attention that a small minority of users have been abusing the TellYouGov platform by making comments that do not comply with the house rules on offensive or inciting content. As we have stressed before, we aim to make TellYouGov as open a forum for comment as possible, but if any comments do go beyond the line they will be removed.

We are currently working on a flag function so users can help our team of moderators by identifying possible abuses. However, while this is in progress users can still get in touch with us via the comment form and flag up any comment they feel to be offensive. Simply include the data and time of the comment and the topic and we will address it asap.

Thanks for all your support.

The TellYouGov Team

2012 Olympics – disaster year or national pride?

With Olympic tickets going on sale this week TellYouGov users have been making their views heard and the Olympics continues to demonstrate its ability to divide opinion.

The majority of people have been expressing negative opinions with the overall ‘score’ for ‘2012 Olympics’ registering a drop of 62 in its score over the past 48 hours. Concerns have centred on the cost of hosting the games in the UK, with one user commenting ‘What the bankers missed in bankrupting the country, the Olympics will certainly finish the job’, as well as the cost of tickets.

A number of people have also been questioning the UK’s ability to actually host the games with one user commenting ‘can’t even get the time right … god help us’ in reference to the countdown clock disater in Trafalgar Square!

However, another user’s post, that ‘Most countries (would be) proud to hold (the Olympics) in their country. Not sad old Britain-When did we stop taking a pride in our country and its many achievements?’ demonstrates a strong reaction to the doom and gloom and highlights the views of many other TellYouGov users who are excited and proud about the opportunity the UK has to host this international event.

Which side do you fall on-expensive flop or unified success? Get in touch and add to the debate by text, email, twitter, tellyougov.com or our new iPhone app!

All the best

The TellYouGov team

New Website Features

Our brand new About and FAQs sections are now live. Check them out through the links at the top and side of the screen.

We hope we’ve covered off most issues about who we are and what we do but if you have any further questions then feel free to get in touch using the contact us link at the bottom of the page.

All the best

The TellYouGov team

X Factor, the Student Protests and large corporations and tax - What you’ve been saying…

The last 48 hours on TellYouGov has seen a hive of activity about the X Factor as the show reached its climax on Sunday night with the victory of last male standing Matt Cardle.

Ranking number 2 on the leaderboard behind only long-standing leaderboard stalwart Nick Clegg, the X Factor was clearly factoring highly amongst the nations opinions-and with its ability to polarise popular opinion its clear why its appeal has been so enduring.

In these last 48hrs alone We’ve seen a significant drop in score of -83 with the most common complaints centering on the profit driven nature of the show, the quality of the performances and whether it’s fixed.

It’s not been short of supporters though- ’Best show ever’, ‘amazing standard’ and ‘I love to hate it’ demonstrating the X Factor still has it as it pulls in record audiences.

Nick Clegg, David Cameron and the Liberal Democrats have all had a hard time of it on the TellYouGov leaderboard over the week as the government voted through its controversial measures on university funding. Cameron’s score fell 48, the Lib Dem’s 61 and Clegg a whopping 251 as protest rose to levels unprecedented in years.

That being said, though many Tyggers clearly felt strongly about the government measures and supported opposition, there has equally been considerable backlash on TellYouGov against the Student Protests with plenty of venom being vented at the levels of violence and destruction as the Student Protests score dropped to below -350 on Friday and Saturday. Though there was plenty of support for the principle of protest it is clear the students will have to be careful in future not to alienate their fellow citizens.

Boots, Vodafone and TopShop have all come under negative scrutiny on TellYouGov this week as popular opinion cystalises against alleged tax evasion at a time when all are feeling the bite of cuts and thrift.

The TellYouGov topic pages for Boots and Vodafone have come under particular fire as Tyggers make it clear that firms should pay up or lose the public’s good will and custom! We should see shortly how companies react to this bad press.

That’s it for this week. Thanks for all your comments-they are being read and heeded! Next update in a week’s time.

 The TellYouGov team