Snoopy:

>  its outdated in this day and age the BBC should do what the other stations do and allow
>  adverts to make there money

It sounds to me like the BBC operates out of public money and for that reason it is free of commercial advertising.  Canada and the US see a lot of BBC programs through both local stations as well as BBC international broadcasts such as the BBC World Service.  Here in Canada we get some of the best BBC programming and those Canadians who watch BBC shows have a very high opinion of them.  The BBC has a reputation for quality, artistry and entertainment.

In Canada we have the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) which initally was modelled after the BBC.  The CBC allows commercial advertising and viewership has reduced over the years as more and more advertising intruded into the programming.  I think the CBC does not have the capital to compete with private broadcasters, so it relies in a mix of government funding and advertising revenue.  In terms of programming quality the CBC suffers from not enough funding for production.  Low funding means lower prodcution values and for that reason it is difficult for them to attract more viewers.

In the United States there is the Public Broadcasting System (PBS).  It broadcasts very high quality television without commercial advertising.  They operate with a mixture of government funding, donations from private foundations and donations from viewers.  While they struggle to maintain the capital needed to operate, they broadcast television programs produced in the US, the UK, Australia, Canada and other countries around the world.  Of the different public systems, I will say that the American PBS is the best although now Canada has a similar channel called the Knowledge Network, which offers similar programming under a similar model.

All I will say is that if BBC programming came full of adverts, then people would probably lose interest soon.  BBC shows are produced and meant to be seen without adverts.  It is different from commercial broadcasters who write scripts in 7-8 minute segments with 2-4 minutes of adverts in between.  If the BBC were to commercialize itself, then its shows would change to a model similar to that of commercial television.  I think the high quality of programming that the BBC is reputed for would go down the drain.