With the 3% BBC Licence Fee rise being announced, I just thought I’d take the opportunity to say how much I value the BBC, and that I think it’s astounding value for money. In my view, they should have received a more generous rise.

If I ever left the UK, it’s the BBC that I’d miss most (after my family and friends). In particular:

• BBC Four and Radio 4 – TV and radio that don’t pander to the lowest common denominator.
• Word class current affairs programmes such as newsnight, Dateline London, Head 2 Head, Straight Talk, This Week, and Working Lunch
• Top Gear – It’s a bit uneven at times, but when they get it right, it’s bloody great
• BBC HD – 80% of my justification for buying Sky HD
• CBBC and CBeebies – I don’t have children, but if I do have them, I want them to be able to watch TV, without having advertising being shoved in their face every 15 minutes
• Planet Earth – Looks wonderful in standard definition, and simply beautiful in HD
• MotoGP – I don’t own a motorbike; I’ve never ridden a motorbike; It doesn’t matter – this is the most exciting motorsport on TV, and the BBC do a fantastic job of covering it
• bbc.co.uk – In my view, this is a near as the UK gets to a national web site

p.s. Channel 4 are also great, and deserve much credit, but they just don’t have the strength in depth of the BBC