"The BBC, on the other hand, could be supported by advertising and still exist."Yes, but they wouldn't be able to do anything that makes the BBC what it is. No BBC Four, no Radio 3, no (most of) Radio 4, no Proms, not much in the way of documentaries, much reduced regional news, no local radio, the list goes on.We have several large commercial broadcasters and none of them can touch the BBC in terms of depth of programming available. IMO Channel 4 (the other state owned broadcaster for those who didn't know, but is a commercial operation) is superior to the likes of ITV and Ch5, but nowhere near the BBC.