re: It doesn't go that way in Europe
In every European country, there's at least one (or more) public sponsored channel.
If the governments were to decide they didn't want to have that channel subsidized anymore (too expensive for tax payers), then everyone knows a huge number of cultural programs or programs meant for minorities would vanish to be replaced by the same kinds of programs found in the other commercial channels.
I'm sure the British citizens are very much aware of that too.
Example: every year, around this time, the french public channel France2 has a program meant for star gazers (La nuit des étoiles, which this year is about Mars).
No other french commercial channel is interested in that hobby.
Raoul