TV licence.

[PJ87]

I got as far as being interviewed by the Beeb... But, never got the gig... Presumably because I wasn't 'leftie' enough ...

To be fair the public sector has proven how efficient it is when funded and supported (covid jabs) rather than private companies doing for profit

 

[Swinglowandslow]

As I said above, if the licence fee was removed the government would likely introduce another form of taxation on TV.

The licence fee has never been a tax. It has always been a way of funding the BBC. When it was the only tv channel and adverts weren't allowed there had to be a means of funding it that was fair. If you had a telly, no good relying on people's good will.
Because of the way it was broadcast, and it being the only channel, anyone with a telly could watch ( whether they voluntarily paid or not), and if they watched TV they had to be watching BBC. So the rule became all who had a telly capable of receiving the signal had to pay.
That was fair enough, because all who could watch , without being able to verify if they did or did not, should pay to avoid the freeloaders.

Now, things are different.There is a meaningful choice of receiving programmes on the tv.
You can choose to watch channels funded by people who pay subscription. (a)
You can choose to watch channels funded by people who pay ( indirectly) by adverts.(b)

You can choose not to pay for a or b. Those TV channel owners do not prosecute you if you do not pay.
But you cannot choose not to pay for BBC channels, without being prosecuted.
That is not fair.
The BBC could offer their channels by subscription or adverts, and people could choose to watch/pay .
But ,no, the BBC want to make you pay whether or not you choose to watch.

In this day and age, that is wrong.

 

[spongebob59]

It's wrong that I pay to watch live sport via BT or Sky but still would be against BBC rules unless I pay them too ??

 

[Kellfire]

The licence fee has never been a tax. It has always been a way of funding the BBC. When it was the only tv channel and adverts weren't allowed there had to be a means of funding it that was fair. If you had a telly, no good relying on people's good will.
Because of the way it was broadcast, and it being the only channel, anyone with a telly could watch ( whether they voluntarily paid or not), and if they watched TV they had to be watching BBC. So the rule became all who had a telly capable of receiving the signal had to pay.
That was fair enough, because all who could watch , without being able to verify if they did or did not, should pay to avoid the freeloaders.

Now, things are different.There is a meaningful choice of receiving programmes on the tv.
You can choose to watch channels funded by people who pay subscription. (a)
You can choose to watch channels funded by people who pay ( indirectly) by adverts.(b)

You can choose not to pay for a or b. Those TV channel owners do not prosecute you if you do not pay.
But you cannot choose not to pay for BBC channels, without being prosecuted.
That is not fair.
The BBC could offer their channels by subscription or adverts, and people could choose to watch/pay .
But ,no, the BBC want to make you pay whether or not you choose to watch.

In this day and age, that is wrong.

Only it’s the government who insist on a license fee. Not the BBC.

 

[Kellfire]

It's wrong that I pay to watch live sport via BT or Sky but still would be against BBC rules unless I pay them too ??

Government rules. Not BBC. As said many times.

 

[Deleted member 18588]

Only it’s the government who insist on a license fee. Not the BBC.

So how would you, and the BBC, propose they should be funded?

 

[Kellfire]

So how would you, and the BBC, propose they should be funded?

I have no idea what the BBC would do if the government released them from their legal obligation to charge for a licence. I suspect they’d use adverts but I don’t know.

 

[Deleted member 18588]

I have no idea what the BBC would do if the government released them from their legal obligation to charge for a licence. I suspect they’d use adverts but I don’t know.

They, as well as the Government were opposed to the scrapping of the licence and decriminalisation of licence evasion.

 

[Swinglowandslow]

I have no idea what the BBC would do if the government released them from their legal obligation to charge for a licence. I suspect they’d use adverts but I don’t know.

We saw what they, the BBC, did when the government gave them the power to decide whether over 75s continued to get a free licence, or had to return to paying for it?

Don't kid yourself , or us, that the BBC don't want to have a compulsory TV licence imposed on the U.K. Tv owners.

Also, the BBC have considered for some while, methinks, that they might have to go to adverts. They show enough of them now between programmes.
They just happen to be for BBC related subjects. But the structure is already to go, it seems.

 

[spongebob59]

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.p...ence-once-fast-uk-broadband-is-universal.html

 

[Crazyface]

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.p...ence-once-fast-uk-broadband-is-universal.html

Rubbish. They are just clutching at straws to delay the inevitable. 2027 my bum

 

[spongebob59]

https://inews.co.uk/news/media/bbc-law-amazon-fire-stick-ban-uk-viewing-917014/amp

 

[garyinderry]

My dad is refusing to pay his tv licence atm. Hes 81 and paid it all his life then enjoyed the free service as part of his old age. It was removed and he says he has no intention of paying.

 

[IanM]

Judging by what I saw on BBC Wales tonight, tell your dad he doesn't need to pay as the next instalment of the "educational grants " from the EU arrived this week!

Lobster for lunch in BBC Hq this week ?