[Closed] What do I pay my Licence fee for...?

Yawn, DD being a hypocrite what a surprise.

😆

That's "at" not "with" btw.

BBC = generally ok, but i do loathe their news presentation; their heavy emphasis on doom and gloom and the negatives. They really relish bad news and tragedy.

Not sure if an upbeat spin on the famine in Africa would go down too well.

What do I pay my Licence fee for...?

Probably the best public broadcaster in the world?

West wing, the sopranos, the wire, deadwood, game of thrones etc etc etc the BBC dramas don’t even come close

Most don't but the beeb will never compete with the sort of money Hollywood has at it's disposal, the beeb does some things very well indeed and can manage to make a tidy sum selling them on abroad.
So let the US keep producing great TV drama and selling to us, we'll in turn sell them our great output.

I love the BBC from Freeview which probably wouldn't exist without the BBC and likewise DAB. I live in Cumbria I would have no radio without the BBC. Classic FM says that it would not exist without radio 3. The iplayer is great. Try watching the US Open golf without the BBC filling in the advert breaks. Although not the BBC the Superbowl gives a good idea of what non pay per view big events are like with adverts added.

I would say that the BBC is one of the finest things this country has going for it and on a good day I would say that the BBC defines this country.

It is worth every penny.

Apart from adverts for their own output, which do ramble on a bit; but we have a mute button and know how to use it.

Yes but they don't stop whatever you are watching every 15 minutes to tell you what's on next, or sell you some crap? And the program adverts are for something you don't have to pay any more for, and they tend to be shorter than your average advert..

I love the "xxxxxxx is worth the license fee alone." It's a nice sentiment but nothing on the BBC is worth £3.5bn.

F1 was a significant % of the total sports budget for the Beeb. Perhaps now they can spend a bit more on moinrity sports.

F1 rights are about 13% of the total rights budget (8.5% ish of the license fee).

F1 rights are about 13% of the total rights budget (8.5% ish of the license fee).

You forgot to add 'F1 rights account for 20% of the entire sports budget'.

Radio 1 (for Moyles and the Dance music)
Radio 4
Radio 5 live/Sports extra (when it's not chavball season)
Top Gear
Cox
Attenborough
BBC 4
Fry

And of course....

TMS

when it's not chavball season

More ME ME ME

Anyone else want a go...

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Yawn, DD being a hypocrite what a surprise.

I gave my arguments in my previous posts, DD's reply was a playground taunt devoid of any arguments or points, although done in a rather long-winded manner, try reading more than one post before joining in.

Ask any owner of small children why they pay their license.

Cbeebies and CBBC would justify it alone.

Lord Reiths original mission statement for the BBC was to "inform, educate and entertain"

Get onto iplayer (another fantastic service from the BBC) and watch Horrible Histories. It is the absolute epitome of those three words. My 7 year old loves it! And for good reason. Its sublimely written genius! And as a result of being (justifiably) entertained she can now sit and real off all the kings and queens of England. In a rap. Bonus!

Have you seen the alternative? Endless adverts for junk food and expensive toys, very occasionally interrupted with an imported cartoon

The BBC is the driver of standards in TV throughout the world. The benchmark for quality. And if you can't see this then, quite frankly, you deserve to spend the rest of your days with your eyes pinned open, Clockwork orange style, being forced to watch Sky 1 on mute, while Smooth FM is pumped into your ears at a volume level slightly below the threshold of pain. To be reminded in no uncertain terms that there is a more commercially viable alternative. You're watching/listening to it

DD's reply was a playground taunt devoid of any arguments or points

No it wasn't. If you think that pointing out the inherent ridiculousness of your post, because you're stating your prejudiced opinions on the Beeb without backing them up with facts and figures is a "playground taunt", then...then...erm...then...well, you've lost me really.

Actually, I'm just thinking...I think at binners' agency, they'd call it greenskying 🙂

How about...we double the license fee and have dedicated BBC Sports1,2 and 3. Surely the money raised would allow the BBC to clean up where sports are concerned, and still have a plenty left over for all the other interesting and amazing stuff it does.

We could have footie, rugby, cricket, F1, and all the other stuff. I know there'd be concerns over competition but while nobody has any sympathy for anything to do with Murdoch, now would be the time to do it.

Adam Curtis
Charlie Brooker
Psychoville
Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle

The BBC is the driver of standards in TV throughout the world

That's an overstatement. What about HBO's drama output? ESPN's sports broadcasting? Channel 4's or Paramount's comedy output? ITN's or CNN's news programming?

i love the BBC, yeah it shows a loada stuff i'm not interested in, but the stuff i am interested in they do to a standard unmatched by anything i've seen by other broadcasters.

Antiques Roadshow
Songs of Praise
The Proms
Question Time

try reading more than one post before joining in.

Channel 4's or Paramount's comedy output?

Such as?

The IT Crowd is alright, South Park is brilliant but most of the funny stuff on Paramount is old.

Part of the BBC is on strike today, you wouldnt notice though.

it was this one Binners but not a rap.

The BBC does lots of stuff I don't like and can be scrapped - trouble is that you like lost of stuff that I don't, so we both lose out.

For the quality, range and coverage the BBC is cheap. I look out how much I pay for cable TV and it frightens me.

You can close the BBC and we can all be richer by £3 a week - or in my case £1.50 a week as the better half wants her share too. [b]BUT[/b] the commercial channels must provide me with all that the Beeb did and at least the same quality and for the same price. Never going to happen.

Lifer - Member
Such as?

The IT Crowd is alright, South Park is brilliant but most of the funny stuff on Paramount is old.

I think if you're talking about setting standards then it doesn't matter how old something is. You're aspiring to produce great television and if that means Frasier rather than Two and a Half Men, so me it. BTW, that was implicit in my post as Paramount TV no longer exists (its CBS now iirc), probably too subtle.

Completely forgot 'The Thick of It'

I think if you're talking about setting standards then it doesn't matter how old something is. You're aspiring to produce great television and if that means Frasier rather than Two and a Half Men, so me it.

Well then Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Porridge, Black Adder, Only Fools and Horses, The Young Ones et al

msp without the bbc youd have had no lovejoy, which means there could be no swearingin which means deadwood wouldve been pointless

and there are actually some bbc dramas that come close to those you mention the bbcs recent the shadow line was superb
and for comedy the rest of the usa is only now catching up; the thick of it, ideal, 15 stories high, mightyboosh, the office, partridge, red dwarf, blackadder, the young ones, psychoville, league of gents

and ok there is the great abcess on auntie's rectum that is chris moyles but some stuff on radio 1 and the whole of 6music are much much better than the commercial stuff out there

Surely not doing all the F1 races means we can fund even more BBC cronies to have a jolly to Glastonbury next time?

Surely we could fit Strickly Come Dancing onto one of the stages. Can't see Brucie camping in a field mind...

F1 is expensing to broadcast. To get their moneys worth the Beeb just over egged the coverage - qualifying, race day "only 376 minutes until the race starts...". On a Sky Sports channel you'd probably get away with that kinda stuff, when you only have two channels to appeal to everyone it does block out an awful lot of time on BBC for possibly a niche market.

39p a day is worth it for Radio 4. Everything is else is a bonus. There's a lot of things I don't watch, browse or listen to. That's fine, there's only one of me after all. The BBC is one of the finest things we have.

Oh and on the back catalogue thing again, I Claudius kicks the behind of any drama mentioned so far, even with the shakey sets!

West wing, the sopranos, the wire, deadwood, game of thrones etc etc etc the BBC dramas don’t even come close. The primetime slots just seem to be reserved for eastenders, FFS BBC1 may as well be renamed the eastenders chanel.
Reality is its lost its way, its trying to compete with the commercial stations with dumbed down crap, and “shock” comedy and is no longer providing real variety, its spread itself out over too many channels and radio stations and none of them have any focus, too much management and too much spent on celebrities masquerading as talent.
It needs to cut back to 2 television channels, 5 radio stations and concentrate on quality instead of quantity, start making choices about the content it airs instead of making space for every piece of crap.

Am I the only person who read this as "I want the BBC to concentrate on what I want to watch and screw everyone else"?

The way I look at it is like this, the BBC is like a bus service whilst a lot of selfish people want it to be like a taxi service. You pay your money on a bus service and you go where the bus is going to go, the greater the demand for buses the more frequent the service. You don't throw your dummy out of the pram because every bus doesn't stop outside your house because that would be inconvenient for everybody else. I've found in a number of discussions abiut this that the sort of person who moans about the BBC is telling you more about themself than about the state of British public broadcasting.

Am I the only person who read this as "I want the BBC to concentrate on what I want to watch and screw everyone else"?

Yep, but apparently, it's a bit hypocritical 🙂

Aahhhh !.

🙂

A good ole STW flame up.

Anyway. Who here, would pay for the BBC, if it were not compulsory ?.

A good ole STW flame up.

Oh, how judgmental.

Anyway. Who here, would pay for the BBC, if it were not compulsory ?.

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+1

The BBC is awesome. I could live without F1 very easily.

Anybody who slags the BBC should be sentenced to 12 hours of watching TVNZ, on Shortland Street omnibus day. My parents are both intelligent people, but they watch "Dog the Bounty Hunter" as it's the best thing on TV on a friday night.

Long live the BBC !

Anyway. Who here, would pay for the BBC, if it were not compulsory ?.

Given what Sky/Virgin costs, it seems quite good value for money really. So yes, I would continue to pay for it.

Who here, would pay for the BBC, if it were not compulsory ?.

I'd pay twice the fee if necessary.

Jamie. CaptJon.

Yes, it was a genuine Q, so thanks for the answers.

I suspect that there would be quite a few who would.

I suspect that there would be quite a few who would.

I would be curious as to who would [b]not[/b] pay for it, and forego all the radio, tv, internet and other services that the BBC offers.

[i]I would be curious as to who would [b]not[/b] pay for it, and forego all the radio, tv, internet and other services that the BBC offers.[/i]

Yeap, keep going.

The way I look at it is like this, the BBC is like a bus service

If you mean, like a bus service that extorts money from you on threat of prosecution even if you intended on walking instead of getting the bus, then yes.

The BBC is brilliant.

I have lived in the states where TV is scary - after watching it for a couple of years its no surprise they are a bunch of illiterate right wing muppets.