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

Wifi Graham? To be honest I don't know the answers, but the current system seems draconian and outdated. Would you really be happy to be forced to pay for something that you'll never use? Watching TV or listening to radio isn't a necessity, it's a luxury.

Would you really be happy to be forced to pay for something that you'll never use?

You mean like the town library?

deadlydarcy, I didn't realise the license fee was actually a compulsory charity donation for those addicted to watching TV.

Tbh Euro, judging by your reasoning so far, you're struggling to realise much. Did you make up the above all by yourself?

uplink - Member

The Beeb have to pay Sky to carry it's services - £10m/pa IIRC

I'd imagine that would be to broadcast the main bbc channels. Not the same as the likes of Dave/Eden etc paying the BBC for the privilege of airing comedy/nature programmes.

Would you really be happy to be forced to pay for something that you'll never use?

You mean like the town library?

You mean like the town library?

I'm tailoring my sentence structure to the audience uplink (you are mostly english, right?) 😆

you are mostly english, right?

no, why?

Or schools?

Yes, good point, the ability to watch eastenders without adverts is next on my list of essential public services right after primary education.

...

Sorry but the argument that you shouldn’t have to pay for the BBC because you have sky, is the same as saying that you shouldn’t have to pay for the NHS because you have BUPA.

So ........... you didn't answer

Public libraries Euro?

What do you think? - should you be able to opt out of paying if you don't use them?

The BBC is [b]not[/b] the NHS.

People with no tv or radio still have to pay the fee if they have a computer with internet access. Do the beeb have a monopoly on pron too?

There seems to no real desire/demand to change how the BBC is funded. Doesn't mean the current method is fair.

Uplink, i've yet to receive a threatening letter from the local library board because I can read.

edit. Off home now. Think i'll turn radio one up to 11. Might as well get my monies worth 😀

Yes, good point, the ability to watch eastenders without adverts is next on my list of essential public services right after primary education.

People with no tv or radio still have to pay the fee if they have a computer with internet access.

No they don't

I was slagged off on here a few months ago when I said they should scrap the TV licence and let the BBC advertise.

I don't watch iplayer, listen to any of the radio stations or look at their website. I might occasionally watch something on BBC like My Family but thats been about it, oh I quickly flicked on to Dragons Den last night for 5 minutes. I couldn't give a hoot for Dr Who, TorchWood the One show or deadenders. Most things I watch if I watch TV is on Channel 5, 5usa, Quest or Film 4.

People with no tv or radio still have to pay the fee if they have a computer with internet access.

Only if they watch iplayer or similar.

Why should I contribute to schools when I don't have children who attend?

TV's not the same as schools and hospitals though is it?

I might need a hospital, so I'm happy to pay for that, but not schools, why should I pay to have other people's kids to be educated.
Same as the OP, he doesn't want to use the service and doesn't want to pay. But I pay and get on with things.

Hmm, but there are different types of things in existence yes? Some you might be happy to pay for in general, and others you might prefer people to pay for when they use them?

I eschewed broadcast TV for a few years. But I have realized that it performs several useful social functions, depending on the watcher. I watch before bedtime because helps me sleep.

I can't really bring anything to this debate that hasn't already been eloquently (and less so) said; just that the BBC is one of the few good things left about this country.

If it were to go, we would all miss it, of that I feel sure.

Oh and +1 to paying it if it weren't compulsory, although the fact that it is, is genius. 10 million or so Sun reading brainwashed murdochozombies paying for me to listen to GQT, the Archers, The Now Show and I'm sorry I haven't a clue etc goes a tiny way towards redressing some of the cruel imbalances in life... (like x factor)

I was slagged off on here a few months ago when I said they should scrap the TV licence and let the BBC advertise.

Rightly so. Advertising would force the BBC to become commercial and drop anything interesting, informative or minority for more mainstream audience grabbers. Basically it would turn it into a second ITV.

I don't watch iplayer, listen to any of the radio stations or look at their website.

More fool you. You've paid for it. It is a world class service. Why not use it?

I couldn't give a hoot for Dr Who, TorchWood the One show or deadenders.

Maybe you should try one of the other BBC channels? There are four you know, plus HD, two children's channel, News 24 and Parliament.

Only if they watch iplayer or similar.

You don't actually need a license to watch shows on iplayer, only live streams. .

If you enjoy the BBC then fair play, but for me the sooner the licence is scrapped or the channel scrambled like Sky the better.

i am not sure why you think you would see BBC shows on SKY if it was not publicly funded. These programmes are unlikely to be made or be more expense to purchase [commercial reasons].
EDIT:
BBC will not be scrambled in a decade and possibly not even in my lifetime. You would loose a massive amount of media [ net, radio, digital is down to BBC ] and plurality of media is very important in any democracy. I doubt there is much call for the scrapping tbh beyond say 5-10%. Lack of adverts is just great especially with small kids not having to worry about the gaps in shows and the shite they will be sold

When I mentioned Sky I meant the signal scrambled and by paying the fee it would be viewable.

why should I pay to have other people's kids to be educated.

Cos society is better with an educated population, innit. But I know you knew that 😉

Back to the OP, you pay your licence so I can watch iplayer and listen to TMS for free... Sucker 😆

GrahamS - Member

No they don't

Oops, seems you're spot on Graham. Last I checked (a good few years ago), the law was different. Seems the Beeb isn't adverse to change after all.

On the subject of children's TV. I've a nine and three year old who don't like bbc programmes. They prefer the disney and nickelodeon variants. While I find the relentless bombardment of toy adverts on sky tiresome, it doesn't spoil their enjoyment of their favoutite programmes and makes it easier to suggest possible birthday presents to grannies and grandas i.e. Everything they bloody see 😆

Don't pay a tv license (written to them to state this), and download hundreds of episodes of tv series.

oops.

They prefer the disney and nickelodeon variants.

"I'm alright jack screw the rest of you"

Advertising would force the BBC to become commercial and drop anything interesting, informative or minority for more mainstream audience grabbers. Basically it would turn it into a second ITV.

It's worse than that. If ITV (and Channel 4) had to compete with the BBC for advertisers, then they would have even less money - already they are struggling with the multitude of commercial channels which have appeared in recent years.

The BBC would attract a very substantial amount of big advertisers leaving ITV with less money to spend on half decent programmes. The consequence of this would be plunging standards and quality, which would have an effect right across the whole industry, and be clearly negative for the consumer. As it is, ITV and Channel 4 aren't bad as broadcasters go - a great deal of it undoubtedly due to the constant challenge they have from the BBC in the ratings war. Give them less money and a much lower standard from the BBC to compete against, and the result will be total disaster for British television.

I think BBC Radio would be the first to integrate advertising & become withdrawn from the license fee if ever it were to happen.

That said I hope it doesn't happen, as people have said, the cost of viewing will go up & the service provided will drop in quality & quantity!

If it did, id bet it would become part of the standard sky package & the subscription fee for the likes of 'Euro' would go up to accommodate it.

Could I borrow that crystal ball fellas? I'd like to think i'd put it to better use than predicting the future of british braodcasting.

no point euro, if you cant even see how you utilise the BBC service (Via sky) then i doubt you could work a Crystal Ball 8)

The BBC has some strange and unpredictable influences on commercial broadcasting

I know the guy who runs Asian Sound Radio - a commercial radio station, aimed at.... well, you can probably guess that.

He says he owes his existence to the BBC Asian Network. Without the BBC pioneering that service and showing it could be a success then nobody would have had the confidence to invest in a commercial venture of that nature.

Now a lot of (apparently) minority stations are piggy backing on the BBC's pioneering work and benefiting both themselves and their communities. Its actually increasing the choice available, which makes a mockery of the James Murdoch twoddle that the BBC strangles commercial alternatives by operating a monopoly

I hate paying the licence fee but i do love most of what the BBC do. I guess it the same for most where we really just hate paying for things.

I would rather it was not compulsory and had the choice same as Sky, it would make me feel a bit less under the control of the state then.

How about a BBC HD pay to view sport channel, sounds good to me. As long as they dont put football on it cause its sh*te.

I would rather it was not compulsory and had the choice same as Sky, it would make me feel a bit less under the control of the state then.

But that wouldn't work for all the reasons stated above. Changing it from a state-funded public service broadcaster to a commercial mainstream broadcaster would fundamentally alter the quality and diversity of the programmes they currently offer.

I stopped watching TV for two reasons, the first being that I moved to Spain and tv sucks in spanish. But I´d already long since given up on the tv schedule because its a dated, inconvenient delivery format.

I prefer to pay for a proper fast internet connection (50MB/5MB) and download all I want to watch for whenever I feel like watching it.
I can actually watch live tv if I use a VPN but I don´t bother anymore.
Unfortunately due to the backwards nature of broadcasting, this is still illegal. Even Napster eventually led to iTunes, what are the tv companies so afraid of?

The BBC is easily the best broadcasting entity in the world. Just take a look at the local offerings next time you´re on holiday. The only thing that comes close is HBO in america (also paid for) and they´re a lot more limited as far as I know, just tv, no radio.

I also think they did right getting shut of F1, lets be honest, so far this year it´s been absolute shit. Button made it interesting for a bit the last two years but I´ve given up watching now.

It´d be great to see more minority sports given some airtime, loads of us love mtb,snowboarding,mountain-climbing etc but since there´s little money in in it they´re drowned in incessant coverage of football,golf and tennis.
At least there´s the snooker, nobody else wants that.

Licence fee for me is pretty much justified by News Quiz, Desert Island Discs and BBC4.

BBC3 is pretty desperate, and I can't see it would be a great loss if it vanished, but maybe some people love it? Like maybe some people love gardening and religious stuff? Weird but true.

which makes a mockery of the James Murdoch twoddle that the BBC strangles commercial alternatives by operating a monopoly

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) had total assets as of March 31, 2011 of approximately US$60 billion and total annual revenues of approximately US$33 billion. News Corporation is a diversified global media company with operations in six industry segments: cable network programming; filmed entertainment; television; direct broadcast satellite television; publishing; and other. The activities of News Corporation are conducted principally in the United States, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, Asia and Latin America.