Re: BBC licence fee to be reviewed by Conservatives
 

Ah, but they aren't just paying to watch the BBC. They are paying to watch any live TV.

Re: BBC licence fee to be reviewed by Conservatives
 

I do not watch the BBC or use any other BBC output however due to the TV tax i have to pay the BBC because i decide to watch a program on SKY. The BBC tax means that the BBC are being paid for another company's broadcast even thou they had nothing to do with it. How is that fair ?

I do not watch or use the BBC at all now as the BBC has shown they are not independent any more, i realised that the way they covered the last election.

Subscription will sort it out.

Re: BBC licence fee to be reviewed by Conservatives
 

As Ramrod correctly points out you aren't just paying to watch the BBC you are paying to watch any live TV.

Re: BBC licence fee to be reviewed by Conservatives
 

When the TV licence was introduced is was specifically just to watch BBC.

Define “TV”?

My eldest watches, almost exclusively, you tube. He watches it on his iPod, iPad, and Mac. But just because he may also watch it on a television, that attracts a fee whereas the other mediums don’t?

It’s farcical and needs review to make it fit for the future.

I’m not saying that I wouldn’t pay for BBC content, but how, why and what you pay for should be reviewed and non-payment should absolutely not result in criminal proceedings. Non-payment should just mean no access to BBC content as with all other providers.

Re: BBC licence fee to be reviewed by Conservatives
 

I ask again WHY is it fair the BBC are paid for something they had no input with. Why should i have to pay the BBC for watching a SKY broadcast ????

Re: BBC licence fee to be reviewed by Conservatives
 

Who ever said life was fair? My taxes go to fund education from which I currently don't benefit - is that fair? True I benefited from it when a child but then you probably watched one or more BBC programs when you were little. To clarify you don't pay the BBC you pay to:

• watch and record programmes as they’re being shown on TV or live on an online TV service, and
• watch and download BBC programmes on iPlayer – live, catch up and on demand.

This covers all TV broadcasts not just BBC programs.

Re: BBC licence fee to be reviewed by Conservatives
 

But the BBC get all the money of the back of every other broadcaster from the TV Tax. I so hope they get made to go subscription and as soon as possible. It will save me money that i can make far better use of.

Re: BBC licence fee to be reviewed by Conservatives
 

So what. The Government are going to scrap it. Now who should I feel sorry for and why?

Re: BBC licence fee to be reviewed by Conservatives
 

Interesting to see what happens ,

Re: BBC licence fee to be reviewed by Conservatives
 

What is interesting is that the Govt. have proclaimed the results of their 'consultation' whilst it's still ongoing !

Re: BBC licence fee to be reviewed by Conservatives
 

We'll see.

Re: BBC licence fee to be reviewed by Conservatives
 

You are, you would still need a TV licence.

---------- Post added at 21:24 ---------- Previous post was at 21:22 ----------

If you don't watch TV, why are you forced to pay it?

---------- Post added at 21:29 ---------- Previous post was at 21:24 ----------

That wouldn't attract a fee. The licence is to cover watching/recording live TV as it is broadcast.

Re: BBC licence fee to be reviewed by Conservatives
 

Re: BBC licence fee to be reviewed by Conservatives
 

The licence was originally for radios, long before TV came along. Even though the BBC was founded as a private company it was given a royal charter and the right to collect licence fees as an effective means of paying for a comprehensive news and entertainment service.

It was extended to TVs and eventually the need for a radio licence was dropped. The portability of radios had a lot to do with that change. The “portability” of TV receivers is now creating pressure for further change.

The justification for continuing the system has changed down the years, especially as commercial alternatives to the BBC have emerged, but where we are at now is with a licence fee that funds the BBC, which uses the money to produce content that (in theory at least) sets the bar for quality of output across the British TV industry, particularly ensuring that content for minority audiences is of a similar high standard to that made for mass audiences. While the BBC isn’t to everyone’s taste, by and large I think it achieves that.

Making changes that significantly reduce the BBC’s income is not without risk. The very large amount of money flowing in to TV production in the UK, relative to the size of the market, supports a lot of jobs, and also ensures the commercial spend from advertisers is concentrated elsewhere. There is a finite amount of money to be spent on advertising and it is far from clear that advertisers would spend more in the event that slots became available on the BBC. It is more likely that their spend would simply be spread more thinly, with a serious detrimental impact on other broadcasters.

I think the system does have to change, not because I think a fee - a tax, in effect - designed to ensure universal availability of a quality tv service is a bad thing, but because in this multi channel age we are now in, concentrating all that money on one broadcaster is increasingly hard to justify.

I suspect in time the fee pot, or some of it at least, will be forcibly opened up to allow other broadcasters to bid for money to fulfil their public service obligations. I expect that at the same time the mechanism will be decoupled from the use of receiving equipment. A precept on council tax is one possibility.

Re: BBC licence fee to be reviewed by Conservatives
 

The BBC has its faults and didn't earn the alternative title of Brexit Broadcasting Corporation for no reason.
That being said, it's the UK Government that has banned ministers from appearing on Today and not the BBC.
The survivors who "pick up everything necessary" will most likely be US broadcasters and not UK ones, thus reducing the UK's soft influence in the world.