Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen
The point is that you have choice in what products you buy where as you are being forced to pay the TVL. Whether you watch the BBC or not.
So by calling it a subscription service is unrealistic. If it was a subscription then you would have a choice to pay it or not.
So as he doesn't watch it then why should he pay.
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Because, as you yourself have just said, it isn't a subscription. It is a tax, levied in the form of a fee to obtain a licence to use TV receiving equipment.
It is levied in this way because the settled will of Parliament is that there should be a publicly funded broadcaster, independent of political control, with a remit to provide a broad range of information and entertainment.
That's why you pay it even if you don't watch the BBC (incidentally, I don't believe anyone who claims never, ever to consume any BBC content). You don't send any kids to school either, but your council tax pays for the classrooms for those that do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by General Maximus
thanks dude 
I have come up with the perfect solution (and I am being very serious). If it is a public service which everyone should pay for regardless of whether they use it or not (remember it includes radio and not just tv) then payment for the service should be incorporated into income tax and not be a separate payment. This way when it comes round to the general elections we can see where the different parties want to spend the money and I can guarantee there will be at least one party which says they want to drop the £5 billion of pubic money we give the BBC and split it between schools, the nhs and defence. Just imagine what a £1.5 billion injection into schools could do every year! |
Paying the BBC a grant out of income tax would end its independence from Government, and will not happen.
What might happen, not at the upcoming charter renewal but the one after, is that OFCOM may be told to collect fees via a precept on council tax instead, the same way the fire and police authorities do. My prediction is that from 2027, the BBC will have to apply to OFCOM for funding, and that other public service broadcasters will also be able to do so.