[denphone]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

As you well know, the vast majority of this money goes to the BBC, and so whatever you may choose to call it, the TV licence is a mandatory subscription.

If the government wants to contribute to the broadcasting industry, it could do so directly rather than through the BBC.

I respect your view that the present system works for everyone, but I disagree with you profoundly and don't buy these arguments at all. As I said, the way the BBC is obliged to operate at the moment is preventing the Corporation from making the necessary changes the public wants and will soon come to expect.

Your wild claims that the public wants change and will soon come to expect it does not stand up to any scrutiny at all OB..

https://www.theguardian.com/media/20...m-regulate-bbc

The public has given strong support to the BBC in one of the largest ever responses to a government public consultation, while showing huge indifference to the way it is governed.

The most important issue for respondents was content, with 150,744 (81%) indicating that the BBC is serving its audiences “well or very well”.

“Almost three quarters of responses (74 per cent) indicated that the BBC’s content is sufficiently high quality and distinctive from that of other broadcasters.”

“Three quarters of responses (76%) to the government consultation suggested that the BBC has been doing enough to deliver value for money.”

81% of responses (150,744) indicated that the BBC is serving its audiences “well or very well”.

“In terms of how we should pay for the BBC and whether the licence fee should be modernised, three fifths of responses felt that no changes to the current system were required.” In answer to the questions, “How should we pay for the BBC and how should the licence fee be modernised?” the majority of responses – 60% (110,863) – replied saying: “No change needed”. Just 15% (27,951) argued for reform and 4% (7,144) for a universal household levy.

“Once again the public have spoken loud and clear,” said a spokeswoman for the BBC Trust. “As they also told the trust last year, the public values the BBC for its high quality distinctive programming, they don’t want to see it diminished and they want it to retain its independence and funding through the licence fee. It’s very important that the government takes full account of this evidence when it decides the BBC’s future later this year.”