Cable Forum - View Single Post - BBC licence fee to be reviewed by Conservatives

**Chris** · 16-02-2020, 22:47

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.

16-02-2020, 22:47	#89
Chris Trollsplatter Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: North of Watford Services: Humane elimination of all common Internet pests Posts: 38,250	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.