Scrap TV license fees?

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

if the licence fee is scrapped i wonder how much some other form of tax would go up ?????????????? , would it really hurt to fund itself through advertising ?????????? , would it make any difference if a couple of more channels had advertising on them ??????????? , tbh i dont watch bbc that much

The problem is, as I have been told by members of my family that work for Advertising Agencies ,that if you introduce the amount of advertising space forcing the BBC to advertise would, the prices would go through the floor. There already is an oversupply of advertising space, leading to reduced profits for TV channels, introducing more would lower the prices to the point where several channels (including the biggies like ITV and Channel 5) would possibly go bankrupt.

I don't think the BBC should be required to advertise, it would reduce the quality of their output, and the Independent companies would have to reduce program budgets below what they are already.

Originally Posted by aliferste

No and no.....do i get my money back?

lol ... sadly not! But I'm interested to know how many people who claim 'never' to use the BBC actually never use BBC online, never listen to a BBC radio station, never watch any BBC TV content or, for that matter, don't take advantage of innovations like NICAM stereo, which IIRC BBC engineers were heavily involved in developing.

I suspect the answer is that the BBC is such a part of the fabric of this country that we won't truly appreciate what we've got until the day it's taken away from us. I do hope that day never comes.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by towny

lol ... sadly not! But I'm interested to know how many people who claim 'never' to use the BBC actually never use BBC online, never listen to a BBC radio station, never watch any BBC TV content or, for that matter, don't take advantage of innovations like NICAM stereo, which IIRC BBC engineers were heavily involved in developing.

Or Colour Television, Teletext, Digital Television transmission, RDS (Radio Data Service, used to display station names on radios) or DVDs (the BBC advised on the MPEG 2 standard).

One final thing. If you have ever watched TV, or listened to the radio (commercial or BBC) the chances are at least some of the personnel involved in what you are watching/listening to were trained by the BBC..

[carlingman]

to the Beeb and worthy of bumping this old thread back up from a while ago.

They have yet again turned up trumps with the controversial drama tonight "faith" about a community split apart by the 1984 Miners strike.

Only was it was interupted by the news.

Originally Posted by Chris T

lol ... sadly not! But I'm interested to know how many people who claim 'never' to use the BBC actually never use BBC online, never listen to a BBC radio station, never watch any BBC TV content or, for that matter, don't take advantage of innovations like NICAM stereo, which IIRC BBC engineers were heavily involved in developing.

I suspect the answer is that the BBC is such a part of the fabric of this country that we won't truly appreciate what we've got until the day it's taken away from us. I do hope that day never comes.

And not forgetting BBC online which appears to be invaluable to many on CF current affairs threads.

This reminds me of the old Monty Python sketch. What did the BBC do for us? Apart from all bringing us tons of national and regional terrestial and digital TV and radio channels, inventing digital radio, supporting the Open University, schools programming, groundbreaking drama, current affairs programming that wees all over ITV's (OK, not as good as it used to be) etc, etc

[Siuko]

I so hope they scrap the TV licence!!

As with many other things in Britain it's just a stuffy old way of doing things!!

I'm sure if the BBC is as good as many say (hehehe) then it will survive as a subscription service.

I dont see why I have to pay for such rubbish just so I can own a TV....

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by andyl

And not forgetting BBC online which appears to be invaluable to many on CF current affairs threads.

This reminds me of the old Monty Python sketch. What did the BBC do for us? Apart from all bringing us tons of national and regional terrestial and digital TV and radio channels, inventing digital radio, supporting the Open University, schools programming, groundbreaking drama, current affairs programming that wees all over ITV's (OK, not as good as it used to be) etc, etc

I've got nothing against the BBC, and they dish out the odd good drama/show.

However, paying for the TV licence was probably more arguable a few years ago before satellite because you effectively only had four channels so there was always a one in four chance you would be using the BBC.

However not now, the BBC is now only a very, very small part of my viewing pattern. In fact the only BBC programmes I watched last week were the Alan Sugar programme (which is excellent) and the FA cup. All the rest were FTA terrestrial and Sky.

For my own needs, if you took the BBC away I wouldn't miss them.

Radio 1? I listen to Galaxy
Radio 5? I listen to Talksport
Documentarys/ Nature programmes - Discovery/ Animal planet
Grandstand/MoTD - Sky sports knocks them out the park

I suppose the only area where the BBC provide something that the others don't is original drama. But is that worth the TV licence to me?

[SOSAGES]

keep it i get loads of tv loads of radio and a cracking website - granted some stuff isnt my cup of tea but i watch it lots more than ITV

Originally Posted by Siuko

I so hope they scrap the TV licence!!

As with many other things in Britain it's just a stuffy old way of doing things!!

I'm sure if the BBC is as good as many say (hehehe) then it will survive as a subscription service.

I dont see why I have to pay for such rubbish just so I can own a TV....

The BBC has great programming, it is one of the few channels that hasnt gone down the cheap reality TV crap we keep seeing. It needs the money from everyone to keep providing such a good service. The Dramas and comedys from the BBC are aso excellent. Flawty towers, only fools, porridge, would all of these happened if not for the bbc?

Yes, it is time to scrap the license fee, there is far too much duplication and waste, we do not get value for money, over £2 billion is raised annually and one wonders where that money goes. Commercials and subscription fees should be introduced. The axe should fall on the too many radion stations and duplicate services. There should be an end to contracting overpaid and pampered celebrities, the army of journalists should also be cut.

We have seen far better quality history, news, and current affairs programming from Channel 4.

Whilst it's true the BBC can produce superb drama it is equally true the commericial channels can also produce superb drama. BBC 3 should be transformed into a base sports channel. Other institutions have had to change and the BBC needs to change.

The licence fee is certainly not without its faults although I totally reject the 'well I don't watch it much' argument because the BBC, through its enormous variety of generally very high quality channels (TV, radio and online) offers such amazing diversity, quality and diversity. A life full of Sky Ones anybody? scastle made an excellent point in that the increasing fragmentation of the TV audience and the subsequent scraps for advertising revenue actually, on general terms, reduces quality because programme funds become so diluted. That's only going to get worse.

The problem with the fee is the political football the BBC becomes at charter renewal. That's not an easy one to get around as even with direct taxation (which would work psychologically in terms of people not getting hung up on an annual charge) will still be the subject to political pressure. But subscription is most definitely not the way to go; it will mean the BBC has to constantly chase ratings instead of providing a public service to complement commercial channels, and creativity and quality will suffer as a consequence as they hedge for safe bets.
__________________

Originally Posted by Gogogo

Yes, it is time to scrap the license fee, there is far too much duplication and waste, we do not get value for money, over £2 billion is raised annually and one wonders where that money goes. Commercials and subscription fees should be introduced. The axe should fall on the too many radion stations and duplicate services. There should be an end to contracting overpaid and pampered celebrities, the army of journalists should also be cut.

We have seen far better quality history, news, and current affairs programming from Channel 4.

Whilst it's true the BBC can produce superb drama it is equally true the commericial channels can also produce superb drama. BBC 3 should be transformed into a base sports channel. Other institutions have had to change and the BBC needs to change.

Channel 4 has indeed generated some excellent programming but it is one channel - you simply can't compare it with the BBC which through its amazingly diverse output genuinely satisfies its public service remit (yes it can fall of those rails but when it produces so much......). In original drama with the excellent exception of Shameless (and some one offs) C4 has become increasingly reliant on US imports; Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Desperate Housewives, ER ; Similarly in comedy we've seen or have The Simpsons, Frasier, Cheers, Friends etc dominating output.

BBC3 a base sports channel? How's it going to compete for rights to fill airtime? Certainly won't get enough revenues from advertising to wrest stuff away from Sky. It'll get stuffed full of minority sports, have no viewers, no advertisers.....

[Janusian]

I can't remember the last time I watched ITV (other than Champions League), and if the license fee was scrapped I am sure that the Beeb would end up showing the same level of programming.

To be honest I would pay the licence fee for the BBC news and website alone. BBC News has got to be the most highly respected news service in the world and is something to be hugely proud of.

I really hope we don't get rid of the licence fee.

[Stuart]

I say keep the licence fee. The whole industry needs it. People have held up Channel 4 as an example of good programming. It is, but it is partially funded by advertising and partially funded by the licence fee.

As I stated earlier, I think making the BBC a commercial entity will cause massive problems for the existing commercial channels (several, including Channels 4, 5 and ITV would possibly fold). It's basic economics that the more suppy you introduce into a market, the lower prices for that supply go. Commercialising the BBC would introduce a massive supply of advertising space into an already over saturated market.

Apart from anything else, if you have watched any TV or listened to any radio station in this country, you have either directly or indirectly benefitted from the BBC. Whether they provided services for production, trained the technicians or developed the technology involved.

Also, the licence fee allows the Beeb to "carry" a series that has low ratings, but may improve. Look at "Men Behaving Badly", "Only Fools and Horses" and "Blackadder". The first series of each of those was dreadful, and if they were on a commercial channel, they probably wouldn't have been recommissioned (this actually happened with Men Behaving Badly - it's first series was on ITV and wasn't recommissioned by them).

[ian@huth]

Scrap the TV licence fee and provide the revenue lost from general taxation.

Most households have a TV licence and there is enormous cost in administrating, collection of the fees, database upkeep and evasion detection.

But keep adverts away from the BBC.

Originally Posted by scastle

I say keep the licence fee. The whole industry needs it. People have held up Channel 4 as an example of good programming. It is, but it is partially funded by advertising and partially funded by the licence fee.
...

Do you know a source which confirms Channel 4 funding? The evidence I've unearthed so far is, that it does not enjoy fees from the TV licensing fund.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/licencefee/#spent

http://www.ofcomwatch.co.uk/2005/02/...hase-of-psb-tv

There have been suggestions that it should enjoy a share and of course the argument is that all channels should receive a share. But as yet I have seen no evidence of supposed transference of a portion of the TV license fees.