BBC licence fee should be scrapped, says thinktank - The Guardian

StevieJ

Dan: wrote: »

God knows. About 40 quid I think - this inlcudes all the sports channel.

I only have the Documentary, General, and MUtv, I find SKY absolutely horrible and would dump it tomorrow if I could receive the United channel from elsewhere (which is fantastic value BTW ). If you have ever been unfortunate to watch any programmes late on, the 10-15 minute advert breaks are horrendous. Viva BBC.

lynzpower

I think the BBC should be kept.

I get fantastic VFM from my £12 a month ( or 6 quid as I go halfers with the OH)

Main output i use is
the website
Regional radio eg BBC London, and love to listen to the BBC regional variants when im out of london, to hear whats going on locally
Radio 2,3,4, 6
World service when I can get it overseas
Podcasts like Africa Today and Farming today etc
BBC Parliament which I watch a couple of hours a day of
Newsnight, every night

I dont agree with payperview for each programme, I have often found myself sat in front of a prog I would not have paid for eg Antiques roadshow, coast, countryfile and found something fascinating and educational.

I am certain that these sorts of programmes would be wiped out with payper view, and Im certain too that children would not have access to the range of content ( like the above programmes) if parents had to pay a pound a time ( or whatever)


Having looked through ITVs offerings today, there is the bill, ladette to lady, dickinsons real deal, who wants to be a millionaire Emmerdale, childrens hospital . Absolutely nothing of any intrinsic educational value there IMV ( aside form one lot of news)

ON channel 4 theres loads of come dine with me, some simpsons hollyoaks, some prog about plastic surgery, a programme about children who cant sleep, big brother and the inbetweeners., Slightly better output Id say on 4 in terms of whether you might learn something.

BBc2 has the world at war, Whistle down the wind ( film) couple of housebuying fillers, ben fogle investigating farming in the past, Eggheads ( quiz) Hairy bikers food tour of britain , antiques road trip,wainwrights coast to coast trip, mastermind, top gear, some decent comedy, Coast, News, and later HArdtalk which is excellent IMO.

The output is just not comparable. They are not in the same league!

mark5

I'm with Dan on this one, i only watch a few sky channels and the champions league on itv.

I just looked in the paper at what the BBC have got on offer today, Escape to the Country,Homes under the hammer, cash in the attic, doctors, murder she wrote, the one show, eastenders, holby city and more of the same.

Why should ppl who dont watch the BBC subsidize the ppl who do choose to watch it, the licence fee is just a stealth tax which i resent paying.

StevieJ

mark5 wrote: »

I'm with Dan on this one, i only watch a few sky channels and the champions league on itv.

I just looked in the paper at what the BBC have got on offer today, Escape to the Country,Homes under the hammer, cash in the attic, doctors, murder she wrote, the one show, eastenders, holby city and more of the same.

Why should ppl who dont watch the BBC subsidize the ppl who do choose to watch it, the licence fee is just a stealth tax which i resent paying.

Try here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/

BTW how much do you pay for your 'only a few' Sky channels?

Dan:_4

StevieJ wrote: »

Try here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/

Your not allowed to use that unless you've paid your TV licence!

cepheus

80% of programmes worth watching on TV and designed for TV has been produced by a licence fee channel. What a horror story it would be to degenerate to the depths of third rate US coverage inter-spaced with adverts rammed in your face every 5 Min's.

Remember nothing on TV is free, someone has to pay for it, the consumer! So do you want to pay for the best TV in the world with informative documentaries, satires and imaginative and factual historical plays or a mixture of soap operas and game shows inter-spaced with some corporate demeaning !!!!!!!! trying to convince you to buy their latest fashionable crap? "Go compare!" That is the choice.

StevieJ

Dan: wrote: »

Your not allowed to use that unless you've paid your TV licence!

Incorrect well according to the web site, although I don't see why people should watch for free when I have to pay for a licence They will be watching those football games on P2P for free next :eek:

Watching TV on the internet You need to be covered by a licence if you watch TV online at the same time as it's being broadcast on conventional TV in the UK or the Channel Islands.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/

StevieJ

cepheus wrote: »

80% of programmes worth watching on TV and designed for TV has been produced by a licence fee channel. What a horror story it would be to degenerate to the depths of third rate US coverage interspaced with adverts rammed in your face every 5 mins.

I get the impression this whole country and its services are going to follow suit very soon

Dan:_4

StevieJ wrote: »

Incorrect well according to the web site, although I don't see why people should watch for free when I have to pay for a licence They will be watching those football games on P2P for free next :eek:

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/

Your right. I read this slightly wrong:

3.2.2 If you do not have a valid television licence

You may not watch television programmes using BBC iPlayer on any device (including mobile phones, laptops and personal computers) at the same time (or virtually the same time) as the programmes are being broadcast, simulcast or otherwise made available to members of the public on television unless you have a valid television licence.

That is quite pointless if the programming becomes 'free' as soon as it has been transmitted.

wymondham

I do get passionate about this, purely for the fact that I'm forced to pay for something I rarely watch - I don't have the choice, even if I want to watch wall to wall dodgy cookery programmes on ITV I have to pay my license fee, or I will be jailed for it - there are worse things in this life!!

Those of you who champion the quality of the BBC are thinking of years gone by. For example, prime time evening BBC TV on a Saturday is ...... 101 ways to leave a gameshow!

I now record everything and watch it back at my leisure. This enables me to skip pointless ITV adds, as well as increasingly annoying BBC advertising it's own shows. I also have the 15 minute rule - if something is not interesting after 15 mins its gets deleted and thats time saved....

Don't get me wrong, commercial channels also make some awful stuff, such as XFactor, BigBrother etc, but at least I did'nt pay for it.