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

MiserlyMartin

nearlynew wrote: »

At £12 a month you get a lot more value for your money from your licence fee than any commercial broadcaster has to offer.

If the BBC is such great value for money then let the viewers decide. Scrap the licence fee and encrypt all BBC channels.

The TV tax is an unfair tax and those who choose not to watch broadcast TV are harassed by the BBC's TV licensing inspectors like some kind of criminals. People who are ill and cannot work cannot afford to pay this tax yet one of the only things that they can do is watch TV. They could be watching all the other non-BBC channels for nothing who provide good entertainment.

Yes there are plenty of channels to watch apart from the BBC but to watch them you are required to pay for the BBC. This includes even foreign channels on satellite. Yes the BBC seem to own the airwaves even the right to receive foreign language channels from other countries!!

People who choose to pay for sky cannot choose to subscribe to sky and sky only. No they are forced to pay for the BBC regardless of they want to watch it or not.

In this modern age of multi channels the TV tax should be abolished. It is irrelevant now. As I said before if the BBC is really that good then lots of people will still want to pay for it and they can go on making their wonderful programs that various people hold up as examples of why the tax should be charged (and carry on with their repeats)

I suspect if this really happened the BBC would receive less revenue and they will have to trim their costs. This can only be good as the BBC is a bloated wastful organisation which pays its staff far too much money and also employs far too many people whilst other broadcasters get by perfectly.
How many people did they send to cover the Olympics? what a waste. I could go on a lot longer but I'm sure you get the general idea.

Scrap the tax fee. I'm sure it will happen eventually but in the meantime I encourage you not to pay your TV licence and just watch videos and DVDs which is quite legal to do.

StevieJ

MiserlyMartin wrote: »

Scrap the tax fee. I'm sure it will happen eventually but in the meantime I encourage you not to pay your TV licence and just watch videos and DVDs which is quite legal to do.

Why? BTW should we scrap NHS dentistry because I only use private?

lucylucky

"UK Gold being half-owned by the BBC! BTW Sky could cost a million quid and would still be superior value to the BBC because it doesn't rely on chucking poor people in jail for its financing"

The BBC do not rely on puting people in prison for finance.

What a bizarre business model that would be.

POPPYOSCAR

I'd pay the licence fee just for 'Sherlock' alone - Loving it! and no adverts!!

Dan:_4

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

I'd pay the licence fee just for 'Sherlock' alone - Loving it! and no adverts!!

It be out on DVD soon.

lucylucky

MiserlyMartin wrote: »

If the BBC is such great value for money then let the viewers decide. Scrap the licence fee and encrypt all BBC channels. And all BBC radio and BBC internet as well obviously

The TV tax is an unfair tax and those who choose not to watch broadcast TV are harassed by the BBC's TV licensing inspectors like some kind of criminals. People who are ill and cannot work cannot afford to pay this tax yet one of the only things that they can do is watch TV. They could be watching all the other non-BBC channels for nothing who provide good entertainment. They could be reading a book. No-one is forced to watch TV

Yes there are plenty of channels to watch apart from the BBC but to watch them you are required to pay for the BBC. This includes even foreign channels on satellite. Yes the BBC seem to own the airwaves even the right to receive foreign language channels from other countries!! That will be the government that decides this, not the BBC

People who choose to pay for sky cannot choose to subscribe to sky and sky only. No they are forced to pay for the BBC regardless of they want to watch it or not.

In this modern age of multi channels the TV tax should be abolished. It is irrelevant now. As I said before if the BBC is really that good then lots of people will still want to pay for it and they can go on making their wonderful programs that various people hold up as examples of why the tax should be charged (and carry on with their repeats)

I suspect if this really happened the BBC would receive less revenue and they will have to trim their costs. This can only be good as the BBC is a bloated wastful organisation which pays its staff far too much money and also employs far too many people whilst other broadcasters get by perfectly. It pays some people a lot of money but to state that it pays all its staff far too much is factually incorrect
How many people did they send to cover the Olympics? what a waste. I could go on a lot longer but I'm sure you get the general idea. Explain how it was a waste? The BBC had the most comprehensive coverage of the Olympics on UK television.

Scrap the tax fee. I'm sure it will happen eventually but in the meantime I encourage you not to pay your TV licence and just watch videos and DVDs which is quite legal to do. As you say no need for a licence if you don't watch shows "as live"

Write to your MP

tomterm8

I think I object to the fact you have to buy a TV license to listen to streamed radio over the internet. There are foreign radio channels I have to listen to for work... so, I have to buy a TV license.

Otherwise, I would be happy scrapping the TV and watching iplayer.

MiserlyMartin

drc wrote: »

I'll be rejoicing the day the BBC tax is scrapped. I think it is an iniquitous tax that has absolutely no relevance or justification in this day and age. There are technologies which could exclude the BBC signal to all but those who subscribe to BBC channels. I think the BBC should stand on its own two feet and prove itself. If enough people think the BBC is fantastic then surely they can subsidise it through subscription and it will stay - but surely its wrong to force others who do not like the BBC to pay for it because of other peoples preferences?. Most other companies have to offer quality or value for money in order to survive and they have to change their tactics when they are losing money or customers. At the moment the BBC gets a blank cheque from the taxpayer. Why should the BBC be exempt from market forces? I really resent paying £145 per year (with threat from the BBC bully boys at Crapita) under duress when I watch virtually no BBC, don't like their left wing bias and don't like the fact that their "stars" and top executives are being paid extremely generously whilst the rest of the country has to tighten its belt during these difficult economic times.

this is pretty much what I wanted to post but you put it far more eloquently than I did.

hallmark

Abolish the fee now & let the BBC fight for it's money.

- The idea of a fee is totally outdated & relates back to when only about 10 people had a TV

- Their coverage may be "unbiased" but it's also heavily censored. You get a very sterile view of lots of news items.

- It's not advert-free, it's chock-full of adverts for their own programs

- Huge chunks of the fee go on paying crud presenters like Ross & Brand or equally crud ex-"sportsmen" like Colin Jackson & John Parrot, & many many others, none of whom would EVER get a job if the channel employeeing them was actually being run as a business.

If the Govt feels it necessary to have a single state-run TV channel & Radio station (which is not a bad idea) then fund it from general taxes. Or let it have regular adverts & fund itself. But the BBC in it's current state is an outdated joke of a concept.

StevieJ

ninky wrote: »

for how much longer though? they are already pulling the sports news from freeview.

The irony there was if you are a Sky subscriber but not of the sports channels you could could not access Sky sports news, but you could on freeview.