Bbc license fee

Cornucopia

duggan1 wrote: »

Surely only 'free' if your time is worthless...

If your time was that precious, you would not be watching TV at all.

These same arguments could be made about the NHS...

You think that if the NHS disappeared, a free-to-use, ad-sponsored alternative would be available?

Deepfatfriar

What I find unacceptable is that from next year we licence (tax) payers will be funding the World Service and thus providing a "free" service to the rest of the world. Why I ask should we do this ? I appreciate we have done this for years via our taxes through the Foreign Office.

The BBC's duty is to provide a service to Britain, hence it is called British.

It runs several commercial channels as well BBC World and BBC America to name but two.

It is significant that "England" by definition pays by far the greater part of the funding yet there is no BBC England.

There is BBC Scotland,Northern Ireland,Gaelic, Wales,an Asian Network, even BBC Persia but no BBC England.

almillar

Deepfatfriar - are you in England? Do you have a TV? Turn it on, and goto channel 1,2 (Freeview) or 101, 102 (satellite). You're now viewing your very own BBC region.
According to this page (I know, Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_English_Regions
'England' actually has 12 regions to itself! Feel neglected now?!

Artofdookie

Doesnt help when people get £50k of the fee for doing nothing http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/06/12/line-of-duty-robert-lindsay-lennie-james-bbc2_n_3429279.html?icid=maing-grid7|uk|dl2|sec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D186809

Deepfatfriar

almillar wrote: »

Deepfatfriar - are you in England? Do you have a TV? Turn it on, and goto channel 1,2 (Freeview) or 101, 102 (satellite). You're now viewing your very own BBC region.
According to this page (I know, Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_English_Regions
'England' actually has 12 regions to itself! Feel neglected now?!

There is a difference between a Region and a Country which is the point I was making. The BBC is very quick at pointing us to English Regions but there is no BBC England which is my point.

A region is a locality not an identity.

almillar

So you want to get rid of all the English regions, and just have BBC England instead? Or do you want both? Have a look at ITV losing regional studios like Granada. Local TV is yet another thing that BBC are able to do better than commercial stations.

tommie

TV licences: 400,000 don't have one, but do you know the law?


Michael Connolly
MSE News Reporter
18 June 2013








Over 400,000 households have told the BBC they do not need a TV licence because they only watch catch-up TV, they only use it for games or they just don't watch programmes at all on any device.
The figure comes from a Freedom of Information request made by The Times newspaper.
It's important you know when you need a licence or you risk wrongly paying up to £145.50 for having one, or a fine of up to £1,000 for failing to buy one when when you do need it. (To find out more, see our TV Licence guide.)
TV licences

400,000 don't have one, but do you know the law?


When do you need a licence?

• It's all about if you watch 'live TV'. If you watch shows as they're broadcast, whether via the TV, internet, your mobile or an any other device, you MUST have a licence.
• Only watch catch-up TV? No licence needed. If you ONLY watch via catch-up services such as BBC iPlayer and/or subscription services such as Netflix, if they don't simultaneously appear on a TV channel, you don't need a licence - even if watching on a TV screen. If any programme you watch is simultaneously broadcast live on TV, then you do need a licence.
• It isn't about whether you watch the BBC or not. While most of the cash goes to the BBC, the licence is for watching any TV channels 'live' - even if you only watch satellite or cable channels.

Artofdookie

The BBC has come under fire for reportedly spending nearly £15,000 in licence fee money to keep 'The Voice' coach Sir Tom Jones happy in a five star hotel.

whiteside

Artofdookie wrote: »

The BBC has come under fire for reportedly spending nearly £15,000 in licence fee money to keep 'The Voice' coach Sir Tom Jones happy in a five star hotel.

I suspect this is but a drop in the ocean for the money wasting BBC. If they were so confident in their supposed world leading programming then they could have a voluntary subscription or carry adverts like the others. It's very easy for the bbc to blow huge amounts of money on their staff and so called celebrities etc when it's public money.

I acknowledge a lot on here think its good value for money. I hope the day comes when those of us who don't are allowed to opt out. (And still watch the numerous alternative live tv channels legally)

almillar

Here's how they spend the licence fee, not in great detail:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/whoweare/licencefee.html
Anyone saying they don't watch the BBC (or iPlayer, OR radio, OR the BBC website, which are ALL funded by the licence fee), remember that the Digital TV campaign was also paid for by the licence fee and I think it's fair to say that this money has helped push digital, and HD broadcasting in this country.