Is the licence fee worth it? Poll discussion

newcook

Do you people truly believe that the licence is money well spent? That it is good value for money?

What I think goes to show just how low the BBC go with regards to the licence is that if you are blind you can have a reduction of the licence - golly thats kind of them isn't it

The BBC really are bullies - give me your money or you cant watch telly. Are they still going to use this tactic when the whole country switches to digital and people have already paid to upgrade their telly so digital is built in/bought a freeveiw box or subscribed to sky/virgin etc??

The reason BBC poo their pants about subscriptions is because they know people will um and ah about it as the BBC has few decent programmes to keep people watching. ITV, C4 and C5 have excellent documentaries, programmes, soaps which keep people watching from primetime to bedtime EVERY NIGHT - they know they cant afford to lose viewers so they keep things fresh. The BBC only offers this 30% of the week IMHO.

Anyway - going home now. Will catch up tomorrow! Night all!

squirreltufty

Defiant wrote: »

Hey it's not a crime to admit you agree with the majority of people in this country who are forced to fund stuck up lefies



I am because I'm being classed as a criminal for not paying for your entertainment yet the BBC can fleece the public (including children- blue peter fake phone-ins) and the police ignore it.

I know you're really a secret Dr Who fan.;):rotfl:

westernpromise

Who on earth are the muppets who think there are no ads on the BBC? The BBC is absolutely packed with ads - ads for the BBC website, ads for BBC radio, ads for BBC competitions, ads for other BBC channels, ads for other BBC programmes and (until forced by a court ruling to stop) ads for the BBC Radio Times.

The ads aren't limited to the space between programmes either - much of the time, the ads start during the credits at the end of the programme.

People have been conditioned into thinking that these aren't ads because they're for the BBC rather than for soap powder and credit cards. But ads they most certainly are and if they were all banned you would find the BBC's market share fell still further.

The BBC gets about 20% of the TV audience on average. That means that if the full cost of its operation were billed only to those who actually use it, the licence fee wouldn't be a bargainous £135 but more like £700 a year. It is only "cheap" and "good value" and all the other tosh because the rest of us are forced to pay for it on pain of criminal conviction whether we use it or not. Did you know the BBC poll tax is the biggest cause of imprisonment of single mothers? About 1,500 single mothers go to prison every year because they didn't pay to keep Islington media luvvies in cappuccino and polenta.

On that basis, anything used by 1 person in 5 and subsidised by the other 4 is going to look "cheap", but it ain't.

Can we also dismiss the ludicrous argument that it's "only 35p a day"? You can make any tax sound cheap by dividing it by 365. How about doing it the other way round though and adding up what it costs you over your lifetime. What's the lifetime cost of your TV poll tax? Well, if you start paying it at 25 and pay it for the next 50 years, then at a compound rate of 5% interest, the cost of the BBC is £30,000 per license payer. Yes, THIRTY THOUSAND POUNDS!! Do we still think that's good value? What would you really rather have - thirty thousand quid or the BBC?

squirreltufty

... and my salary will be £287k at that rate of increase:D

ckerrd

Defiant wrote: »

You think I've not seen the BBC double act before to try to get threads closed. You keep on and on even when evidence is given that the BBC are involved including television centre and then your mate try's saying I'm going off topic :rolleyes:



You should be apologising to the millions of people being forced to subsidise your entertainment

No need to get so paranoid.

As far as I am aware I don't know anyone who has posted on this thread.

I never said that Television Centre wasn't involved, just that your example of it was wrong - and still is.

I rarely watch BBC television.
It shows little of what I enjoy watching.
I do use BBC websites nearly everyday and I often listen to BBC Radio, but not exclusively

sluggy1967

Defiant, does it not occur to you that you are paying to watch the commercial channels? How do you think the adverts are paid for? By passing the cost onto the consumer!!!!

bj-sailaway

mbanbrook wrote: »

Does Martin get paid by the BBC for his appearances? If so, his site has technically started a debate about whether one of his employers should remain in business!

:money:

I heard on the grapevine that he gets paid very nicely for all his TV appearances! Would love to hear his comments on this one?

Dan29

bj-sailaway wrote: »

I heard on the grapevine that he gets paid very nicely for all his TV appearances! Would love to hear his comments on this one?

What, on whether Martin gets paid for doing his job? :rolleyes:

aMIGA_dUDE

ckerrd wrote: »

Ofcom guidelines
The total amount of advertising in any one day must not exceed an average of 7 minutes per hour of broadcasting

Oups, well that must include pointless channels like QVC in that. To me that 24/7 advertisement selling goods.

I would also say that as well about the pointless quiz (fix) channels.

absnasm

planenut wrote: »

Blue Peter anybody?

When the licence chaser pestered me after I had not used the set for over a year and therefore not relicensed, he told me that a computer would also count as a receiver.

Does it say so on the website? TV Licencing are way behind the times on what technology is available. I'd imagine if you had a TV card in your computer, it would count. But from the way I interpreted it, you could legally download shows after their broadcast - using Bittorrent or something like C4 On Demand - without violating any law, as long as what you're downloading hasn't been released to buy on DVD. They're horribly inconsistent in their policy, too. As far as I can remember, the website says you need a licence "to receive TV signals as they're being broadcast". But when I got the forms to apply for a refund, having cancelled my cable and unplugged the ariel, they wanted proof that I didn't have a telly at all, like proof that I had sold it.