TV licences

UKParliament

Hi MSEs

Today at 3.30, Chris Bryant MP will be asking an urgent question to the Government in the House of Commons on their proposals on concessionary TV licences.

Watch live or via catch-up on Parliament TV.

What are your thoughts about free and discounted TV licences?

HappyMJ

You want my opinion...

Free licences for all...paid for by general taxation.

Nearly all of us use some sort of taxpayer funded television, radio or internet service so why not have everyone pay for it. The poor obviously won't be contributing anything as they don't pay tax.

And...stop criminalizing those that can't afford to pay and would rather have food on the table.

edit : It's easy enough to make the iPlayer a paid for subscription service. They say they spend millions providing the infrastructure so we can all watch it and yet it does not require a licence. Even with the news sites...the Sun, the FT and the Times charge readers to view news articles so why not the BBC. I probably wouldn't use it but at least it's user pays.

Netflix and Amazon Prime can do video on demand for a charge and do very well out of it so why not the BBC.

Cornucopia

Yes to decriminalisation.

Change the Licence Fee into a BBC Subscription, and then people can decide for themselves whether they want/need the BBC or not. There is no need for a TV tax. TV is not a social service, and there is plenty of Free-to-air ad-funded TV anyway.

BTW, when is someone in power going to ask the BBC how Licence Fee enforcement is supposed to work? I've never come across a public service process so full of questionable practices and loopholes.

Getting rid of the Licence Fee means no need for concessions. But I don't understand the logic of the Over-75 concession, anyway. Why Over-75s? Why not all pensioners? And why wealthy pensioners, but not younger people on low incomes?

Nick_C

I would tend to agree with free licenses for all. I certainly don't agree with free licenses at a certain age.

However, the BBC also needs to be smaller and more efficient than it currently is. We have a plethora of TV and Radio stations than are not required. I think the BBC should cut back to 4 national radio and 2 national TV stations (while keeping regional TV news and current affairs). The rest should be sold off. The website should be run as a commercial operation paid for by advertising.

The other night, the BBC were broadcasting two different weather reports concurrently on BBC1 and BBC News.

They waste money on having reporters on the spot who add nothing to the quality of the reporting. The recent harassment of the girl who went topless on a Malaysian mountain springs to mind. As does the live helicopter coverage of the police raid on Cliff Richards' house.

System

The licence fee needs scrapping, if people want it why cant they not have a Subscription so pay to view. I have a TV i never watch live TV in fact its never been tuned in or earial connected. I only use it for my PS4

If i need to watch TV i will watch C4 on catch up, just for 8 out of 10 cats.

Why should i and the people who dont watch live TV pay for a service that we don't use.

The money i save on the licence goes either in my cupboards or freezer for food or electric.

Nada666

mackemps3 wrote: »

Why should i and the people who dont watch live TV pay for a service that we don't use.

Why do you pay for a service you don't use? If you don't use it don't pay for it.

Double_V

Scrap the fee please.
It should be included in our monthly bill to Sky, BT, Virgin or other providers.

spenderdave

I am confused by the free over-75 licence (another 10 years before I qualify, so the licence may well have been scrapped by then anyway). I take it that currently the government pays an equivalent amount to the BBC to cover those licences. Under the new arrangement the BBC will be paying itself for those licences which seems a bit pointless. In effect it is saying that the BBC will now have to raise that amount from other areas or increase it for those who do pay to end up with the same income.

System

Does any1 know if they have said people will need a licence even if they use iplayer

GingerBob_3

The solution to the licence fee problem is blindingly obvious: collect it together with the council tax, assuming all properties have a tv. Then for those that haven't, let them claim a refund. That way you could dispense with the entire collection operation, which I believe costs in the region of £100m. The current system of licensing and collection is typical of the mad systems we have in this country.

HappyMJ

mackemps3 wrote: »

Does any1 know if they have said people will need a licence even if they use iplayer

Licence not required....as long as you don't watch programs as they are being broadcast.