Is the TV Licence fee worth it? Poll results/discussion

Mercenary

I have a total of 12 programmes/series that I am currently watching but none of them are on the BBC channels as I'm not interested in the mindless dross that is to be found there (soaps, reality shows, zelebrities etc :eek:).
I know that the dross content is not confined to the BBC, but at least there are the American series' i.e. House, Brothers & Sisters and NCIS (to name some) to be found on the other channels.
There is the occasional BBC programme I'll tune into (like The Shogun last weekend), but otherwise most of my viewing is from Channel 4, E4, More4 and FIVE.
I record onto a Hard Drive Recorder as what I want to watch is usually scheduled for late evening, view it at a time that suits me.....and I can skip the ad breaks!

I do object to paying for BBC programming that I don't want, and would be happier if the money went to improving the quality of programming from other 'free' channels too. I also refuse to pay for cable packages as they tend to show wall-to-wall rubbish too. :mad:

freddy27

All you sad people who prefer to pay 40 Quid a month to Skye must be daft. That is 480 quid a year, for a load of rubbish. And they steal our viewing time of sport that I might like to see, though not enough to make me feel like paying so much.:beer: I'm better off without it, and Murdock can take a running jump.:T

snegom

It is said that if no TV but computer you still have to pay the license fee. true? 10 out of ten for recycling.
Far too expensive for what you get.

rgoodger

I do not see how we can be charged twice for the same service.

I have a contract with sky that provides certain channels, including BBC.

The very least that should happen, is for customers who use another digital provider(sky - BT - Virgin) should have a discounted TV Licence or discounted digital service. Government should be acting on this.

As I seldom watch BBC channels and never listen to BBC radio, the system is close to fraud. Why should BBC radio be subsidised by those people who use a TV, and may not even possess a radio.

It would be the same to pay council tax for facilities you dont use or need...........oh, that happens as well!

harryhound

rgoodger wrote: »

As I seldom watch BBC channels and never listen to BBC radio, the system is close to fraud. Why should BBC radio be subsidised by those people who use a TV, and may not even possess a radio.

No car? No Radio? The automatic traffic news cut in has to be worth something.
That said don't forget LBC's 1152 in the London area for road information.
I like to think the BBC maintains a standard in journalism and is not in the pocket of big business, with a hidden agenda. Do you trust the recycled press releases and sweeps of the blogosphere that passes as journalism on some of the other media networks?
It is good news that some people had to walk the plank over such fixes as Blue Peter!

bluewomble69

Those who complain about the cost of the BBC have not been exposed to commercial radio for any length of time - it is simply impossible to close your ears to adverts. Don't forget that if the BBC were to take advertising its clout would destroy what's left of ITV and severly hit the much-improved channel 5 and channel 4. The BBC also actually make programmes - the majority of satellite/cable stations do not.
The beeb has also been saddled with much of the costs of the digital switchover by the government too (which ironically itself stands on the remains of a failed commerical venture - remember OnDigital? Well, it became Freeview). Yes - sometimes the BBC view of the world can be irritating, but a public broadcasting service is a precious thing.

lyndorset

I do not think it is worth it and resent every penny it costs:

After nearly 2 years of abismal reception, new aeriel and TV, reception at its worst on BBC channels and often going down just when you were part way through one of the few things worth watching, we bit the bullet and had sky installed, following a recomendation on MSE site. Now we watch even less BBC, but at least what we do watch, we can see.

When I contacted BBC, they were not interested in our lack of consistant reception, but were quick to point out that we would still need a license if we had a TV to watch DVD's on!

I would gladly pay 20.00 a year for BBC radio (especially traffic news on BBC Radio 2), but the rest of the fee is complete daylight robbery.

patman99

Interesting set of posts so far.

The BBCiPlayer & 4oD services do not need a licence as they stream pre-broadcast programs. however, ITV & C5 don't yet have services such as this (although all the tv stations are soon launching a jointly developed tv delivery system entitled 'komodo'), when this happens I'll be canceling my TV license.

One point to make, if you have broadband & you have a friend or relative with broadband, it is quite legal to set-up a network-attached media server with a couple of TV cards in it. By placing it in a house covered by a tv license, you can remotely set it up to record the programs you want, and then stream them to your house without the need to have a license yourself (now theres an idea! I think I'll set-up a media server farm & charge people £10 a year to allow access to it to record & stream their tv progs.)

And finally....
Channel 4 is a wholey govt owned channel. Perhaps the BBC should take notice of what their Japanese counterparts did a few years ago. They decriminalised not having a license, and instead they send a collection agent round once a month to collect the license fee, if you don't want to pay, then you simpley don't. You won't get a fine or anything. The end result, the amount of people who now pay for their license has risen from 62% to 98%. Why?. Well, as it is no longer a crime, there is no thrill in license-fee dodging.

Gemmzie

I thought that if a TV was in the property and had the capability to receive TV signals then you needed a license? If so, then with more TFT monitors becoming able to receive TV or with TV built-in, then surely a licence will be needed for those?

rikreschem

Think of life without the BBC.
No Monty Python
No Goon Show
No Steptoe
No Dads Army
No Attenborough
No Paxman
No Hancock
No Clarkson
The world would be a much poorer place