Still value for money for me, I only watch freeview and some of the free catchup services, no subscriptions and no Sky.
2 Likes
I think the contentious issue is how much ‘value for money’ is it for someone who don’t watch or listen to a single channel…but still got to get a licence to aid paying the ‘stars’ salaries
It’s a classic case (the licence fee) of too entrenched and too big to fail.
Imagine if there was NO licence fee today and never had been, and today someone said (Gov’t or something) that from January, every household will have to pay £170 even if they don’t watch or listen to a single BBC channel, but watch live TV live some other means. I wonder if that would pass lol
1 Like
Have the BBC not been told to find an alternative funding method by 2027 ?
1 Like
I’m not sure. In all honesty i kind of tune out (no pun) as every other year someone seems to get the Culture Sec job and initially talks tough, but nothing ever really comes out of it, just hot air.
It’s just so ingrained, institutionalised, too big and all encompassing,despite falling numbers esp amongst Gen Zs etc
1 Like
The license fee will eventually fail as us oldies die out…the youth just don’t see the point in it. The only way the beeb will survive is a different monetary model which more than likely the government will force upon the population.
2 Likes
I don’t watch live TV, haven’t done for several years. But I gladly pay the TV licence fee. I value the BBC and am proud of their standing on the world stage - I don’t mean Dr Who or Graham Norton, but moreover BBC News. The unique funding model of the BBC and the charter that goes with it means they report facts rather than opinions, they avoid political bias and generally provide balanced reporting of events untainted by tabloid style drama. People all over the world look to BBC News to get an accurate account of events. BBC in general also churn out some excellent drama, which is a bonus!
6 Likes
I could manage without BBC TV but not Radio 4 - intelligent programming with fantastic journalism (From our Own Correspondent) great documentaries (especially File on Four). I’ve a Netflix subscription but increasingly finding that hard to justify, but happy to pay the licence fee for BBCR4.
1 Like
Fair play, imo, that’s about the funniest post I’ve read in years 
6 Likes
There’s an awful lot of BBC-bashing on social media nowadays. I wonder why? (Rhetorical question - cough cough right-wing owns most of the press cough cough)
2 Likes
I don’t think it’s so much ‘bashing’; whether one thinks it’s biased or not, (cough) ‘balanced’ or not, ‘stars’ salaries justified or not, content any good or not are other issues. I think the gist of the thread, the license fee, is is that appropriate even when one don’t even watch or listen to the channel, and receive state fines in certain cases. The license fee model, which sees literally (not all of course for folk who don’t watch live TV/radio or any TV/radio, but how many, as a percentage, is that) every household in the UK having to pay £170 a year, even if they don’t watch it, is simply a relic of a bygone era which would never be introduced now if there had never been one. But it’s simply too big to fail and entrenched to scrap.
2 Likes
BBC R4
Yep…BBC R4 was part of my late Dad’s routine both pre and post his heart attack
But he got understandably confused when I said he could hear it better via Sky TV [I mean who wouldn’t 
]
And he point blank refused to wear his hearing aids …even though we named them ‘Albert’ and ‘Bertie’
As his older sister suggested the song for his funeral
“I did it my way” [Frank Sinatra]
And he did inspite of the severe heart attack/brain damage and surviving prostrate cancer
I’m happy I was able to give you a laugh mate. To each their own.
2 Likes
The licence fee for me buys advertising free broadcasting (ignoring BBC promos) and for me that’s well worth the price of admission.
3 Likes
But what if you never watched it, nor listened to it, but got Sky or something similar, and got no desire to watch the BBC ever…still worth the £170 you’d have to still pay?
1 Like
Duh…Trust me to miss the obvious re TV Licence…No Adverts 
When I reflect on programmes I regularly watch on other channels e.g. The Chase because I ‘fast forward’ through the Adverts…I hadn’t recognised until now how much this annoys me and the more ‘commercial’ the channel the more Advert Breaks
Greg Davies deals with these with Great Humour on ‘Taskmaster’ 
I dont really mind…for about 50p a day I get stuff like David Attenbourgh and so on…and a few decent Murder/ detective short series. Plus a few decent radio proggies. I detest the BBC habit of saying it’s New Stuff when it fact it’s just repeats move to a different channel .Antiques Roadshow is a classic example. Got to be on your toes to not waste your time. There’s piles of corner cutting going on as well. I guess there are a lot of Third World countries getting a lot of services FOC. I do not know for sure. Fair play. By the same token I pay Virgin 113.00 £ a month for the Full Bhuna package and equally detest subbing new starts to entice them to join up! 
But I can afford it, so I do it and I dont have a gun to my head after all. Mind you, I hardly watch landline stuff these days…I’m a Netflix & Prime/ Paramount junkie. Nice wee dish of Pringles, maybe a cheeky wee Turksh Delight & a large Ozzy red …luvvly jubbly Rodders.
2 Likes
Glad that your father enjoyed BBCR4. I wouldn’t want to go down the Sky route - I used to work for Murdoch and in its early days he gave us all a free box and dish. Then channels became more and more paid-for and I gave it away. And that’s before we get on to Wapping.
1 Like
For me it’s a worthwhile charge, and I feel I get value from it.
I listen to quite a lot of radio and cannot stand commercial stations with the incessant adverts. The same with commercial Freeview channels. If I’m interested in something on ITV/C4/C5 I’ll record it and then take advantage of being able to skip through the adverts 
But equally I fully understand those who don’t want to pay it. If you’re not making use of the services on offer, why would you continue to pay? Quite a useful article on MSE covering this:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/broadband-and-tv/tv-licence/
Cheers,
Steve
2 Likes
Agree with you whole-heartedly 
re Sky
I’m still with them but they do my head in with their lack of transparency/changing the names of products and assumptions regarding my usage so it’s a Battle come renewal and I hate conflict
However, I do enjoy many of the programmes they provide and sometimes it’s ‘better the devil you know’ when it comes to ‘doing a deal’
Kindest
‘Alternative Method of Funding’
I’m not sure either but I believe the TV Licence Fee has been ‘frozen’ for a while and they’re having to make some cuts
Was it me half awake this morning when I thought I heard they were cutting ‘Hard Talk’ which is a shame as I found this programme most interesting
As for ‘Repeats’ I’ve found the BBC/ITV/Most Commercial Channels including Sky do this as a matter of ‘automatic scheduling’ as a consequence of viewer demand (?) for T.V. 24/7 ???
Don’t think Netflix/Paramount do this ???
And I do appreciate ‘On Demand’ and ‘Catch Up’
And ‘Walter Presents’ for all my Scandi Dramas