Tv licence, why?

[vinrex7]

Why do we need a tv licence? Is it just for the BBC? How much of the fee goes to the government?

[MarkRae]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/licencefee/

[hc4361]

The BBC gets the lot.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/licencefee/

[tonymclark]

If we didn't have the Licence fee we would have adverts on the BBC, and I for one don't want that.

[vinrex7]

So if it all goes to the BBC, then how can it be illegal not to have 1? What's stopping other companies charging you for something you may not want.

[jackthehat]

http://www.theanswerb...?q1=BBC%2Blicence+Fee

You should find any answers amongst this little lot..........

[hc4361]

If you have the ABILITY to receive bbc channels live you have to have a licence, whether you choose to watch those channels or not.

[ChuckFickens]

Because other companies are unlikely to get an act of parliament passed making it law.

[hc4361]

I don't have children so don't use the education system; I've never called the police or fire emergency services; there is no street lighting on my road; I don't use the council refuse service. I haven't seen a street cleaner for years.
I still pay council tax.

[jake-the-peg]

Taxs are like that - I don't want a fleet of trident submarines up in Faslane.

However looking at the guff on the commercial channels it seems a good system.

Maybe you like an endless diet of "when cops go bad", American sit com repeats, Australian soap operas and, serious journalistic investigations into the world's fattest people.

I'd say we have the best broadcaster in the world in the BBC ( know anyone better?)

It would be typically British to distroy a world leading British institution because we're too tight to pay what 50p a day

[vinrex7]

@Jake, you may like what the BBC show but I do not. People should have an option to pay for BBC and if they don't want it, they don't pay seems simple really. Just another way to screw money out of us.

[bundleone]

Where else would they get the money to provide us with all the entertainment we get.
I dont beleive people who say that they NEVER watch BBC.

[supapapa]

Do other countries have TV licenses?

[mike11111]

I am old enough to remember when the BBC was the only channel. When ITV finally reached our area in 1959 - wow! a choice of two channels.

[ABerrant]

The TV Licence is a requirement to receive any UK broadcast TV channel, not just the BBC. That the BBC is the recipient of the licence fee ("tax"), i.e. TV viewer money is retained within the industry, is eminently better than the Government grabbing hold of it and using it to build warships/planes and then mothballing/scrapping them etc. etc.

Many countries operate a similar system...
http://en.wikipedia.o...ki/Television_licence

[VHG]

>@Jake, you may like what the BBC show but I do not

What nothing?

They make such a range of programs I cant believe there is nothing you dont like.

Note the license fee it also pays for BBC radio and the BBC web sites.

I for one go on the BBC News and Sports web site EVERY day, probably a dozen times a day and it is a brilliant site.

[NazNomad]

BBC should be PPV.

[ljdksa]

I don't listen to radio and would be quite happy to have the BBC channels removed from my TV to save the cost of the license. I pay £24 for all the channels from Sky!

[mccfluff]

i'm quite happy paying it, programmes like human planet etc make it worthwhile imo

[Old_Geezer]

It's not a really a tax because if you don't have receiving equipment you don't pay the licence for having the option to watch the BBC.

If we didn't have the licence fee we wouldn't necessarily have adverts on the BBC. It would just need to consider the best alternative way to be funded. IMO it is a valuable asset and it's budget should be covered by the public under general taxation. Else it risks going the way of all the majority viewer chasing commercial stations and loses its value to us and the world in general.