Body & Soul2 mins ago
Abolish The Licence Fee?
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Surely the simple answer is to abolish the licence fee (tv tax) and if we must fund the BBC fund it from general taxation?
Surely the simple answer is to abolish the licence fee (tv tax) and if we must fund the BBC fund it from general taxation?
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Just a point of pedantry (which I have explained many times in the past couple of weeks) but TV licence dodgers do not face jail any more than speeding motorists do. The maximum penalty for both offences is a fine of £1,000 (or £2,500 if speeding on a motorway). It is FINE dodgers who face jail. Anybody fined for not having a TV licence, along with anybody fined for any other offence, only faces jail if they show wilful refusal or culpable neglect by not paying their fines.
The simple answer is to fund the BBC from general taxation. A more complicated answer would be to fund "essential" BBC services such as news from taxation and let the BBC decide how to raise funds for the rest of their output in the same way as commercial TV companies do. The problem with my idea is that there would immediately be an argument as to what constitutes "essential" (hence my enclosing the word in quotes).
The simple answer is to fund the BBC from general taxation. A more complicated answer would be to fund "essential" BBC services such as news from taxation and let the BBC decide how to raise funds for the rest of their output in the same way as commercial TV companies do. The problem with my idea is that there would immediately be an argument as to what constitutes "essential" (hence my enclosing the word in quotes).
I still want to see a BBC which is funded in some way. I don't want them to be like another commercial channel. You know the thing - you watch a programme, just get interested and then after 8 minutes of programme you get 4 minutes of boring adverts and around 20% of the total time is spent on adverts which don't interest you in the slightest. And don't get me started on the future for BBC radio if central funding disappears.
The point is that speeding is mandated by law as being undesirable, and enforced with speeding penalties, fines, and then prison if all else fails.
But to have the same level of mandated ruling over obtaining a licence to watch TV? Seems anachronistic to say the least.
In 2012 alone, some 155,000 people were convicted and fined for not paying the fee which seems an extraordinary waste of the courts time - and 107 people actually jailed. This is a disproportionate response to what amounts to a mechanism for funding the BBC.
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But to have the same level of mandated ruling over obtaining a licence to watch TV? Seems anachronistic to say the least.
In 2012 alone, some 155,000 people were convicted and fined for not paying the fee which seems an extraordinary waste of the courts time - and 107 people actually jailed. This is a disproportionate response to what amounts to a mechanism for funding the BBC.
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I'd like to go but the main issue may be how to phase it out. i suppose you could allow everyone to cash in their licence but that would be very expensive for the Treasury until such time as the required amount is raised through tax.
Another aspect is that governments like to disguise the true level of tax by spreading it across many things (fuel tax, road tax airport tax, TV licence, VAT, IPT), and maybe reluctant to put up income tax by 1p in the pound to pay for it.
I'd like to see it go though, just as I think Car Tax should be replaced ny higher fuel duty.
Alternatively it should be a subscription service just like Sky. Come to think of it, the licence fee seems pretty cheap compared to Sky subscription costs
Another aspect is that governments like to disguise the true level of tax by spreading it across many things (fuel tax, road tax airport tax, TV licence, VAT, IPT), and maybe reluctant to put up income tax by 1p in the pound to pay for it.
I'd like to see it go though, just as I think Car Tax should be replaced ny higher fuel duty.
Alternatively it should be a subscription service just like Sky. Come to think of it, the licence fee seems pretty cheap compared to Sky subscription costs
CJ, the BBC is not alone in delivering those.
You dont like adverts, fine, I get that but why do you expect others to fund your desire? I dont expect you to pay for my Lovefilm or Virgin subscription
The licence fee should be abandoned (many pay it by DD anyway now so not much to refund) and taken over by general taxation. It shoudl then be gradually reduced until it can stand on its own two feet and those that wish that type of viewing pay for it (not have others pay for their luxury)
You dont like adverts, fine, I get that but why do you expect others to fund your desire? I dont expect you to pay for my Lovefilm or Virgin subscription
The licence fee should be abandoned (many pay it by DD anyway now so not much to refund) and taken over by general taxation. It shoudl then be gradually reduced until it can stand on its own two feet and those that wish that type of viewing pay for it (not have others pay for their luxury)
There is a fixed amount of advertising revenue and there is no doubt that if the Beeb were to be funded by advertising other channels would lose out.
Like all other channels, if a programme isn't popular it won't attract advertising and will be scrapped from the schedules - I don't want advertisers to dictate what I can watch.
Who will pay for programmes like Watchdog? Not the companies it investigates, including insurance and utility companies. No advertising, the programme will be scrapped.
Where is the money for the BBC radio stations going to come from? Currently 18% of the licence income pays for radio. There are some fantastic niche programmes that won't be funded by advertising and that will be a great loss.
How much would I have to pay in tax to fund the licence? It won't be per household but per individual but many households pay no tax at all and so won't be contributing.
I'm a big fan of the BBC and don't begrudge the licence fee at all
Like all other channels, if a programme isn't popular it won't attract advertising and will be scrapped from the schedules - I don't want advertisers to dictate what I can watch.
Who will pay for programmes like Watchdog? Not the companies it investigates, including insurance and utility companies. No advertising, the programme will be scrapped.
Where is the money for the BBC radio stations going to come from? Currently 18% of the licence income pays for radio. There are some fantastic niche programmes that won't be funded by advertising and that will be a great loss.
How much would I have to pay in tax to fund the licence? It won't be per household but per individual but many households pay no tax at all and so won't be contributing.
I'm a big fan of the BBC and don't begrudge the licence fee at all
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Some probable knock-on effects of abolishing the licence fee:
1: The rapid closure of many wholly independent channels. The available advertising revenue has (through the introduction of web & social media advertising) fallen by over 90% in real terms in recent years. ITV has struggled to survive and would almost certainly close down if the BBC took away some of its advertising revenue, as would many other independent channels (both on terrestrial TV and via satellite).
2:The loss of channels already providing advertising revenue to the BBC (as they're co-owned by it), such as Dave, Drama, Yesterday, Gold, Watch, Really, Alibi and Eden, through their own loss of revenue.
3: The loss of most content from the world's biggest and most informative website (excluding 'user-contributed' sites, such as TripAdvisor).
4: The loss of some of the world's best orchestras.
5: The loss of many activities designed to development musicianship, such as BBC Young Musician of the Year and the Radio 2 Young Folk Award.
6. The loss of the BBC Proms.
7: Most importantly, the loss of BBC Radio 1, 1 Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, Radio 4 Extra, 5 Live, 5 Live Sports Extra, 6 Music, BBC Asian Service, BBC World Service, Radio Scotland, Radio Nan Gaidheal, Radio Ulster, Radio Foyle, Radio Wales, Radio Berkshire, Radio Bristol, Radio Cambridgeshire, Radio Cornwall, BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, Radio Cumbria, Radio Derby, Radio Devon, BBC Essex, Radio Gloucestershire, Radio Guernsey, BBC Hereford & Worcester, Radio Humberside, Radio Jersey, Radio Kent, Radio Lancashire, Radio Leeds, Radio Leicester, Radio Lincolnshire, BBC London 94.9, Radio Manchester, Radio Merseyside, BBC Newcastle, Radio Norfolk, Radio Northampton, Radio Nottingham, Radio Oxford, Radio Sheffield, Radio Shropshire, Radio Solent, BBC Somerset, Radio Stoke, Radio Suffolk, BBC Surrey, BBC Sussex, BBC Tees, Three Counties Radio, BBC Wiltshire, BBC WM 95.6 and Radio York.
The licence fee pays for a great deal more than just BBC TV channels. I've not even watched any TV for the past few months (since my aerial fell down) but I'm still happy to pay the licence fee just to fund BBC Radio, which is the best in the world!
1: The rapid closure of many wholly independent channels. The available advertising revenue has (through the introduction of web & social media advertising) fallen by over 90% in real terms in recent years. ITV has struggled to survive and would almost certainly close down if the BBC took away some of its advertising revenue, as would many other independent channels (both on terrestrial TV and via satellite).
2:The loss of channels already providing advertising revenue to the BBC (as they're co-owned by it), such as Dave, Drama, Yesterday, Gold, Watch, Really, Alibi and Eden, through their own loss of revenue.
3: The loss of most content from the world's biggest and most informative website (excluding 'user-contributed' sites, such as TripAdvisor).
4: The loss of some of the world's best orchestras.
5: The loss of many activities designed to development musicianship, such as BBC Young Musician of the Year and the Radio 2 Young Folk Award.
6. The loss of the BBC Proms.
7: Most importantly, the loss of BBC Radio 1, 1 Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, Radio 4 Extra, 5 Live, 5 Live Sports Extra, 6 Music, BBC Asian Service, BBC World Service, Radio Scotland, Radio Nan Gaidheal, Radio Ulster, Radio Foyle, Radio Wales, Radio Berkshire, Radio Bristol, Radio Cambridgeshire, Radio Cornwall, BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, Radio Cumbria, Radio Derby, Radio Devon, BBC Essex, Radio Gloucestershire, Radio Guernsey, BBC Hereford & Worcester, Radio Humberside, Radio Jersey, Radio Kent, Radio Lancashire, Radio Leeds, Radio Leicester, Radio Lincolnshire, BBC London 94.9, Radio Manchester, Radio Merseyside, BBC Newcastle, Radio Norfolk, Radio Northampton, Radio Nottingham, Radio Oxford, Radio Sheffield, Radio Shropshire, Radio Solent, BBC Somerset, Radio Stoke, Radio Suffolk, BBC Surrey, BBC Sussex, BBC Tees, Three Counties Radio, BBC Wiltshire, BBC WM 95.6 and Radio York.
The licence fee pays for a great deal more than just BBC TV channels. I've not even watched any TV for the past few months (since my aerial fell down) but I'm still happy to pay the licence fee just to fund BBC Radio, which is the best in the world!
I am on record here on AB for defending the BBC to the hilt. There simply isn't any other broadcaster in Britain that even comes close to providing the quantity and quality that the Beeb does.
Buenchico has made a very convincing job of listing all that we would miss if the BBC ceased to exist. The licence fee is not a perfect way to fund the BBC but it is cheap at £145. That isn't per person...its per household. High quality programs, no adverts and dozens of stations...not sure if it could be done any cheaper...certainly it can't be done any better.
Buenchico has made a very convincing job of listing all that we would miss if the BBC ceased to exist. The licence fee is not a perfect way to fund the BBC but it is cheap at £145. That isn't per person...its per household. High quality programs, no adverts and dozens of stations...not sure if it could be done any cheaper...certainly it can't be done any better.
You don't need a Lovefilm and Virgin subscription. You can watch Freeeview like the rest of us. Time was when commercial concerns didn't get to put in large bids to get exclusive rights to stuff the BBC would show previously anyway. Either live as int he case of some sports, or eventually as in the case of some film or other. It's the subscribers willing to pay that lost the community that.
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