Do You Need The BBC?

[Car Boot 10]

I ask the question again. If the BBC was completely scrapped tomorrow - do you really really think the Television Licence would disappear??

 

The TV tax would certainly be scrapped in its current form if there were no BBC to justify it's existence.

 

With British teenagers recognising the name ‘YouTube’ more than they do ‘BBC’, and Netflix spending more than £6 billion on content last year alone, the BBC TV licence fee is increasingly being exposed as inadequate, old fashioned and definitely not fit for the digital age.

[A.B.Yaffle 24]

The same could be said for any public service or government funded scheme, is it fair that people who will never use a particular service are forced to subsidise other people that do?

 

 

 

It's as fair/unfair as any other public service, part of living in a civilised/fairer society.

 

So you think it should be funded by general taxation, rather than being unfairly funded by Sky TV or ITV viewers. That would be fairer than the current system.

[ECCOnoob 1,041]

The TV tax would certainly be scrapped in its current form if there were no BBC to justify it's existence.

 

With British teenagers recognising the name ‘YouTube’ more than they do ‘BBC’, and Netflix spending more than £6 billion on content last year alone, the BBC TV licence fee is increasingly being exposed as inadequate, old fashioned and definitely not fit for the digital age.

 

I have told you twice now. There are TV licences in existance all over the world, even in countries where the psb are funded by adverts.

 

What makes you so sure it will be scrapped?? There are other things if funds which will still need paying.

 

Lets say they did actually get rid of it eh? Then what?

 

Perhaps they should increase property tax like they did in the rural USA to fund broadcast services. Or maybe you would prefer the China method of applying a tax to all cable subscriptions. What about the Iceland method perhaps, you would love this, a poll tax on all income tax payers whether or not they watch or listen to any TV or Radio.

 

You see a pattern here.

[Car Boot 10]

What do you want, a round of applause?

 

So YOU dont watch BBC services. YOU dont pay a licence fee. Whoopie Doo. Nobody cares.

 

Lots of people still do watch it. You have failed to provide any credible submission that the licence fee will magically disppear if it goes and now you are trying to do a mystic meg on its future with wildly long ranges as between 10 - 30 years!! God sake, if you are going to make a prediction at least narrow it down a bit.

 

I have no interest in funding any part of the BBC. Let it fund its own operation.

 

Perhaps all of the BBC fans on here would like to put their hands into their own pockets, for once. Don't ask me, or anyone else, to pay for YOUR radio and TV consumption. We are not your slaves, we don't work to pay for your BBC entertainment choices!

[ECCOnoob 1,041]

I have no interest in funding any part of the BBC. Let it fund its own operation.

 

Perhaps all of the BBC fans on here would like to put their hands into their own pockets, for once. Don't ask me, or anyone else, to pay for YOUR radio and TV consumption. We are not your slaves, we don't work to pay for your BBC entertainment choices!

 

Jesus christ I might as well talk to a brick wall.

 

Communications Act 2003 section 4 (1).

 

Ask yourself again what does the law say you need a licence for.

 

We do put our hands in our pockets as does anyone else who watches broadcast television.

 

Oh and by the way, since you dont pay for it, why the hell do you think YOU are paying for any radio and tv consumption.

 

No, you are certainly not a slave to it. YOU DONT PAY IT.....right?

 

Or was that a load of horse crap all along eh?

[Car Boot 10]

I have told you twice now. There are TV licences in existance all over the world, even in countries where the psb are funded by adverts.

 

What makes you so sure it will be scrapped?? There are other things if funds which will still need paying.

 

Lets say they did actually get rid of it eh? Then what?

 

Perhaps they should increase property tax like they did in the rural USA to fund broadcast services. Or maybe you would prefer the China method of applying a tax to all cable subscriptions. What about the Iceland method perhaps, you would love this, a poll tax on all income tax payers whether or not they watch or listen to any TV or Radio.

 

You see a pattern here.

 

I did state that I thought the BBC TV licence fee would be scrapped IN ITS CURRENT FORM, if there were no more BBC. The funding might be placed on council tax, electricity bills, general taxation etc.

 

If there were no more BBC, then the TV licence fee would be much, much cheaper. The vast BBC empire is very expensive to maintain.

 

---------- Post added 02-04-2018 at 19:56 ----------

 

Get rid of the BBC, and the TV licence fee would be £3.5 billion less per year.

 

Win. Win.

Edited April 2, 2018 by Car Boot

[Magilla 510]

So you think it should be funded by general taxation

 

While the BBC stays way ahead of other news sources when it comes to levels of public trust and perceptions of accuracy and impartiality, there seems little reason to change the system.

 

In these days of fake news, the need for an organisation like the BBC is more evident than ever.

 

For the moment, the license fee seems to be working quite well for most people.

 

rather than being unfairly funded by Sky TV or ITV viewers.

 

As before, it's no more fair/unfair than any public service.

 

The vast majority of UK citizens use the BBC in some form or other daily. The people who claim to be *only* Sky or ITV viewers are a tiny tiny minority.

 

That would be fairer than the current system.

 

Perhaps, not overly helpful in the impartiality stakes tho.

[A.B.Yaffle 24]

Jesus christ I might as well talk to a brick wall.

 

Communications Act 2003 section 4 (1).

 

Ask yourself again what does the law say you need a licence for.

 

We do put our hands in our pockets as does anyone else who watches broadcast television.

 

Oh and by the way, since you dont pay for it, why the hell do you think YOU are paying for any radio and tv consumption.

 

No, you are certainly not a slave to it. YOU DONT PAY IT.....right?

 

Or was that a load of horse crap all along eh?

 

I don't think anyone is questioning what the law currently says. We are debating whether it should be changed. In my opinion it should be changed. If we want a state run broadcaster it should funded via general taxation. I would prefer a subscribtion fee which we could have the option of opting out. I have no desire to pay for politically biased TV channels.

[Guest]

How would you know. You dont watch it.....right?

 

I believe the convention is to use no more than three dots for a pause in written speech...though I could be wrong.

[ECCOnoob 1,041]

Right, thank you.

 

We are finally getting somewhere.

 

So just to be clear, you both think that it is much fairer for the licence fee to be scrapped in its current form and the relevant elements to be funded out of general taxation (with inevitable increases) which will affect the entire taxpaying population (whether or not they even use any broadcast services).

 

.....very interesting.

[Car Boot 10]

The same could be said for any public service or government funded scheme, is it fair that people who will never use a particular service are forced to subsidise other people that do?

 

If the BBC is a public service why does it demand preferential treatment on pay transparency compared to the other public services? Why does it demand that it alone should not face any public scrutiny on pay?

 

Pay transparency is greater in the public sector and demanded of the civil service, in the form of a published grade system. The BBC has had to be dragged kicking and screaming into revealing its staff salaries on a vague banded scale. These salary disclosures the BBC was FORCED to make revealed not only very high pay for top presenters and managers but also an extremely large pay gap between men and women doing equal work.

 

The BBC wants to be a public service organisation only when it suits it. Time to scrap the licence fee which is being abused.

[choogling 14]

I love the bbc radio output but very rarely watch T.V except for the news one of the many things I can find fault with is the right wing , Corbyn , anti-brexit bias. Some of the supposed entertainment I.E The generation Game is pathetic ,plate spinning with safety glasses on ,jokes so old they have hairs on. Its a pity we cant have a pay to see what you view system of licence fee ,