Is it time to defund the BBC ?

[Nomorefees]

Just that - is it time to defund the BBC (Biased Broadcasting Corporation) and make it subscription only?

Discuss

Absolutely not insurmountable thank goodness, I have better things to spend £159 on for something I actually need and want
I liked Happy Valley and watched the first two series on BritBox, then Cancelled it, the streaming method suits me. Just as the licence method suits others, it’s just that people should examine their viewing habits and I think millions of people pay it when they don’t need to .

Yes, the BBC should be defunded. I cancelled my license last year.

It has changed now. As long as you fill in the form on the BBC website, they will leave you alone. I think they review it every 2 years to see if circumstances have changed etc.

That is exactly the correct attitude. The BBC does not exist to cater for one section of the population alone, they have something for everyone. I don't listen to podcasts or watch BBC3 but I'm happy to pay for the license fee to fund the whole spectrum of services.

I agree that it needs fixing but the people who keep crying "Defund" like a bunch of hyenas have zero idea that no other state broadcaster in the world produces the quality output that the BBC does.

Saying it should be a subscription service is missing the point completely as it is a state broadcaster and the funding it receives from the license fee funds all sorts of things. "Well, if I don't use it, I don't care about it" is the typical selfish attitude we have come to expect in this day and age. Hope you will be happy getting your news from the Daily Fail, the Torygraph and GBeebies

@letitkeepgoing
thats correct, however I personally don’t see why you should have to really. I would never share personal details with them if declaring LLF

Pray tell, are the news on Netflix and Disney Plus impartial or do you not even bother with news (Guess we know the answer)?

100% this!

They don’t want your medical history. What’s so highly confidential about your name and address - which they’ve already got?

I read the news....on the bbc website which you don't need a licence for.

I think the point is I don't actually watch anything (I was actually using netflix as a price comparison, not my only viewing 🙄)

Even so a "good impartial news channel" is not worth £154 per year....

Even so a "good impartial news channel" is not worth £154 per year....

It’s cheaper than a newspaper.

Im no fan of the bbc but you are not sent to prison for not having a licence.

Think about the subscription services we have in the UK. Basically Netflix, Amazon, Disney and Apple.

Think about their output. Either big blockbusting drama, low budget film, documentaries about stars that are already bankers or animated children’s output.

Theres basically no news, no documentary, no output for marginalised groups, nothing live, no Saturday morning joviality, nothing that’s not evergreen content.

Don’t watch live telly and don’t pay your licence fee
by all means, but the argument that the BBC would be able to continue in any recognisable form as a subscription service is laughable. The first thing to go would be all regional news and radio. Then all arts and religious programming. Than the war correspondents and the political reporting. Then CBBC and Radio 3, Radio 4, Antiques Roadshow, Countryfile, Eastenders etc. So yeah, fuck all the people who watch that stuff. Too expensive. It’s Line of Duty all the way (which wouldn’t have been made in the first place because it started on BBC2, which wouldn’t exist)

@Blossomtoes
they don’t have your name
just the address
all communications are addressed to ‘the legal occupier’ I should know I have been getting a letter every month like clockwork for three years
all gone in the recycling bin
ChilliJonCarne is an advocate for completing the LLF Declaration as it helps with stats and he does have a point
I believe you can declare LLF status without divulging your real name

No, time to remove all the Tories installed by Cameron onwards in the management though and for it to be funded properly. I still think the BBC is the beat broadcaster in the world. I watch loads on BBC1-4, listen to the radio stations and loads of free content on BBC Sounds.

How do you think the BBC News website (the most read in the world) is funded?

I’ve been reporting on the mags courts for 20 years. Never seen a single person sent to prison for not paying their licence, and I’ve only seen one sent to prison for not paying eleven years of fines imposed for not paying their licence. He got a week in jail and served three days.

Make it a choice to have on your tv or not. Get people to buy a subscription.

No, i think it 's very good when it gets thing right - Kids learning, Drama, Sport, Nature, World Service, International Journalism, Radio - but terrible when it screws up, as it has just done.

To fix it, take it out of the political arena, 10yr + funding plan and no more political appointees.

No. We are so lucky to have a state broadcaster, and while we might complain about impartiality etc it would be 100 times worse without the BBC. It would all be controlled by advertisers like in the US. The existence of the BBC makes other broadcasters raise their game.

@weightymatters73 what the PP said, how do you think the news website is funded? I mean, I'm not Einstein, but even I can understand that the licence fee funds the whole of the BBC media output.

They sent loads of threatening letters to my elderly DF who had no TV, internet or any device that he could watch any TV on, I found them all after he had died when I was sorting through paperwork.

It used to be free for over 75s but if you didn't get the licence you still got the letters because they sent them to my dead DM as obviously she couldn't renew it as she was dead

Everyone thinks it's bias. So it's probably not.

@Nomorefees Mr Lineker has earned well over a million pounds a year, for years. You discuss.