To wish the BBC had adverts

[JazzAnnNonMouse]

so that we wouldn't have to pay a TV licence?

I normally channel flick through adverts anyway and they don't bother me that much (wee break, cuppa etc). The BBC advertises its own programmes now for quite a long time in-between programmes anyway.

I just think £145.50 for the few channels that the BBC provides is an awful lot!
AIBU?

i agree that HBO produce some fantastic tv, but you are paying quite a lot to be able to watch these productions via sky or virgin and some HBO productions are shown on bbc and chanel 4 (The Wire, SATC, The Soprano's)

what does the bbc work out to £12 per month its excellent value

Media advertising revenues are plummeting and you see the results in programming quality - paid for services are going to be increasingly dominant. At least the BEEB desnt charge a subscription AND show adverts.

Freudian - Sky is worth its subscription fee for Sky Atlantic alone. How can shows such as Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones be described as crap? Not to mention their sports coverage which makes the BBC's look amateur.

If you watch live tv feed through a computer you are still liable to pay the fee.

I really don't understand this reticence to pay for a service that you may not necessarily use. Do you feel the same way when you pay your council tax and there is a fee for policing or another element that you don't use???

I'm not sure why my message has posted twice?

watching tv in america is awful, they have so many adverts and it switches to an advert so quickly that i sometimes think it is teh next scene

have not yet seen broadwalk empire this will be on my christmas list

i really don't find that much to watch on bbc, what is so great about it?

cranford or maybe eastenders?

I do pay... wish I didn't have to!
I think the council tax comparison is a bit different... I don't mind paying for the police etc

Question Time, Newsnight, nature docos, MadMen, Strictly, Poor Kids, Our War, Enders, The Hour, Who Do You Think You Are, CBeebies (part funded by license and subscription), Dr Who, Coast, practically all of BBC4 (none of which would make it to air in a commercial world), Outnumbered, Glastonbury coverage to name but a few things...!

madmen is imported

and that's the only thing i watch.

i genuinely think more interesting things would be made if the beeb had more competition

I think lots are missing the point of the OP.

Those of you who are happy to pay, that's great- but why should those who do not enjoy BBC programmes be compelled to pay it if they want to watch any of the other channels?

"i am often shocked people moan about the bbc but happily pay £30 or more per month for the crap sky/virgin show"

Imagine then if you were compelled to pay an equivalent amount to Sky or Virgin in order to watch your preferred BBC channels. And if you refused, you have the choice of no TV at all or a fine. If you can't pay the fine, you go to prison.

It's a disgusting system.

I am sorry but paying for sky is a choice, tv licence is not. My dd is starting uni in 2 weeks and I had to pay tv licence for my home, one for her tv in her room at halls and a contribution so her and room mates could have one in in communal area. I mean FFs, I am supposed to be pleased that I can claim £36 back next summer for the time she will be home for the holidays.

Indeed Mad Men is imported - the cost of which comes from the LF.

thank you tethersend!
I'm not debating whether BBC makes good TV - I know it does but I don't like that I have to pay for it regardless of whether I watch it or not.

my solutions:

Have the option to not have BBC and receive free TV (I wonder how many would still pay?)

BBC have adverts: would be a slight annoyance perhaps but as it would still be the BBC and have the same programmes (as they seem to be so loved) it wouldn't really matter...?

BBC work on a pay per view system - they get their license fee and people don't pay for more than they watch?

I'd rather have BBC TV and radio channels and no other channels at all. I hardly ever watch commercial television. Listen to Radio 1,3, 4 and 5.

I really can't stand any of the imported US TV shows. I tried with 24, Heroes, Prison Break but got fed up with them stretching the plot thinly over 20+ episodes, then it doesn't get concluded properly, you have to watch series two! ITV used to have fantastic dramas and Sunday night shows but hardly any now. Only one I can think of more recently is Foyle's War.

My favourite programmes in the last few years have been Zen (which they bloody cancelled) New Tricks, Sherlock, Life on Mars, Robin Hood, Strictly, Vicar of Dibley, Spooks, Gavin and Stacey, Miranda, Inbetweeners, Doctor Who, Masterchef, Springwatch, Great British Bake Off, Saturday Kitchen. Only one of those was not on BBC. We also watch Newsnight regularly. Even then I forget to watch the things I really want to see, iPlayer gets used a lot. Most nights I just watch the news, that's it.

Yabu, would happily give up all the other crap and just keep the BBC. I never watch anything 'live' on the commercial channels any more. Hooray!

well that's great for you but do you think that everyone who wants to watch television should be forced to pay for the things that you love? They might not like them at all but still have to pay. Imagine if it was the other way round, BBC was free but to get it you had to pay for all of the other channels?

I guess your attitude will be coloured by your tolerance of adverts.

You call them "a slight annoyance" but to me they are a major fucking pita .

It is just another tax - if I don't like my library or don't use the facilities provided by my council I don't have the option to opt out or decide where my cash is going.

The point of public service broadcasting is exactly that, to provide a public service - to inform, educate and entertain, not to pander to what advertisers want. It provides a balance to other massive media companies like Sky - the Murdochs will take over the world if you let them.

I can't believe so many people still have Sky after the recent revelations.

seems kind of weird that we can be put in prison for not paying for a tv station!

I don't get the wierd, snobby opinions on here. I love the BBC but the OP is right in the sense that it should be optional. Why should someone have to pay of they don't watch the BBC channels for instance. There are educational and informative channels and programmes on sky too, my favourite is discovery kids.

YABU. In France we pay the T Vtax and there are still adverts and the programmes are no way of the quality of a lot of the BBC output, particularly the news programmes and documentaries.

People in the UK who complain about the BBC don't realise how lucky they are. It is a fabulous service, respected worldwide.

I miss it so much.

YABU. I hate adverts. I hate the way they can turn an hour long film into a marathon watch. And the fact that by and large they are utterly moronic.

I use a great deal more of the BBC than just TV anyway.