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?

Well, it's a thread saying I wish there'd be ads on the beeb so I don't have to pay the license fee - and I think many people have pointed out why that would be A. Very. Bad. Thing.

It's not as simple to say 'we could just have adverts and watch the same bbc tv for free'. If the BBC went commerical, the quality would suffer.

And, it's not really as simple as being forced to pay for something you personally don't watch - it really should be seen as a broadcasting taxation. It is, and has been since the very birth of broadcasting the very groundbreaker of tv as it is today - technologically as well, it's not all about 'programmes ideas' - the beeb has done and continues to do much for British television - as mentioned upthread. Things that commercial channels just would not be compelled to do. The BBC is so much more than a commercial tv company - you can't just kick it out now Sky has come along.

I don't actually work for the beeb btw (wish I did!)

"If the BBC went commerical, the quality would suffer."

Undoubtedly. But I'm not sure the threat of that justifies criminalising those who want to watch only commercial channels and don't pay. Besides, if everyone really does use the BBC, then there should be no issue with a pay per view service.

pointy, there is no democratic process attached to this taxation though- library funding is currently being slashed and I will, as I assume you will, use my vote at the next election to register my disapproval of this and hopefully abate it.

and I am SO starting the yellow stiletto campaign

I don't think there should be a democratic process attached to library funding.

Sometimes, I don't think The People's Voice should be listened to at all.

Well, that's a fair point, but we do live in at least a (pseudo) democracy where there is a democratic process attached to taxation- I was simply pointing out that library funding contains key differences to the License fee...

Sad about the libraries too :(

Love the BBC, libraries and yellow stilettos.

YABVU

The BBC is fantastic!

This says it all:

Now, what to wear with the yello stilltoos...

This might be the most U anyone's ever been in the history of AIBU!

The BBC is for all of us, and it's even more for those of us whose interests and requirements aren't commercially viable. Do you think we'd have radio stations in Hindi and Welsh and probably Scottish Gaelic for all I know (in fact, isn't there an SG tv channel?) and advert free kids TV and BBC4 and programmes on the history of cartography and programming for deaf people and all the other unprofitable stuff that commercial channels wouldn't touch with a bargpole if it weren't for the Beeb? Would anyone else have funded Blue Planet (footage from which, I notice, is all over every other fecking nature programme - thus keeping your licence fee down).

Pay your licence fee! Feel really good about supporting the interests of every other resident of this wonderful country!

Oh, and every friend of mine who lives anywhere else in the globe would KILL for a media service like the BBC. It really is one of the best in the world and we should be proud to fund it.

Oh, and while I'm on this soapbox: the BBC delivered iPlayer, the first and best delivery of online streaming. The very existence of the BBC makes Sky and Virgin and all the rest of the commercial channels better - you think they would have developed a streaming service if they didn't have to?

Yay for the BBC - boo to adverts!

A pay-per-view just instant appropriate - because the bbc is not only about 'viewing programmes'.

It does stuff that benefits everyone (even commercial tv) and broadcasting as a whole - things that would have to be paid for by the government some other way if the beeb weren't doing it. And you can bet the bbc make a far better job of it than any government dept!

*isn't appropriate

BBC News and the World Service create knowledge and reduce wars.
Good reliable News is something we take for granted in this country.
The Licence fee is a small price to pay for that.

Well, technically no one is FORCED to pay it if they feel that strongly. They could just not have a TV.

And in some ways I kind of DO think 'forcing' people to pay for it is a good thing. Or their could be, for example, children who grow up in houses with NO chance of watching anything other than commercial, contrived bollocks.

A lot of the BBC is educational. We force everyone to 'pay' for education, through taxation, and we 'force' children to learn (to the best of our ability) things they may not want to, because it is good for them.

YABU i absolutely hate adverts. V+ and on demand has saved my sanity. I have no problem paying for the BBC good shows without be bombarded to buy useless shite. Their radio programmes are second to none. i love that DD can watch cbeebies without being baptised into our world of commercialism and greed.

Plus me and DH get more than our money back in nights out to recordings and concerts. I regularly go to the ulster orchestra concerts they put on and i would normally have to pay £20 a ticket. TV and radio recordings are also a good night out and they give you free wine!

No, I don't want the BBC to have adverts - shows on commercial networks are becoming shorter and shorter to fit more adverts in and older shows are chopped up horribly to fit in the new advert timeslots. I also found the quarterly 'tele-thons' that the American Public Broadcasting has to do to get proper funding annoying as well as it interrupts normal shows and is pretty much begging due to further government cuts. So I guess I see the license fee as the least of all evils and the most civilized way of making sure a broadcasting network is truely public and therefore give us more rights in trying to make even more changes for the better in media.

Ok so I have changed my mind slightly... I agree now that it would be a shame to put adverts on the BBC. I do however still think that if people could opt out of having BBC and thus not paying a licence or perhaps a significantly reduced one would be good.

I do pay my license - stop accusing me!! TBH I didn't realise that the BBC was so instrumental in the progression of broadcasting e.g iPlayer etc.
I like the BBC - if there was an option to opt out or not I would probably still like to receive BBC channels BUT I think it's something that should be a choice.

Thing is - as someone said earlier, a lot of the actual infrastructure is down to the bbc - new digital technology, for example. That's why it's compulsory for everyone who has a television (or indeed internet I believe?)

Just think of it as a broadcasting tax - there's no opting out from taxes for things you don't personally use.

Ho hum, the bbc does sooooooo much more than people realise - it's not just about watching the programmes :)

My view is that we need to see the BBC as more than just a means of showing TV programmes- there is so much more to it. It would be easy to underestimate how important it is to have politically neutral news reporting- look at countries where most of the newspapers and TV channels are owned by one man, who is an allegedly corrupt politician. In the UK, we came incredibly close to having an enormous chunk of newspaper and TV media owned by one corporation- a company whose senior officials are currently under investigation for repeatedly breaking the law and conducting a wholesale cover up, allegedly putting undue pressure on politicians all the while.

The BBC produces a huge amount of educational programming- resources that are required to show a balance of viewpoints, available to children and adults. Given the increasing influence on our schools of religious groups (and other groups with particular agendas), I value the independence the BBC has (and I fear that the government will try to remove this).

The World service is regarded as being hugely beneficial in terms of international relations, and is seen by many as a great diplomatic asset.

The quality of programming that the BBC is able to produce, in the knowledge that it has this revenue stream, means that its programmes and services can be sold on across the world, making lots of money back.

Back to the adverts- I hate adverts. I won't listen to radio stations with adverts. I don't even think the BBC should be allowed to trail other BBC stations and programmes. I'm happy to pay the licence fee to avoid adverts.

I see it a little bit like the postal service- it's a vital service that is of benefit to the whole country, and it shouldn't be just a money-making, advertiser and profit driven operation. It means that niche markets can be served, such as non-English language broadcasts. Programmes don't have to be appealing the the mass-markets and advertisers to be culturally valuable.

Finally, you are not forced to pay the TV licence. If you do not watch TV broadcasts at the time of broadcast, and can demonstrate this, then you don't have to have a licence. There are plenty of ways of watch later via internet etc.

The BBC is about more than TV shows, and whether or not you watch them.

It is our only unbiased news source. All other news agencies are controlled to varying extents by advertisers.

That alone is worth the fee. Then of course there is the programming.

Actually I think now if you have access to iPlayer, you still have to pay licence - correct me if I'm wrong

Yes, Jazz I think that's correct.

On the point of the unbiased news other people raised, that's why Rupert Murdoch hates the BBC - he wants to own everything!

So glad so many other people love the beeb so much too.

Think it's time for this:

YABU - the only thing holding back the sheer number of adverts on british tv is the fact that the BBC has none. Have you ever watched TV in america? It once took me over 4 hours to watch return of the jedi!!!!

I love the BBC Plus I would pay the licence fee for BBC2 and Cbeebies alone :)