To think they should scrap TV licence and advertise?

[pinkunicornsparkles]

I wouldn't care if there were adverts on the BBC. I would prefer it actually, so that I wouldn't have to fork out for a TV licence every year.

Yes it should be scrapped.
I feel ripped off every time I pay for a licence.

My tv doesn't even get BBC, ITV etc.. & I'd have to go & buy a freeview box or something in order to watch it.

I haven't watched anything on BBC1, BBC 2 or any other number, ITV, Channel 4 or 5 for years.

The only reason I have to pay for a tv licence is because my son watches live tv sometimes (subscription kids channels, not any of the BBC channels).

Absolutely not. Adverts are a total pain in the neck, and this would be the beginning of a slippery slope to the current situation where advert breaks on some freeview programmes are almost as long as the programme itself.

More seriously, if we make the BBC dependent on commercial funding, that would be the end of all the slightly quirky but fascinating programmes that you only find on BBC TV and radio, and we'd end up with a race to the bottom.

You do realise, OP, that actually you are paying more for the commercial channels with less choice of whether to pay or not? The cost of all those deadly boring adverts gets added to the price of what you buy in the shops, whether you watch any TV or none whatsoever.

I think Beldon is right, it keeps the other channels "honest". If ITV and C4 started putting in ad breaks with the frequency that American TV does- opening credits, ad break, 5 minutes of the show, ad break and on and on- UK viewers who have been conditioned by watching the BBC would lose patience and not bother watching. If ad free TV did not exist then all the commercial channels could gradually increase the frequency of ad breaks till it reached American levels, and there would be nothing to flick over to and reset the tolerance level.

I also really like BBC Radio Ulster and Radio 4, and the cross-subsidy from the TV licence fee keeps these going. I like ad-free radio and I like all the local stuff like Your Place and Mine and the slots where they play trad Irish music and the Pipes and Drums programme. Not sure that would survive on a commercial station.

RTÉ, the state broadcaster in the Republic of Ireland, does have ads and they are at a reasonable level, but they also have a licence fee. If they were funded entirely by advertising I suspect the ads would be a lot more frequent and/or the range of original programming would take a nosedive.

I'm always quite puzzled by people who proclaim that there's nothing worth watching on the BBC whilst equally proudly proclaiming that they never watch it. How do you know there's nothing worth watching if you won't even give it a try? There's such a very wide range of programmes on that it really is incredibly difficult to believe that there is not one BBC programme which the BBC deniers might actually enjoy. Why would you deliberately close your mind to that possibility?

As well as TV channels. The licence fee also goes towards all national and local radio. National, regional and local news. All of BBC online, plus technical needs such as transmission towers etc. A proportion goes towards digital innovations and technology progress to design, create and build platforms such as the iPlayer and looking forward to how media is evolving and will be delivered in the future.

@BigChocFrenzy is it fuck.

The point is that because the public pay for it they get unbiased news, a shit load of channels and programmes and a huge radio service that spans many channels. You (please let me do a mass generalisation here) all bloody whinge about the Mail and the Sun etc. what do you think happens when the BBC has to fund itself?

It isn’t about adverts, it’s about having an unbiased news network that isn’t owned by the state. Your licence fee also funds channel 4.

If you don’t want to pay your licence fee, stop watching anything but Netflix or a service you pay for. MUCH LIKE YOUR LICENCE FEE.

Well the ending of the free TV licence for the over 75s certainly backfired. There has been a huge upsurge in applications for Pension Credit As they will still get free TV licence if over 75 and on PC

My grandparents think of you pay for something like Virgin/Sky then the TV licence should be included, obviously if you don't watch BBC then you shouldn't have to pay it either. But the way all TV works is a bit of a bump tbf, what if I just want a few of the Nature programmes? Nope, not possible, you have to pay for the whole "package" instead of say "choose 20 channels for £X, 30 for £X etc".

No to adverts, yes to subscriptions. There is a lot of shite on the BBC in my opinion but Mumsnet has got an older demographic that mostly still watch ‘TV’. Everyone that I know under 25 spends the majority of their screen time on services like Netflix or YouTube. No wonder they are charging over 75s, in the future this group will be the only ones watching.

Australian television has about 5 ad breaks per 30 minute show, its awful and ruins tv imo. Even the abc (non commercial) runs ads for its own programmes that regularly and it's really annoying. What I'd do for a tv license! (Lived in uk for 10+years so feel like i can compare)

I miss the BBC. Fecking North American tv ads do my head in. You get about 7 minutes of program before another 3 or 4 minute ad break. Utterly ridiculous. And I have to pay for the service provider anyway.

The BBC is fabulous. Take it from an Anerican. The content and service is some of the best in the world. You do not want to lose this.

By allowing advertising, you’re opening up your news and viewing content to bias (think Fox News) and you really do not want programmes to be 10 minutes of your show, stop, 5 minutes adverts, back to show, adverts etc. So annoying!!

I do not mind at all to pay for the BBC

Radio 4 and the archers is worth the fee alone!!

The BBC used to make quality programmes but I feel in the last 10 yrs there has been a sharp decline.

For every David Attenborough documentary there are 10 Homes Under the Hammer, Cash in the Attic, The One Show (which is utter drivel), Pointless, etc.

The license is increasingly unsustainable and the BBC should go to subscription only.

The BBC’s biggest problem is that young people don’t watch it. My children (one a young adult) don’t really do the TV anymore but when they do it is pretty much always Netflix.

Oh for a subscription model. The last time I watched BBC was after Years and Years was recommended on here. And yes, it was excellent. But before then? No idea, the BBC just doesn't produce TV that I like to watch.

A subscription model would be fairer for all (and you can get Attenborough on 4 or 5 other subscription and FreeView channels...)

I think that without competition from the BBC, subscriptions to Netflix, Sky etc would be higher. Advertising is moving away from TV, newspapers etc so I am not sure that advertising revenue could fund BBC TV, national and local radio.

Yabu. The BBC is respected worldwide as a trustworthy source of information. It produces huge amounts of great programming and IMO, is worth every penny compared to subscription models.

I dont object to paying it. I watch more BBC than other channels. Although I have some Sky channels I only have Sky for my kids and personally I could happily manage without Sky if I was taking away channels by choice.

Yabu. We need the bbc more than ever so everyone has somewhere reliably safe from ‘fake news’

Loads of stuff you watch on Netflix and amazon prime was originally commissioned by and originally shown on the BBC. BBC is the envy of the world when you go abroad. Didn’t the BBC commission David Attenborough’s programme highlighting problems with plastic in the ocean? What other broadcaster would do that and have such an impact worldwide? I can’t think of one.....

It's irrelevant whether or not the BBC is 'invaluable' or an 'institution.' (Its not. Its a biased corporate machine where people are getting paid millions. If it really was for the public interest then the public wouldn't be funding porches and mansions.) The license fee should be scrapped out of principle. The way they act as if everyone owes them money by default is a scandal- either let people opt in by paying a fee and then allow access to the BBC, or abolish altogether. Why should people who only watch, say, Channel 4, Dave and MTV sit through adverts but still legally have to pay for BBC? They know they wouldn't stand a chance if they didn't make the public feel like they need to pay just for having a physical television situated in their homes. They don't outrightly tell you 'Do you only watch Netflix/ play video games? No need to pay!' Theyre underhanded and they make me sick lol.

I don't object to paying for the BBC, I watch a lot on BBC 4, I love radio 4 too. And I don't know how I'd cope with DD without a bit of CBeebies. I think it's invaluable to have a children's channel which isn't constantly pushing plastic tat in the ad breaks. I watched Milkshake with DD the other day at a family members house (couldn't work out how to change the channel/find CBeebies) and I was quite shocked at the amount of gendered crap pushed in the ads breaks.

Everyone is saying young people don't watch. We're both sub 30 and have enjoyed;

The apprentice
Killing eve
The bodyguard
Bake off
Planet earth

Just some of the multitude of shows we've watched in the last year or so. I also live under the hammer when I get chance.

Also like DDs watching CBeebies as no ads, stick on Nickelodeon or similar and DD1 is pestering for whatever they show. We use Netflix but it's the same shows on a loop for her.

Also listen to radio 1/2/4

I don’t want adverts and I respect the BBC’s mission. I don’t want another biased channel controlled by rich old men.

??? A biased channel controlled by rich old men is exactly what the BBC is.

How many years has it taken for people, from experts in numerous fields to ordinary people like me, to convince BBC management that giving airtime to 'both sides of the story in the name of balance' does not justify giving equal airtime to proven myths and lies under the pretence that they are valid. I've lost count.

Advert-free news and public interest programmes, advert-supported everything else would be my choice.