To think it's a terrible idea to scrap the BBC licence fee?

[dellacucina]

Inspired by this article: www.google.com/amp/s/www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1242927/BBC-News-Boris-Johnson-license-fee-subscription-British-Broadcasting-Corporation/amp

I'm recently naturalised and I think that the BBC is part of what makes Britain special. It makes me very sad indeed to imagine it being cut down.

The BBC provides high culture and education for everyone, and I am really dismayed if that becomes something that is solely available for those who can afford it, as it would in the end if it was only available by subscription.

You do realise that people currently pay for the BBC via the license?

OP, I was quoting Lynn with the link with racism

But hey, you made the passive aggressive comments 😂

The constant comparisons to Netflix as if it is comparable to the BBC seem quite uninformed. Netflix is a massively debt-leveraged venture capital company which has no public service remit, so no news, current affairs, educational programming (other than streaming BBC docs) or live sport.

You can watch and read the news for free online or on numerous other channels. Same with current affairs.

Netflix shows plenty of non-BBC educational documentaries. So do NowTV and Prime.

Not everyone is interested in Live sport, and even if they were, surely you'd subscribe to Sky sports or similar anyway?

The point is that the license fee is outdated. People are required to pay it in order to watch any live TV even if it has nothing to do with the BBC, yet the BBC is the only broadcaster to benefit from it. It worked when there were four channels but now there are literally thousands to choose from, it's an outdated way of funding a select few.

Adaline “ it's an outdated way of funding a select few.”

Exactly.

The BBC provides high culture and education for everyone, and I am really dismayed if that becomes something that is solely available for those who can afford it, as it would in the end if it was only available by subscription.

But that's already the case. The license fee costs about the same as a Netflix subscription.

@EntropyRising I think the idea is that a lot of people would opt not to pay for the licence for various reasons. The result would be that paying viewers would have to pay more and then things would happen like eg poor children not being able to access the excellent educational programming because their parents chose not to / could not pay the undoubtedly higher fees (just mentioning this type of programming because it seems to be a common theme)

@AutumnRose1 oops, I had intended to be overtly aggressive; that PinkShinyflowers poster was being an utter bellend toward me and I truly hope they understood that I don't think much of them.

OP, the funny thing is

I thought you were being aggressive

Then you came back at me and said no

So I opted for passive aggressive

He needs to make a part 2 of that video.

A lot of people agree with streamliningkids content on paid services like Sky and Now TV is about paying a fixed fee for several channels. If CBeebies/CBBC became a paid for channel like Nickolodeom then there would be ads but they'd be able to watch the content and the BBC could use the money to create more kids content.

Schools could still show kids content that is appropriate to their topic work. For some I suspect that school is where they watch educational programming anyway

Also less news, so less independent scrutiny of the government, and a population even less well informed than it is now.

Perhaps that argument was correct several years ago but sadly not anymore.

Also getting rid of the TV licence may not mean less news it will just mean the BBC will have to come up with another source of revenue perhaps by cutting out dead wood (Like Dr Who) and concentrate on quality written TV again.

In fact it may IMPROVE the BBC news content if people subbed for it. Who knows? But households should not be forced to pay over £13 a month just for owning a TV so they can watch other channels.

EntropyRising Sun 16-Feb-20 20:02:42
The BBC provides high culture and education for everyone, and I am really dismayed if that becomes something that is solely available for those who can afford it, as it would in the end if it was only available by subscription.

You do realise that people currently pay for the BBC via the license?

Yes of course, but if the BBC became a subscription only service to maintain its current quality it would inevitably become more expensive, a premium service for the middle classes who could afford it - I probably couldn't.

And for the poster who said it costs the same as a Netflix subscription - does Netflix also offer the same news coverage, the Radio stations, etc?

You people really don't understand what you have until you have lost it!

@AutumnRose1 I pretty clearly made a comment directed at PinkShinyflowers which suggested they are a xenophobic dick (because the comment othering me was really rude) but then explained that actually I sincerely was curious about the interaction (if any) between the vote and the opposition to the licence fee.

It has been really depressing to watch the general dumbing down of culture and people here, biased news coverage, etc - but then all that makes people so much easier to control and influence a la Dominic Cummings! Soon there will be people brought up on a cultural diet of social media and reality TV alone, and no-one will see anything wrong with that...

Yes, the UK would be nothing but a benighted people in the absence of a mandatory BBC.

Do you know many smart/informed people, by the way, who get their news mainly from the BBC? (honest question).

@EntropyRising here's a different way to think about it: do you know anyone who is genuinely smart/informed who doesn't access BBC news at all? I would have thought it would form the backbone of most people's news consumption in the UK - is this not your experience?

It would be more expensive. At each level there’d be more who couldn’t afford it. At some price it would be too much here -as much as I loathe radio ads and don’t ever listen to commercial radio.

I’m ok with tv ads on streaming so apart from the odd political programme that’d be ok.

Soon there will be people brought up on a cultural diet of social media and reality TV alone,

Strictly, Eastenders, Drag Race and Match of the Day is hardly quality programming. Not everyone watched the BBC is watching Attenborough, Newsnight, Panorama and Songs of Praise

If you go on holiday from Mexico to Morocco you can get BBC News on their cable provision. BBC World news is available virtually everywhere. It's a relic of when we used to want to influence the world.
Millions of people in Europe pick up the TV and radio signals. No-one pays except us.

I love the BBC but I'd be very happy for it to be scrapped and changed to a subscription service. As a single mother on benefits and also a full-time student, I simply can't afford it and so I don't have it. I don't even have a TV.

If it was replaced with a subscription service, I could pay just for those months when I have the spare cash, to watch on my PC. When I couldn't afford it, I would simply disable my subscription, and re-activate during less lean times. The current system does not allow for that kind of flexibility, which is why we have the outrageous situation now of poor souls being fined or even imprisoned.

You can watch and read the news for free online or on numerous other channels. Same with current affairs.

On which channels can you get local, regional, national and international news for free?

On which channels can you get local, regional, national and international news for free?

ITV do free international, national and regional news. Probably not a dedicated local programme but sometimes local and regional overlap.

Where can you get local news on the BBC please? I am in Hertfordshire so have to see BBC London news. If the wind is in the right direction I can tune into BBC East so its Ipswich, Norwich or Peterborough. Radio wise its 3 Counties - Beds, Herts and Bucks. None of that is remotely "local".

Where can you get local news on the BBC please?

12.30 and 17.30 on BBC Radio Scotland for local news where we are, then local political, cultural or sports programmes after the main news (not all year round).

How local do you mean though?

Even looking at the BBC London page, it’s not about London, it’s general “news”.

And for the poster who said it costs the same as a Netflix subscription - does Netflix also offer the same news coverage, the Radio stations, etc?

But you don't need a license to listen to any BBC Radio station at the moment - the license only covers the TV aspect. So radio is free for everyone regardless of income level.

You also don't need to pay to get any form of news in this country - you can read newspapers for free online, you can get it via social media, or you can watch free TV channels like Channel 4, ITV etc.

On which channels can you get local, regional, national and international news for free?

ITV has local news. Channel 4 news is pretty comprehensive (much better than BBC imo) and covers national and international affairs.