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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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

602 replies

dellacucina · 16/02/2020 11:04

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.

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BigChocFrenzy · 17/02/2020 01:51

"I think this 'poor households' argument is such crap! Don't you think 'poor households' deserve high culture?"

I think poor households deserve to choose where their limited money goes
and to choose not to pay for your "high culture"

  • if you want it, then pay for it by subscription
BigChocFrenzy · 17/02/2020 01:55

"The NHS is the next on the hit list. "

The NHS is an essential service, with no feasible alternative for most of the population,
that almost all of us will need at some times in our lives.

BBC TV & Radio are nice entertainment & information for some,
but there are hundreds of alternative channels and social media too

WotchaTalkinBoutWillis · 17/02/2020 02:02

Not read all the replies.
I'd be happy to see the licence fee go.
It's 40 pounds a quarter and sometimes leaves me scraping for the next few weeks after it goes out.

strawberrylipgloss · 17/02/2020 02:06

What are high culture programmes? Austen adaptations, Countryfile, Antiques Roadshow and Panorama?
You can watch that sort of programming on channels that don't benefit from license payer money.

dellacucina · 17/02/2020 02:19

Serious question, strawberrylipgloss: which other channels offer similar shows? Specifically, what's the alternative show you recommend for each of the shows you've mentioned? (In particular, I think Panorama is great and I'd be interested in an alternative option. Same for News Night, actually)

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Berrymuch · 17/02/2020 04:14

Panorama is bias propaganda anyway. Sky arts has similar programmes, the now TV entertainment package is a few quid a month (I pay £1.60).

TheValeyard · 17/02/2020 07:05

From April the TV licence will cost you £157.50. Fuck that for a game of soldiers..

This thread is an object lesson in knowing the cost of everything but the value of nothing.

Sooverthemill · 17/02/2020 07:46

@TheValeyard so true

adaline · 17/02/2020 07:50

his thread is an object lesson in knowing the cost of everything but the value of nothing

It's only good value if you use it.

The license fee is expensive for what it is. It funds what, 5 or 6 channels and that's it?

Netflix is £5.99 a month and you have access to thousands of movies and TV shows. Prime is £79 per year. Both options added up are still cheaper than paying for a TV license.

If people think the BBC is such excellent quality then they won't mind continuing to pay for it, will they? After all, if the figures are to be believed and 96% of the country use it, will it really matter if 4% stop paying?

Again, why do you think it's okay to make people pay £150 per year for the BBC when they only watch Sky channels? Would you pay £150 for gas heating each year if your house only ran on electric?

larrygrylls · 17/02/2020 07:56

Looks like it is 2:1 for scrapping it. I am so pleased! It is one of those anachronisms that, we’re it not already in existence, virtually no one would be in favour of creating.

Internet licence at £150 per annum because you might ‘google’ and in return Google would be obliged to do spend all of about £20/annum on linking to publicly useful sites but it could use the rest to compete against other search engines. Nope, thought not.

They even advertise using promotions for their own programs (which they can then sell on) and expensive product placements. This is even more insidious as you feel that they should be trustworthy.

It is a preserve of middle class woke hypocrites. The sooner the fee is abolished, the better. Go Boris!!

larrygrylls · 17/02/2020 08:04

Dellacucina et al,

Has it occurred to you that there are few alternatives to Panorama (reduced by the BBC from an hour of serious programming to a 30 minute unsatisfying bite) as it is hard to compete against the licence fee?

What about 60 minutes (and many other quality investigative pieces) in the U.S. people are happy to pay for this.

TheValeyard · 17/02/2020 08:08

It's only good value if you use it.

No, it isn't - the value of universal public service broadcasting is accrued to society as a whole. Dedicated news, current affairs, educational and children's programming which is not driven by the agenda of private owners contributes to the wellbeing of the nation as a whole. Look at the state of American news for a worst case result of leaving everything to the market.

The license fee is expensive for what it is. It funds what, 5 or 6 channels and that's it?

No, that's not it. The BBC's radio output and online presence is also funded from the licence fee. That's substantially more than 5 or 6 channels.

Netflix is £5.99 a month and you have access to thousands of movies and TV shows. Prime is £79 per year. Both options added up are still cheaper than paying for a TV license.

Neither option has anything like the range of output that the BBC has (where is the investigative reporting or radio programming on Netflix, for example?).

Again, why do you think it's okay to make people pay £150 per year for the BBC

Because it is a public good which benefits the country as a whole. I don't use every service my taxes pay for, but I'm more than happy to pay for them as that is how a responsible society functions.

slashlover · 17/02/2020 08:09

For some reason on mumsnet, everyone think the bbc is a waste of time. But 96% of the GB public use it. Which means it’s isn’t a waste of time really is it.

I watch some shows on the BBC so I'm part of the 96%. However, if the BBC said that I didn't have to pay and would miss the few shows I do watch then I'd be happy to miss them.

Anyone who thinks BBC News is unbiased was obviously not a Scottish viewer during the independence vote.

missyoumuch · 17/02/2020 08:13

It should be scrapped and iPlayer should become a subscription service similar to Netflix. iPlayer should be properly developed and monetised internationally instead of selling individual programmes randomly to different broadcasters and services around the world.

They should add the portion of the license fee that covers radio, regional news, and educational programming to general taxes.

dellacucina · 17/02/2020 08:16

Again, why do you think it's okay to make people pay £150 per year for the BBC when they only watch Sky channels? Would you pay £150 for gas heating each year if your house only ran on electric?

Why would you make people fund schools when they don't have kids?

Why should heathy people pay to fund the NHS? (I am not necessarily saying this is a slippery slope btw, but people in the US literally say this about any kind of socialised healthcare)

Why should London be subsidising the rest of the country on infrastructure projects and things like flood relief?

I am aware that you see a difference between that and the BBC. However, I definitely see broader cultural value in it and I personally think that this is important - so do many on this thread, if not the majority. It contributes to the nation's identity, provides public access to high culture, and is almost certainly a less biased news source than a commercially funded enterprise would be.

If everything were decided based on how much it benefits the majority of people in society, then there would be no programmes to help those who are disadvantaged.

I'm sure people will think this is mad and it's a side thought rather than my core argument, but I also think that if the UK wants to get good trade deals/continue with its 'brand' in upcoming years it would be best to retain its global panache and keep pumping out this type of content. Cultural capital really matters in a global economy. (Amusingly, I just heard a show in Radio 4 which was talking about state support for K Pop and was discussing the economic benefits to Korea of making itself globally culturally relevant. They made no link to the BBC, but it's clear to me!)

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MissingMySleep · 17/02/2020 08:19

If you want it funded then scrap the fee and take it from tax revenue with an increase in income tax covering it. Then it would not affect the poorest members of society in the way it currently does. Plus you could save the admin costs of chasing tv licences and non payers and the ridiculous cost of imprisonment.

dellacucina · 17/02/2020 08:20

@MissingMySleep if funding is dependent on the government's budget each year, do you think that there is a risk that the BBC could become more biased toward the sitting government?

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TheValeyard · 17/02/2020 08:21

It is one of those anachronisms that, we’re it not already in existence, virtually no one would be in favour of creating.

I agree with this - as a whole, the UK no longer possesses the imagination or public spirit to undertake such a thing any more.

JudyCoolibar · 17/02/2020 08:22

But I have sampled the BBC - Antique Road Trip and Wanted Down Under seem to be the usual shite on offer.

If that's what you think, you really haven't sampled it.

JudyCoolibar · 17/02/2020 08:24

I am so pleased! It is one of those anachronisms that, we’re it not already in existence, virtually no one would be in favour of creating.

And you only have to look at the dire mess that is Australian TV to see what sort of programming would be available to us now if that were the case.

dellacucina · 17/02/2020 08:25

@larrygrylls having moved here from the US, I can tell you that it's utterly laughable to suggest that the US has comparable investigative reporting shows and quality news content. It's utter shite.

Also, not to be insulting, but the US is enormous so what little is on offer would be more commercially viable to produce there. The UK is a tiny country with a limited market.

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larrygrylls · 17/02/2020 08:35

Della,

The UK is not a tiny country! It is not the U.S but it is the 7th out of 193 in the World. There is a high correlation between those who support the BBC and those who think we are a tiny insignificant country.

The fundamental argument of BBC licence fee supporters is that there are a bunch of experts (not nuclear physicists or professors of medicine) typified by PPE graduates from Oxford who know what is good for us better than we do, ourselves.

Well, I have the temerity to disagree. If the soi-disant intelligentsia wants to retain the BBC as is, they can pay for it themselves. No more than an average gym membership at around £1,000 per annum and everyone else can pay for what they want to watch.

MarshaBradyo · 17/02/2020 08:36

If you come to the U.K. after having other more commercial versions you do see the BBC as valuable. Not always probably, but it gives you a different perspective.

aroundtheworldyet · 17/02/2020 08:38

@larrygrylls
Has a touch of the Fox News about them! Each to their own I guess.

larrygrylls · 17/02/2020 08:41

Around,

So, what is your justification for legally obliging people to buy entertainment?

And the vast majority of the BBC (and most of the expensive stuff) is unashamedly entertainment.