Page 4 | To turn the BBC into a subscription service would be unfair...

greencrosscode · 2021-04-20T17:43:37+00:00

As has been proposed as it would give the BBC an unfair advantage over Netflix or similar companies.. As the BBC was designed to fit 20th century technology...

Theythinkitsalloveritisnow · 23/04/2021 13:39

I stopped paying for the licence a couple of years ago and haven't missed watching live tv at all.#

I have disliked the BBC for decades though. Hopefully it's no longer the case but back in the 80s and 90s a significant proportion of women in prison were there because they had been unable to pay the fine they had received for being unable to pay for the licence fee. Progressive organisation my arse. Locking up single mothers living in poverty so they can make some nice liberal tv shows for their nice middle class audience, fuck 'em

HeyDemonsItsYaGirl · 23/04/2021 13:47

Songs of Praise, The Proms, BBC Bitesize, CBBC, Orchestras, choirs, Young Musician of the Year, Radio 3, Radio drama, Book at Bedtime, Women’s team sports coverage, BBC 4 science documentaries, More Or Less, Newsnight, An international set of journalists.

You don't think any of those are commercially viable?

Captpike · 23/04/2021 13:51

Well no because you paid for the dvds.

I also pay for netflix.

PerspicaciousGreen · 23/04/2021 14:35

If you don't want to pay the licence fee, just don't. With the tech these days, it's easy to adhere to the Ts and C's of not watching live telly or iPlayer. We haven't paid the fee in years and have stopped getting the "are you SURE you're not watching live TV?" letters at last. Some people can't believe we really follow the rules but we really do. I've bought a few box sets of BBC shows I really wanted to see (Sherlock!!!) but saved hundreds of pounds and hundreds of hours of my life "checking to see what's on".

FrankButchersDickieBow · 23/04/2021 14:54

If I never hear another advert for fucking Peter Crouch and his wanky twatcast it will be too soon

CarmelBeach · 23/04/2021 14:54

@PerspicaciousGreen

If you don't want to pay the licence fee, just don't. With the tech these days, it's easy to adhere to the Ts and C's of not watching live telly or iPlayer. We haven't paid the fee in years and have stopped getting the "are you SURE you're not watching live TV?" letters at last. Some people can't believe we really follow the rules but we really do. I've bought a few box sets of BBC shows I really wanted to see (Sherlock!!!) but saved hundreds of pounds and hundreds of hours of my life "checking to see what's on".

We don't have it either.

Doesn't everything end up on another platform anyway?

Life is bonkers busy at the mo so we only have Amazon Prime, for deliveries, and don't often watch TV on that. Recently watched a couple of dramas on ITV player. Ads are fine, it's time to do a quick chore.

Tried Netflix, ran out of stuff so just cancelled. So much easier.

When I can go to my parents, I am sometimes a sad sack and watch Gardeners World on their catch up, but I preferred it in the past when it was just Monty Don.

I got quite a few good DVD box sets from a colleague who was clearing them out of her house a couple of years ago. She had stuff that we'd missed in the too busy years so that's been really handy.

I don't see why the BBC can't just compete like everyone else.

LeSquigh · 23/04/2021 14:59

There seems to be a number of people especially at the beginning of this thread that don’t have the correct understanding of when you HAVE to have a tv license. You need one if you watch ANY live tv or if you use the IPlayer. If you do neither of these things then you do not need one, so stop paying for it unnecessarily.

I do also wonder how many people who don’t have a tv license actually really never use the BBC - really?! It’s not like it’s not easy to get round and they can’t enter your home so can never prove it.

We do have a tv license but only because my DP insists on paying for it, I wouldn’t bother.

However I would be happy to pay a lower subscription fee for IPlayer (which I use) if it were a thing.

PerspicaciousGreen · 23/04/2021 16:34

@lesquigh I do also wonder how many people who don’t have a tv license actually really never use the BBC - really?! It’s not like it’s not easy to get round and they can’t enter your home so can never prove it.

We sometimes listen to Radio 3 and Radio 4. Once in a blue moon I click a link to a BBC News article online. If they ever include "no BBC radio either!" in the Ts and C's, we'll have a rethink. I wouldn't mind paying to listen to BBC radio but not £160 a year. At our rate it'd work out at about a pound a minute!

People say it's easy to get round and they can't prove it... But people are fined for not having a licence when they should, aren't they? Is that just the licence fee gang chancing it and getting lucky? Surely that wouldn't stand up in court.

Alwaysandforeverhere · 23/04/2021 16:55

I’ve never listened to any bbc radio station ever. We mainly ask Alexa to play music recommended based on our listening.

DynamoKev · 23/04/2021 17:13

People say it's easy to get round and they can't prove it... But people are fined for not having a licence when they should, aren't they? Is that just the licence fee gang chancing it and getting lucky? Surely that wouldn't stand up in court.
It is a combination of licence fee people from Crapita getting lucky, and people incriminating themselves. Courts will take the word of a person from Crapita that they saw you watching TV - and many women are soft targets who confess.

www.cordbusters.co.uk/tv-licence-fee-evasion-many-women-convicted/

melj1213 · 23/04/2021 17:25

I do also wonder how many people who don’t have a tv license actually really never use the BBC - really?! It’s not like it’s not easy to get round and they can’t enter your home so can never prove it.

I never watch BBC or live TV- I don't have an aerial in my TV, I have a chromecast connected so I can watch netflix/disney+ etc via streaming the apps on my phone but I don't have iPlayer downloaded so there is no way to access the BBC.

All of my music/podcasts I get through Spotify so no BBC radio and all my news I get through other sources so no need for the BBC website

Gregorsgirl · 23/04/2021 17:38

If it was a subscription service with lots of their old stuff I would gladly pay it. I don't use any BBC mostly because I object to the bullying way they enforce the TV licence, I also disagree with it on principle since they became a governmental mouthpiece. Maybe they always have been and I was late to the party, but I swear they used to have interesting and nuanced documentaries, the only decent science documentaries I remember in recent times were on BBC 4 with Jim Al-khallili and appeared to have been given a budget of about 75p.

I only watch things on my pc now, nothing live. The dc's have the main TV for gaming and watching amazon or Disney.

Gregorsgirl · 23/04/2021 17:43

I am quite sad about the new series of inside no.9 out soon, I'll wait for it to go to another service, oh well.

Gwenhwyfar · 23/04/2021 17:47

@username12345T

It already is a subscription service OP or at least it is for me as I pay £13 a month for it.

But people who don't watch the BBC, but watch any live TV also have to pay for it. That's not how a subscription service works.

CarmelBeach · 23/04/2021 18:14

@Gregorsgirl

I am quite sad about the new series of inside no.9 out soon, I'll wait for it to go to another service, oh well.

Ooh thanks for that I will await the DVD!