To say that the TV Licence should be abolished?

[Appalonia]

When I look at what I watch on TV these days on the BBC, it's really only Strictly, repeats of TOTP and Glastonbury . There's nothing else that interests me. I listen to Trevor Nelson on R2, but that's it. I watch Netflix, Amazon much more and some shows on ITV, C4 or Sky Arts. And a lot of interviews on YouTube and podcasts. I also object to how the BBC posits itself as the voice of truth and neutrality, but it really isn't these days, on so many issues.

Why are we forced to pay for a service that has had its day and is no longer fit for service?

by subscription or advertising or both,
Same as all other channels

BBC kids programmes - the Christmas panto and the proms stuff alone, my child is obsessed with them
Radio 3 and 4
Programmes with no adverts
Worth every penny for me.

And that's lovely for you, but many people feel browbeaten into buying the services of the BBC when they don't want it.
Also, why should i be subsidising the BBC if I want to watch a live program on you tube?
I'm hoping the whole paedo lovers institute comes crashing down soon

How hard is for you to understand that not everyone agrees with and thinks the BBC is beyond amazing?
People are happy to subscribe to Netfllix etc because they enjoy what's on offer you might not and that's your perogative ,but why should others pay for a licence fee when they don't watch or listen to anything the BBC Has on offer

"People seem to be fine to pay for netflix etc but why not bbc.... "

I'm happy to pay for netflix as I like to watch a lot of their films and series.
I'm not happy to pay for the BBC as there is nothing on there I want to watch,
It's really not difficult

The problem with not having a national broadcaster is that you end up with all content being commercially driven.

The reality of the market and how expensive production has become (not because of raised wages, I’d like to add…), is that for shows to be commercially viable, they need to sell internationally. This actually means they need to sell in N America, so stories have to resonate there.

Again, the reality of this is that UK stories have to be huge to get any traction - even Mr Bates & the Post Office, which was a ratings smash here, lost ITV £1m because it wouldn’t sell abroad.

So a subscription model will mean a move away from content created to appeal to us and our proclivities, and more American sensibilities.

Documentary will die (it’s on its last legs anyway) and we will end up with no local or specialist programming. Radio stations will run ads and eventually be taken off air except maybe R4 as that doesn’t have much competition. The website and news arms will face commercial pressures that will affect impartiality - and whatever you think about the BBC ‘bias’, it gets criticised from both sides so is broadly middle. Once it no longer gets tax payer funding, ‘balance’ won’t be mandated, so it’ll become more right wing (because the big media companies are right wing).

It will eventually be another brand that will be bought by a big media company as a legacy marque, and that will be the end of any semblance of independent media in the UK.

Having said all that, the BBC seems to have lost its way hugely - they just spent millions on a shitty reality show that’s a cross between Married at First Sight and Love Island. Utter shit that they shouldn’t be making.

I have never been so close to cancelling my licence as now - the Wallace stuff has appalled me - but I just can’t see a future for independent media without it.

oh, and if I decide I don't want netflix anymore then I just cancel my payment.
No endless stream of aggressive letters asking why I'm not paying and
no man dressed up like a policeman coming to my door to check why i don't want it anymore

Honestly, just cancel it.
It's not the lovely unifying institution it once was.
It';s deeply unpleasant and shows dross

You're not forced to pay it. Just don't. Unplug the aerial and just stick to streaming services. I certainly haven't bought one in years and never will again. When we moved house I got a taste of how the TV Licence people treat individuals that they assume based on zero evidence are watching TV and not paying for it. I couldn't actually believe the types of letters they send. Genuinely threatening. 'We will be back. It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow, but we will be back', it didn't bother me but it would terrify some elderly people into paying!

Not to mention the fact that are a private company they are asking to enter people's homes to check that you're not stealing from them. People that have absolutely nothing to do with them! They walk around acting like it's mandatory and everyone who doesn't pay must be a thief. Which other company spends that much time and effort accusing non-customers of stealing from them, sending threatening letters, showing up on doorsteps? It's bizarre to me that as a society we've allowed them to continue as they are for so long. Never again will I give them a penny.

Re ads, from what I remember of watching BBC content (years ago) they DO have ads/trailers, for their own content, which I used to find just as annoying and irrelevant to me as actual ads.

"People seem to be fine to pay for netflix etc but why not bbc.... "

Netflix never showed up to my house and demanded to come in so I could prove to them I wasn't stealing their service

Netflix never send threatening letters out to my house cos I wasn't a customer, demanding that I give them money.

It's not even anything to do with the quality of programming for me anymore, it's their ethics. I happily pay for Netflix and HAYU, and Amazon Prime, at times we've paid for Disney Plus, and I will never give the BBC a penny again. Charlatans.

Netflix does have documentaries...

I think the issue is it isn’t paying for the BBC it is that you have to pay to watch live tv. If you want Netflix but not Prime you can or vice Versa but if I want to watch something live even on you tube I need a licence

I don’t care if we keep it. If it was good enough, people would pay for it.

Netflix is value for money, to me, so I pay for it. The BBC is not for me so I don’t.

But you do have to pay them if you want to only watch ITV, Channel 4 and/or Channel 5 at the time of broadcast on a traditional TV setup.

Yes, why is this? Can anyone explain it in a way I can understand? Because the BBC website doesn't explain it adequately.

If I want to watch a live programme on Channel 5 stuffed with adverts (which I accept) why does the BBC say I have to pay a BBC licence fee for that? Surely the advert income funds the programme?

If I want to watch a live programme on Channel 5 stuffed with adverts (which I accept) why does the BBC say I have to pay a BBC licence fee for that? Surely the advert income funds the programme?

Just that " it's in the charter".....

I assume it's a throwback to when all channels had to use the original bbc structure in order to broadcast but why that's the case now I have no idea

Because the tv licence isn’t the BBC per se - you pay the Government to watch live programming so anything live (including live streams on you tube) is covered. Anything not live isn’t.

That money then goes through the Department of Culture Media and Sports to the BBc - the licence fee is set by the Secretary of State

it does all go to the BBC though

This. And because I pay monthly I can put my Netflix, NowTV etc subscriptions on hold for a month or two when I don't need them.

The BBC demands a large chunk of money up front whether you use the service or not. It's all or nothing. It's an outdated model nowadays for that reason too.

It has a few decent acquisitions, but doesn’t commission many itself - they have to be massive stories and they rarely touch non-American ones (or ones that are American aligned) and many about big institutions have the contributors as exec producers, so they are not independent - they’re puff pieces.

The acquisitions will have been funded through independent sources or commissioned by broadcasters like the BBC, then sold on when their exclusivity runs out.

Maybe it doesn’t matter to you or many other people, but I find it sad that we will essentially be changing the flavour of UK TV completely.

At the moment, the UK channels must compete against each other. Once they are all commercial, they will be competing against streamers and they won’t win because they can’t possibly afford to compete with channels that have global funding.

There are also complications with how broadcast infrastructure is paid for. That’ll have to come from somewhere and if it comes from the ad revenue, that will mean less money to spend on making shows, so quality will drop, ad funding will dwindle, the circle will continue and then there will be no more broadcast tv.

And that's why subscription services IMO produce better quality tv series.
If people think the shows are rubbish they stop payment till they see there's enough on to warrant their £4.99 a month ( not £15)

I used to rate it more highly, although I would lament any loss of R6 music. It must grow so many bands and I like most of the music they choose

Plus the World Service is what I think less provoking radio should be. Without the irritating style R4 can take on politics

BBC WS also plays a key role o\s for balancing other state controlled media

I get why people feel annoyed by the set up though, if the content doesn't feel worth it, which at times it doesn't bar R6 and WS, plus a fraction of R4

Because the tv licence isn’t the BBC per se - you pay the Government to watch live programming so anything live (including live streams on you tube) is covered.

Ah, ok. I never knew that! They should explain it like that in their own correspondence.
Also didn't know the fee is set by the SoS.

Once they are all commercial, they will be competing against streamers and they won’t win because they can’t possibly afford to compete with channels that have global funding.

Why would the world class BBC not be able to compete?
Why do all the other subscription channels manage?
Why do all the other ad based channels manage?

To the people saying how important the WS is
How often do you actually have it on? You personally?
I'm mid 50's and have never in my life known anyone to have it on the radio.

I'm 51 i listened to it on holiday years ago with my parents i hink we were in Portugal and I was 16?
I'm not clear why it is to important either