Should we pay BBC licence fee

[Daygloboo]

I think we should still pay ithe BBC licence fee but I see someone else has been accused of bullying ....this time on BBC breakfast..I still think it is great value for money though. They make quality programmes and are are balanced in their reporting. I think it's unfair that they get so much stick. We need a public service broadcaster..

You don’t though - if you want to watch any live TV you have to have a licence. People (mostly women) go to prison for not paying the licence. You’re implying it’s as simple to opt in and out of as a subscription like Netflix and it isn’t

Of course it is, don't watch live TV. If you want to watch live TV pay for it.

Stopped paying for tv licence in 2020 don’t regret it one bit. Don’t watch any live tv and don’t watch anything on BBC, never did anyway when I was paying for it.

Hear hear! This is what I resent the most and what made me stop paying my licence fee. And every letter they send me, I return to them in an envelope without a stamp. Hopefully it costs them double!

I split it with my wife. 24p a day for the TV output, national and local radio, the online output, things like Bitesize, the World Service. It is internationally respected and helps to give the UK soft power. It’s tremendously good value.

People on the left will say it’s on the right, people on the right will say it’s on the left. They’ll all point to a few facts that fit their narrative whilst ignoring the ones that don’t.

Lots of people seem to expect celebrities and presenters to work for them for free. Lots earn big figures but less than the market rate.

It’s imperfect, it needs to evolve, but it’s one of the few great national institutions.

dramatic much? How many women have gone to prison for not paying the license in recent years exactly?

I was reading the other day that they may charge everyone anyway because so many people are opting out now. They'd present it as a tax to keep the national broadcaster going. I loathe the bbc and don't have a licence because I don't need one. If I had to pay anyway I think I'd go apoplectic.

The licence fee is a weird thing to go apoplectic about.

It makes a lot of sense to fund the BBC out of general taxation. It benefits the country across TV, radio and internet and the country would be diminshed it it were scapped.

Oh, and no, I don't work for them.

I don't care what broadcasters do if I'm not paying for them

Totally disagree. We stopped paying years ago, had a few letters which we binned.
Yet to have a visit from the goons that csll- but I will just close the door.
I'm not funding the bbc and all it stands for.
I'm surprised people still pay it.

The support and cover up paedophiles so no we shouldn’t!

There is nothing that the BBC is churning out now that can match the quality and presentation of drama that it produced between the 70s and 90s.
Their documentary presentation has become shouty presenter orientated mostly and dumbed down as if distrustful of the viewers' thinking capabilities.
And of course there's the forced Anglosphere Superiority Diversity Agenda ( we Whites are better than those mainland Euro Whites) that even documentaries on Spain and Italy cannot escape, that is so patronising and forced.
There is nothing on I Player that is not available on the Catch Up section on Sky TV. Netflix has an abundance of documentary from all over the world. I watched one yesterday on Sardinia, told through the eyes and singing of a Sardinian Tenor quartet.
And when I want a bit ofstraight up entertaining drama and to pick up some Spanish, the extraness of Latin American series from anywhere south of the US Mexican border abounds.
Combined with the Channel 4 tv catch up app and their Walter Presents section and documentary section, my Sky cinema subscription with free Paramount, and Gold TV catch up (a LOT of old BBC stuff on there that I missed in the 90s because I was either mothering, working or partying)....there is no need to pay for a licence .
As for the news....it's been decades since I realised that a 24 HR news cycle cannot produce more news than there is without resisting the temptation to slip into "Agenda" in order to justify said availability.
And the human brain is simply not capable of turning so much information into knowledge in such a short time before it ingests the next news dump.
Hence the empty barrels make the most noise state of most news and political critique today.

Once a week of news catch up and digestion is all I need in today's Columnist As Journalist world Everything else is admittedly adrenaline seeking/being a ghoul or confirmation bias seeking.

I stopped paying the BBC licence fee during Covid because I realised they had totally lost their independence.

I am not breaking the law as I don't watch any live TV or the BBC player.

I am refusing to pay the high salaries of 'journalists' and executives who seem to spend their time promoting Reform.

Also the BBC has had too many bullying and harassment scandals and has failed to learn anything from any of them.

It used to be a great, respected institution but now it simply cannot be trusted to be impartial.

I pay it although I feel it should be another subsription service. It might might make them raise their standards,and boy, do they need raising.

Their "news" is basically a series of self promoting documentary articles and advertisements for themselves;

Their "live" sports coverage is generally about 25% actually live while they witter on to themselves and show yesterdays highlights (compare with Eurosport (TNT) to see what I mean);

Their "dramas" all seem to be written (and ruined) by the same people with the same woke agendas (for proof, see Dr Who). As Kenneth Williams was wont to say "More BBC rep tat". How true that was then, and now. BBC you haven't produced a good drama for ten years.

Programmes which could,and should, be good and interesting, like Race Acrossthe World are ruined (only speaking for myself) by having to have a "message" and people with "issues". Just have a bloody race for Christ's sake!

Ooh, I've found mysef on a hobby horse...

But why should someone pay for a service they never use? Personally I would pay a subscription as I watch BBC and listen to Sounds etc but it's ridiculous in this day and age to be compelled to pay a licence fee.

Certainly not why should anyone be forced to pay for a TV licence if they do not use the BBC services?

I now refuse to pay as i don't use BBC and they can do one.

Before people harp on about BBC is value for money bullshit! look at it this way you can get, private healthcare, basic or treatment-only policies from companies like Aviva or Benenden Health can be more affordable options with prices starting under £20 per month that is only very fractionally more per year than the bloody licence fee.

How about the government subsidise this for people instead of the greedy BBC licence and assist in supporting the NHS with basic private health care for millions.

I don't watch any BBC content so I've never paid it. And yes, I know you still have to pay it to watch the other channels, but I don't care. I also don't listen to BBC radio at all.

I think it should be subscription, I would pay as I pay for all the other subscription TV services and I also pay extra for no ads. That way is the fairest for everyone

^ Yes, this.

The BBC is doing too much, particularly low-quality entertainment, e.g. The One Show, Strictly, etc. There is no justification for shows such as these to be shown as a public service.

Similarly for big budget sport. For instance, the BBC licence fee should not be used to pay millions to football organisations and (until recently) dubious 'talent' such as millionaire Gary Lineker.

The BBC at the very least should offer a subscription service much like ITVX, i.e. free with advertising, pay for no adverts, with the only exception being Children's programmes streamed before 6pm.

Netflix doesn't have a journalist reporting from the courts.

Niche programmes about art and science they make wouldn't have any interest from commercial advertisers, and couldn't be produced.

What about the BBC Sport, BBC Weather App, BBC News app? You probably engage with it in more ways than you think.

I honestly don’t engage with it at all, even though I’m paying the fee at the moment. The only things I’ve watched on the BBC in years weee Inside No.9 and Detectorists. Everything is else I’ve tried has been low quality, lowest common denominator trash.

I use my phone’s native weather app, listen to podcasts, read Private Eye and stream on Mubi/watch my DVD collection. It’s a shame because I used to love the BBC but it’s not what it once was.

But what are you going to do if there was a war and you needed to get reliable news from somewhere

I mean, they haven’t reported reliably on an awful lot of wars in recent years have they? There’s always a spin, even on the BBC, even if it’s just what they choose to include or omit.

I think that's a bit unfair. You can't say people like Chris Mason aren't excellent journalists

Im gonna go look on tik tok 😎