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..

I think it still provides a very important service and am happy to pay. Any organisation that size will have a few people who don't meet the standards they should

I regularly listen to R3, R4 and R6. I know you don't have to pay it just for radio, but I'm happy to do so. I watch some things on iPlayer (last thing was that detective on a submarine thing), and also use the news, sport and weather apps. For me it is good value and I have no problem with paying.

People say it is very biased- oddly they seem to be 'it's woookkkkeee' Reform voters or die-hard Corbynites who saw any criticism of St Jeremy as an unacceptable attack. So I take that with a pinch of salt. I think it's news is quite centrist and bland really.

I expect the future will be the funding of the more non-commercial elements through taxation and commercialisation of the rest

I’m really not interested in your views, but are you really unaware there are places outside Salford and London?

There are offices and studios all over the U.K. and geographically dispersed in different countries in the U.K.

85% of young people in this country use Bitesize for their GCSEs.

BBC content is used up and down the country.

To compare Netflix and the BBC is comparing apples and oranges. Are you expecting Netflix to run a sophisticated news operation? You are talking through your hat.

The difference is the group that is dissatisfied is growing and the group that is satisfied is dwindling.

How do you think they are politically biased. ? I've heard people complain they are to the right, and I've heard ppl say they are to the left. ???

I have always watched BBC television when I felt like it and I have never ever paid the BBC licence fee, it's not exactly hard to avoid is it!

Balanced in their reporting? Ha.. what planet do you live on?

That's a fair point. It does offer a lot if services. I

That isn’t true. Despite the extremely misleading headline, support has gone up and down for the last 30 years.

https://natcen.ac.uk/news/british-social-attitudes-support-monarchy-falls-new-low

Sorry OP, I know you love the Beeb but I can’t see the current model of a licence fee lasting much longer.

So many people I know are opting out and just watching streaming services so they don’t need a licence. Can you really imagine your children paying a TV licence? Mine certainly won’t.

I think the BBCs time is coming to an end. Most of the young people I work with barely even know what it is and are aghast that you are supposed to pay for it to watch any kind of TV.

I’m talking about the BBC not the monarchy, which is what this thread is about. Viewership and support for the BBC has been dropping for quite a while hence why the government is looking into the funding model as it is unsustainable.

I was going to dignify your points with reasoned, sensible and evidence-based responses, but you also say "I'm not really interested in your views", so I won't.

Enjoy your weekend

Viewing figures for the BBC are declining because of the amount of competition from streaming services, not because they covered the Queen’s death on one of their channels. The Queen’s funeral had the highest viewership of any BBC programme in the whole of 2023 and the Coronation in 2024.

Thanks. Non-commercial total BBC employees come from the 23/24 BBC annual report (source, p.205). Numbers (3,200) for Media City are here (source, BBC) but this does not disaggregate the numbers in terms of PSB, commercial, private contractors, apprentices, etc., so true numbers for directly employed PSB-only staff is likely to be lower, although still in the same 'ball park'. I don't know about other regions.

London is the centre of both government and finance in the UK. As in other countries those two dominate the location of news and current affairs staff.

Yes, and that's really the crux of my complaint and where my desire for change sits. It's not really about the distribution of jobs, but the distribution of power. Via the BBC (and, yes, other broadcasters) the culture and ideology of London/SE asserts an overwhelming and unrepresentative influence on all aspects of life in the UK. The consequence of this can be seen in our politics since 2015-16.

We no longer live in a society where such centralisation is necessary. It is quite possible, if broadcast journalists wished it, to do their work from anywhere in the UK although I do agree there will be a small number of occasions where being in London is necessary. But, unless there is change - and of course this goes beyond the BBC - we are going to feel and think as a country more divided than together.

Re. funding, where this debate started. I don't know what other models are being seriously considered. The 'noise' from the BBC is mostly about continuing the status quo, alongside some (rather bizarre) suggestions about hypothecating council tax to fund the BBC. Personally, I think most of the BBC output, with the possible exception of Children's TV and Education, could be served by the private sector.

Thanks for your reasoned response.

We probably won't agree, but I sincerely hope someone in the BBC is listening to the range of discussion about this.

Btw, I used to love the BBC, and wouldn't hear a word against it. But times have changed and so must the BBC.

Balance in their reporting? On what planet? They have been pushing gender ideology like crazy. Whenever women are interviewed on the topic all I hear is "what about the poor men?" I don't think we should have to pay for propaganda pushers.

Citation required.

Almost every day on my BBC news feed there is an item about drag or TQs. That's pretty obsessive.

There are none on mine. But there's a lot about peonies. That's how algorithms work,

I've absolutely no interest in drag!

Admitting that on here is akin to admitting you are cruel to kittens 😂

No

it was a mouth piece for Boris Johnson

It should be treated like any other content provider, ITV, Netflix, Crunchyroll etc. People that want it can pay for it and people who do not, do not.

Here’s an idea. If we want a national “unbiased” news reporter. Let’s have one funded via taxation.

However that’s exactly it news. Not eastenders or strictly or whatever else they do. Just news.