I do not hesitate for a second in paying the licence fee. The BBC is an institution admired around the world for its high standards, impartiality and history and personally I am proud of it. I think it would be a travesty if the Conservatives started to dismantle it, though I do not object to different means of funding if standards are not compromised. I think there is scope for alternative ways to top up the basic licence.
Nor am I particularly bothered about presenters’ salaries. If they are not to lose to other channels their talented staff (and talented they are, despite the sniping from the sidelines) the BBC has to pay close to market rates.
Where I think BBC is missing a small trick is talking of its fee in terms of an annual charge. Sky, Netflix etc price their services by the month. If the BBC did this, and emphasised the enormous breadth of its offering, I think folk would appreciate even more what superb value it is.
Perhaps a hybrid approach might be worthwhile, adverts between but not during programmes….and a much reduced licence fee, might be a better compromise for most?
Adverts bewteen songs on the radio don't interupt the programme as they would on TV. The average song is roughly 3 mins. I'm sure they could squeeze some in
I don't want to pay and I don't. And I think that it is seriously unfair that I can't watch other live TV even if it is completely unrelated to BBC. But I can live without it. Youtube and Netflix are more than enough.
Without the BBC, who will speak truth to power? And I thought one of the main reasons presenters leave is because they earn more from other broadcasters.
I haven't even turned my TV on for over four years and don't resent the TV licence. I've watched some iplayer, listened to a lot of BBC radio and read the BBC news website daily though.
I pay about £8 a month for Disney Plus at the moment and I get a lot less for my money than I do from the BBC.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
I would also also add that the BBC raises our status around the world. Recognised for its standards of objectivity and excellence, those standards constitute soft diplomacy. The esteem other nations accord to the BBC also transfer to their opinion of our country as a whole. I know it is easy to scoff at this viewpoint but we are on the inside looking out. I find it abhorrent that our national broadcasting service could be dismantled and we could witness the sorry state of affairs existing in USA, if I understand it correctly, where biased news stations speak only to their “tribe” reinforcing their viewpoints, validating their prejudices and dividing their nation.
Perhaps a hybrid approach might be worthwhile, adverts between but not during programmes….
But we already get that with the endless repeated BBC trailers advertising their own programmes & their iPlayer service. They seem to think you only watch one programme a week so they have to ram the trailers down your throat after every programme in case you miss them. And now they're airing TV trailers on the radio so you can't even escape them there!
Clay soil - Cheshire/Derbyshire border. I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
I have no problem with paying the license fee. I watch most of the time BBC or BBC made content on Freeview. I noticed soon after my move to England that I was probably the only one who watched BBC Parliament. For somebody who comes from the dark in East Germany and the controlled media in today's Germany, seeing debates like here in the UK is freedom at its best. Somebody in the Guardian seriously suggested I could watch GB NEWS instead for free. That suggestion came from somebody who doesn't watch the News at all. Reminds me on "English tea" that is sold in Germany (the tea leaves go to England and the tea dust to Germany). Despite that, that reader hasn't understood that Freeview is part of the license fee,
and if she has no Freeview, than she pays the same amount of money if not more for other contracts. My friend watches Netflix/Amazon most of the time for £13 a month, but my taste is totally different, and I'm happy to pay £13 a month for what I enjoy. I totally disagree that this culture secretary tells me that I have now to be happy with watching stuff I have never been interested in, and/or I have to give up watching telly completely. Polly T. from the Guardian suggested instead a household fee as in Germany. She doesn't know either what she is talking about. I was told that in Germany, you have to pay for the telly at home, for the computer at work (because it allows you to watch telly), the radio in your car (for half the price), and if you have an allotment with telly, then you end up paying 3.5x the fee even you can be physically only on one place at a time.
When we moved into this house there was no way to easily watch live tv in the living room so I cancelled my license. I think it would be fair to pay a small monthly fee to watch BBC programmes as i do with Amazon and Netflix but probably wouldn’t as I don’t really miss it. I don’t listen to the radio at home only at work and that isn’t bbc radio.
It seems very expensive to me and I dislike the fact that if you want live tv you need a license whether you watch bbc or not.
Posts
Incidentally, it’s a licence not a license.
And I think that it is seriously unfair that I can't watch other live TV even if it is completely unrelated to BBC. But I can live without it. Youtube and Netflix are more than enough.
And I thought one of the main reasons presenters leave is because they earn more from other broadcasters.
https://mobile.twitter.com/adilray/status/1482713205206048771?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1482719216998371329%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.leicestermercury.co.uk%2Fnews%2Flocal-news%2Fgary-lineker-defends-bbc-news-6503494
I would also also add that the BBC raises our status around the world. Recognised for its standards of objectivity and excellence, those standards constitute soft diplomacy. The esteem other nations accord to the BBC also transfer to their opinion of our country as a whole. I know it is easy to scoff at this viewpoint but we are on the inside looking out. I find it abhorrent that our national broadcasting service could be dismantled and we could witness the sorry state of affairs existing in USA, if I understand it correctly, where biased news stations speak only to their “tribe” reinforcing their viewpoints, validating their prejudices and dividing their nation.
But we already get that with the endless repeated BBC trailers advertising their own programmes & their iPlayer service. They seem to think you only watch one programme a week so they have to ram the trailers down your throat after every programme in case you miss them. And now they're airing TV trailers on the radio so you can't even escape them there!
I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
Somebody in the Guardian seriously suggested I could watch GB NEWS instead for free.
That suggestion came from somebody who doesn't watch the News at all. Reminds me on "English tea" that is sold in Germany (the tea leaves go to England and the tea dust to Germany). Despite that, that reader hasn't understood that Freeview is part of the license fee, and if she has no Freeview, than she pays the same amount of money if not more for other contracts.
My friend watches Netflix/Amazon most of the time for £13 a month, but my taste is totally different, and I'm happy to pay £13 a month for what I enjoy.
I totally disagree that this culture secretary tells me that I have now to be happy with watching stuff I have never been interested in, and/or I have to give up watching telly completely.
Polly T. from the Guardian suggested instead a household fee as in Germany. She doesn't know either what she is talking about. I was told that in Germany, you have to pay for the telly at home, for the computer at work (because it allows you to watch telly), the radio in your car (for half the price), and if you have an allotment with telly, then you end up paying 3.5x the fee even you can be physically only on one place at a time.
I ♥ my garden.