The UK TV licence fee is going up.But scrapping it will unfairly mean many pay even more.I saw an interview the other day talking about what was being proposed to replace the licence fee.And it’s not good news for anyone.Let’s look at some options :-- Scrap BBC.
- Introduce advertising.
- make it subscription based.
- Introduce a diferent tax to replace it.Out of these.. scrapping the BBC is unlikely. Advertising is unlikely.. as comercial chanels are already struggling, and a... Read more
The UK TV licence fee is going up.
But scrapping it will unfairly mean many pay even more.
I saw an interview the other day talking about what was being proposed to replace the licence fee.
And it’s not good news for anyone.
Let’s look at some options :-
- Scrap BBC.
- Introduce advertising.
- make it subscription based.
- Introduce a diferent tax to replace it.
Out of these.. scrapping the BBC is unlikely. Advertising is unlikely.. as comercial chanels are already struggling, and a subscription fee would not generate enough cash to replace the current licence fee.
I know I’d not subscribe to the BBC for £175 per year.. I get virtually zero value from it now. And being more expensive than Netflix is insane for the value I get.
So this only leaves creating a new tax. The one being proposed is a ‘Broadband Tax’. Even if you don’t watch live TV or iplayer.. I can almost guarantee everyone needs their broadband. This would widen the net.. and make everyone need to pay this.
And even more concerning is to base it on the size of your house.. like council tax. So if your house is in the wrong band.. you could be paying a lot more than this current licence fee.
It would be unfairly pushing prices up for an older widowed person living in a larger home.
Currently over 75 year olds get free TV licnence.. I would expect this new tax be when thst is scrapped.
But sadly.. The idea of only paying for the BBC if you use it is unlikely to happen.
At least it’s possible to opt out right now.
In the future it could be more expensive, and impossible to legally not pay it.
I dont think it’s fair. And the BBC is personally not good value to me as a viewer. If this could change, it would make a huge difference.
But what does anyone think to my assessment of this?
But scrapping it will unfairly mean many pay even more.
I saw an interview the other day talking about what was being proposed to replace the licence fee.
And it’s not good news for anyone.
Let’s look at some options :-
- Scrap BBC.
- Introduce advertising.
- make it subscription based.
- Introduce a diferent tax to replace it.
Out of these.. scrapping the BBC is unlikely. Advertising is unlikely.. as comercial chanels are already struggling, and a subscription fee would not generate enough cash to replace the current licence fee.
I know I’d not subscribe to the BBC for £175 per year.. I get virtually zero value from it now. And being more expensive than Netflix is insane for the value I get.
So this only leaves creating a new tax. The one being proposed is a ‘Broadband Tax’. Even if you don’t watch live TV or iplayer.. I can almost guarantee everyone needs their broadband. This would widen the net.. and make everyone need to pay this.
And even more concerning is to base it on the size of your house.. like council tax. So if your house is in the wrong band.. you could be paying a lot more than this current licence fee.
It would be unfairly pushing prices up for an older widowed person living in a larger home.
Currently over 75 year olds get free TV licnence.. I would expect this new tax be when thst is scrapped.
But sadly.. The idea of only paying for the BBC if you use it is unlikely to happen.
At least it’s possible to opt out right now.
In the future it could be more expensive, and impossible to legally not pay it.
I dont think it’s fair. And the BBC is personally not good value to me as a viewer. If this could change, it would make a huge difference.
But what does anyone think to my assessment of this?
I subscribe to YouTube Premium.. which has a lot of news sources.. and I am highly active of X.. which usually has the news first. And YouTube has all the mainstream news.. from sky news to itv news broken down into clips for streaming.
I’ve never known the BBC to break a story or be the most accurate for a news story in decades.
But when it comes to drama.. I do subscribe to some streaming services.. Netflix for a big library & AppleTV+ for quality. Yes the BBC does make some high quality drama.. but you usually find they sell them to Netflix instead of leaving them on iplayer.
But I think an extra £5 isn’t the issue.
It’s being forced to fund a service you don’t use.
Viewing figures have dropped off a cliff for TV over the last 20 years.
I don’t pay Waitrose a fee to shop at Tesco. And that’s how many feel about the licence fee.
But I understand that this bill will continue to be levied but called a Diferent name.
Hey Nick, I pay as much to park a car in the street in west London as the licence fee but get no entertainment or information from it but I still pay it! To be honest the BBC’s output is slowly being destroyed by the de-funding over the last few years and so a 5 quid increase won’t save it, and as we know the kids aren’t watching much terrestrial any more so some type of subscription will eventually come in. Personally I’d pay the licence fee for the radio alone I can’t stand adverts on any medium especially radio. I’m more interest in the non sound bite news - not sure where your getting breaking news stories from but good luck wit X as a source of unbiased news! I guess what I’m really saying is that the bbc has given us a standard of quality over the years (generally not all the time and not so often now) when that goes or it gets cut down and salami sliced it won’t come back and standards will drop even lower, for all the broadcasters. Strangely I’ve always been freelance, have worked for the bbc at times and been annoyed and frustrated by them a lot, but still it has been what makes Brit broadcasting a cut above the rest in the past.
The point is less people want to watch the BBC.
Less people trust the BBC.
And yet everyone is forced to fund it.
Some things are a product of their time.
While I’m glad you get value from your BBC licence fee. I don’t know many that feel the same way. You say that you think that radio alone is worth it. Firstly you don’t need a licence to listen to radio.. but the rise of podcasts and streaming music services is another reason people want to choose what they pay for.
It’s quite a thing to say “I get value.. so I want everyone else to my for my entertainment”.. I don’t expect that.
Years ago.. there was an argument that the BBC did raise quality across the board.. the rise of so much paid for streaming has shown that quality can be funded in ways that people choose.
And when it comes to X.. if you’re getting iffy sources for info and news on there.. I’d advise you change them. Community notes are super useful to sniff out false claims.. and I even moderate some myself.
But if mainstream media is your thing.. I often find Sky news is about 30mins faster with any scoop.. but itv news also does a fine job.. no matter how much they would like us to think.. the BBC is not the only decent news
source. And at times the worst.
This isn’t an attack of the BBC, it’s more of an issue with the ways it’s funded by threats. And that’s never a good measure of any company.
If the BBC was that good.. everyone should be desperate to pay for it. And that should be the ambition. If it’s unrealistic. Maybe it’s time to have serious debate within the industry about it.
The point is.. is the BBC value for money for money for the average person?
And should those that don’t use it pay for everyone else?
I don’t think they should.
As the TV landscape has changed over the past 40 years.
So I think it’s fair to say the way it’s funded should reflect that.
Times change.
I simply don’t watch the BBC anymore.
And find the mix of Netflix, YouTube,AppleTV+ to fill all my viewing needs.
I think if I’m feeling that.. then the mood of the average person is the same.
The fact is viewing figures have fallen off a cliff. And those that don’t want the BBC are funding those that do. And it’s becoming less and less fair. Because we’re finding that we’re paying seperatly for streaming services on top.
If you ask the average person where they find value in the BBC, they will likely cite 3-4 programs.
But the BBC is a heavily bloated company that is trying to do too much.
TV has changed.. and so should the BBC’s remit.
Just wondering what field you work in at the mow Nick as your quote 'I think if I'm feeling that...then the mood of the average person is the same' is quite a statement to make. I agree that a major overhaul is needed btw.