• BBC licence fee 'has no long-term future', say MPs
    51 replies, posted
[url]http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-31623659[/url] [quote]The TV licence does not have a long-term future and is likely to be replaced by a new levy within the next 15 years, a group of MPs has said. The fee is "becoming harder and harder to justify" given changes in the media, according to the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee. The MPs suggested every household could pay a new compulsory levy instead. The BBC said it agreed the licence fee needed to be modernised. The select committee's proposals were made in a new report about the future of the BBC.[/quote] [url]http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmselect/cmcumeds/315/31512.htm[/url] [quote]36. There currently appears to be no better alternative for funding the BBC in the near term other than a hypothecated tax or the licence fee. However, the principle of the licence fee in its current form is becoming harder and harder to sustain given changes in communications and media technology and services, and changing audience needs and behaviours. Given this is the case, we do not see a long-term future for the licence fee in its current form. (Paragraph 212) 37. We believe that the forthcoming round of Charter Review should not rush profound changes such as the abolition of the licence fee model but the BBC must prepare for the possibility of a change in the 2020s. We recommend that as a minimum the licence fee must be amended to cover catch-up television as soon as possible. (Paragraph 213) 38. We conclude that a degree of subscription could be a possibility in the future if the BBC moved to a more personalised service and this could be in accordance with Lord Hall's vision for personalisation of BBC content consumption. However, careful thought would need to be given as to what content should remain universally available and free-to-air, and how this should be funded, protected from inappropriate influence and delivered to the public. (Paragraph 214) 39. We recommend that the independent panel and Charter Review process ensure there is robust comprehensive research, taking into account generational differences, of people's attitudes towards the licence fee and their willingness to pay for BBC and public service broadcasting more widely, and in particular their openness to the idea of subscribing for certain services. (Paragraph 215)[/quote] They also recommended a bunch of other stuff about the future of the BBC which you can read in [url=http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmselect/cmcumeds/315/31512.htm]the report's conclusion[/url]. Pls note this is a select committee's recommendation, so it's a significant document and will be taken onboard by everyone involved but that doesn't everything they recommended is guaranteed to happen.
I always did find it immensely illogical that merely owning a TV gave the British government right to demand a fee from you whether you used the bloody thing or not.
[QUOTE=TestECull;47221267]I always did find it immensely illogical that merely owning a TV gave the British government right to demand a fee from you whether you used the bloody thing or not.[/QUOTE] We have to make sure TVs only go to people who are fit to use them. No one wants a situation like America where mentally ill people can buy one without even getting a background check
[QUOTE=TestECull;47221267]I always did find it immensely illogical that merely owning a TV gave the British government right to demand a fee from you whether you used the bloody thing or not.[/QUOTE] It's just for BBC services though I think? We don't even pay it, and only watch Top Gear the rest of the time we are on Sky Atlantic or Sky 1 or something. Honestly the BBC has done a little bit to step up their game and bring in lots of racey new shows but really, who needs TV when I can watch online. [editline]27th February 2015[/editline] Peaky Blinders Season 3 you know you want to BBC.
[QUOTE=TestECull;47221267]I always did find it immensely illogical that merely owning a TV gave the British government right to demand a fee from you whether you used the bloody thing or not.[/QUOTE] You don't have to pay the fee so long as you aren't watching broadcasted content live. Lovely little thing for students, just load up iPlayer on a PS3 or something, it's basically TV!
[QUOTE=Thomo_UK;47221380]It's just for BBC services though I think? We don't even pay it, and only watch Top Gear the rest of the time we are on Sky Atlantic or Sky 1 or something. Honestly the BBC has done a little bit to step up their game and bring in lots of racey new shows but really, who needs TV when I can watch online. [editline]27th February 2015[/editline] Peaky Blinders Season 3 you know you want to BBC.[/QUOTE] No it covers any TV-watching, not just BBC channels I'm reporting you to the National Crime Agency, expect a drone strike within minutes [editline]27th February 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=hexpunK;47221400]You don't have to pay the fee so long as you aren't watching broadcasted content live. Lovely little thing for students, just load up iPlayer on a PS3 or something, it's basically TV![/QUOTE] The committee also recommended fixing that loophole :v:
[QUOTE=Thomo_UK;47221380]It's just for BBC services though I think? We don't even pay it, and only watch Top Gear the rest of the time we are on Sky Atlantic or Sky 1 or something. Honestly the BBC has done a little bit to step up their game and bring in lots of racey new shows but really, who needs TV when I can watch online. [editline]27th February 2015[/editline] Peaky Blinders Season 3 you know you want to BBC.[/QUOTE] who needs a TV when i can just get a 32 inch monitor?
[quote]The MPs suggested every household could pay a new compulsory levy instead.[/quote] Fuck that, I don't even watch the TV. Not that I'd pay the BBC even if I did, bunch of wankers.
[QUOTE=smurfy;47221416]The committee also recommended fixing that loophole :v:[/QUOTE] Fuck that noise. It makes quite a bit of sense to only pay the fee if you watch broadcasts to help maintain shit and run the BBC (best news source you get for free really).
[QUOTE=smurfy;47221416]No it covers any TV-watching, not just BBC channels I'm reporting you to the National Crime Agency, expect a drone strike within minutes [editline]27th February 2015[/editline] The committee also recommended fixing that loophole :v:[/QUOTE] Can confirm I just got hit by a BBC operated drone. All I heard was the voice of Matt Baker from the one show before my house was utterly destroyed. Currently posting from a BBC operated gulag in which I have to suffer re-runs of only fools and horses and antiques road-show.
The funny thing is, if someone they do figure it out and send someone round to your place, they have no legal right to entry. You can tell them to sod off and nothing will happen other than possibly an upset letter.
[QUOTE=Jackald;47221467]That's simply untrue. Owning a TV is fine as long as you don't use it to watch live TV. Same deal with BBC iPlayer, you can watch shows on that as long as you don't watch em live.[/QUOTE]How could they even know if you do watch shit live?
[QUOTE=itisjuly;47221865]How could they even know if you do watch shit live?[/QUOTE] You're supposed to tell the truth like a model British citizen. It'd be horribly rude to lie like that!
[QUOTE=itisjuly;47221865]How could they even know if you do watch shit live?[/QUOTE] More than 90% of homes have a TV licence, so they occasionally send letters/inspectors to those that don't asking wtf is going on over there. If you can show you don't need a TV licence they'll put you on an exclusion list and stop bothering you; [url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10124350/More-than-400000-do-not-need-TV-licence.html]about 400,000[/url] homes are currently on that list. The inspectors have no legal power, so when they turn up you can just tell them to go away. You'll probably then get a bunch of letters/inspectors saying pls and ultimately they can get the police involved if they want. As I said though, the vast majority of people just pay the licence. Licence fee evasion is currently a criminal offence but they're probably going to make it a civil matter in the next year or two. The report also looked at the German model, where a flat 'broadcasting fee' is charged to all households regardless of whether they have a TV or not - essentially a tax, but collected by the broadcaster in order to protect its financial independence from the government. With that system you don't need to spend money and time investigating fee evaders, because everyone has to pay. So we could move to something like that in the coming decade or so. Others have suggested switching the BBC to a voluntary subscription service, and/or encrypting regular TV like satellite and cable so that people have to bullshit around a lot more if they want to watch without paying. So there are a bunch of ideas for reforms ranging from 'let people not pay if they don't want to', to 'make everyone pay'
[QUOTE=smurfy;47222028]More than 90% of homes have a TV licence, so they occasionally send letters/inspectors to those that don't asking wtf is going on over there. If you can show you don't need a TV licence they'll put you on an exclusion list and stop bothering you; [url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10124350/More-than-400000-do-not-need-TV-licence.html]about 400,000[/url] homes are currently on that list. The inspectors have no legal power, so when they turn up you can just tell them to go away. You'll probably then get a bunch of letters/inspectors saying pls and ultimately they can get the police involved if they want. As I said though, the vast majority of people just pay the licence. Licence fee evasion is currently a criminal offence but they're probably going to make it a civil matter in the next year or two. The report also looked at the German model, where a flat 'broadcasting fee' is charged to all households regardless of whether they have a TV or not - essentially a tax, but collected by the broadcaster in order to protect its financial independence from the government. With that system you don't need to spend money and time investigating fee evaders, because everyone has to pay. So we could move to something like that in the coming decade or so. Others have suggested switching the BBC to a voluntary subscription service, and/or encrypting regular TV like satellite and cable so that people have to bullshit around a lot more if they want to watch without paying. So there are a bunch of ideas for reforms ranging from 'let people not pay if they don't want to', to 'make everyone pay'[/QUOTE] Sounds horrible how they can pretty much extort money unless you put up a fight. To be honest this concept confuses me greatly as to how that's even legal.
They also famously used to claim to have TV detector vans roaming the streets, and they had scary adverts where an inspector in a van was outside someone's house like 'they're watching BBC Two... yeah definitely evading, arrest the bastards'. In reality they turned out to have like two of these vans in the whole country and we're not sure they even work in real life. [editline]27th February 2015[/editline] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq7luWzbouo[/media] Serious business
[QUOTE=Chryseus;47221441]Fuck that, I don't even watch the TV. Not that I'd pay the BBC even if I did, bunch of wankers.[/QUOTE] A lot of people simply aren't watching tv as in days of old. If your revenue model is based on collecting from viewers, and the younger generations no longer watch 'tv' as such, what's your future revenue stream going to look like? That's the problem they are wrestling with. They'll probably come up with some kind of general 'media' tax. So whatever kind of connection/antenna you have that can possibly be used to watch a show, you pay a tax on it.
Does the BBC not have commercials? Because we manage to fund the CBC without taxing the ownership of televisions, but they also run commercials.
[QUOTE=DaCommie1;47222390]Does the BBC not have commercials? Because we manage to fund the CBC without taxing the ownership of televisions, but they also run commercials.[/QUOTE] No commercials
[QUOTE=smurfy;47222028]Others have suggested switching the BBC to a voluntary subscription service, and/or encrypting regular TV like satellite and cable so that people have to bullshit around a lot more if they want to watch without paying.[/QUOTE] How the hell are you going to be able to encrypt it? It still has to be decoded, and that hardware is easy to buy and hide. It's not like it can be always online or something. Not to mention the fact that this makes piracy even more appealing.
I think the success of television is the BBC's downfall. With all the free on-demend services from so many different broadcasters, there's basically no point in having a TV plugged into the arieal socket. I've found that modern BBC programs are generally not as good as old ones, with a few rare expections, so I would just rather have access to a archive of old programs, which they already provide for free. Not to mention that if you didn't enjoy BBC programming but aren't savvy enough to do piracy/whatever, a Netflix sub is £6 a month. Less than half the price of a 12 month license. And if you don't have a recorder box, you're free to watch whatever whenever, as well as a fucking huge libary of stuff. Honestly, I'm surprised more people are still paying for license. [editline]27th February 2015[/editline] This is coming from someone who barely watches TV anyway, as well as being able to find whatever I want to watch by many means, and I know that lots of people love watching regular TV, so it is still understandable. But as time passes, the 'tech savvyness' of the current generation will increase, which is not good for the BBC.
You still have to pay it even if you don't have a TV but have access to the internet because BBC stuff is up online.
ABC is hardly even relevant here since it isn't government funded and no one is trying to force it onto us. Pretty great if you ask me.
The TV license here is very easy to evade. If you have it you can just call them and tell them you threw out your TV. Even if inspectors come they have no right to enter your household and even if they would somehow find out that you had a TV and put you on the license payment list you could just call them again the next day and just say you threw out your TV again. :v:
I don't pay for this and I never will. I have no intention to have a separate TV in my house, and all my watching ATM is via Netflix via PC. I find it highly unfair of the concept of paying for a service i have no intention of using. We have enough of that shit in England as it is. These guys keep putting threatening letters through my door saying they are going to take me to court. Theyve done it for a year and a half now, they are entirely powerless to do anything. They don't even have my name, instead sending out the standard 'legal occupier' letter. Well, mr legal occupier is going to continue enjoy putting them straight into the recycle bin. Hopefully theyll keep sending letters and wasting money on postage, the cunts. As it is, its simply a semi legal protection racket. The people that care about the service should pay for it, or even better, the BBC itself through advertising like every other broadcaster.
I just don't pay the fee. But that's because I don't pay crazy amounts of money to use archaic technology as a means of entertainment. On demand services will cause TV to die within the next 25 years I hope.
What if I own the TV itself but I only use it to play an Xbox. You don't have to pay the license then?
[QUOTE=FullStreak12;47223637]What if I own the TV itself but I only use it to play an Xbox. You don't have to pay the license then?[/QUOTE] Not at the minute, according to the FAQ they might send out an "enforcement officer" so chances are they're going to run some sort of argument about it.
[QUOTE=Deathbane;47223609]I don't pay for this and I never will. I have no intention to have a separate TV in my house, and all my watching ATM is via Netflix via PC. I find it highly unfair of the concept of paying for a service i have no intention of using. We have enough of that shit in England as it is. These guys keep putting threatening letters through my door saying they are going to take me to court. Theyve done it for a year and a half now, they are entirely powerless to do anything. They don't even have my name, instead sending out the standard 'legal occupier' letter. Well, mr legal occupier is going to continue enjoy putting them straight into the recycle bin. Hopefully theyll keep sending letters and wasting money on postage, the cunts. As it is, its simply a semi legal protection racket. The people that care about the service should pay for it, or even better, the BBC itself through advertising like every other broadcaster.[/QUOTE] If you're not watching live broadcasts then you don't need to pay for a license. Maybe you should try contacting them in order to stop the legal notices instead of being needlessly antagonistic.
Wasting their time and money is my way of protesting against it's very existence. It is also minimal effort on my part. None of the letters they have sent me are politely worded - the very first letter after moving in was a big, intimidating, red rimmed letter demanding money or they would take me to court. I'd been paying council tax for a week and had only been there at most a month. Since they clearly have no manners themselves, they'll get no niceties from me. I can only imagine how many vulnerable, poor people are conned /intimidated into parting with their money. Its pretty disgraceful.
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