The Government has upped its offence on the BBC by announcing intentions to end the licence fee by 2027 (there is a General Election in 2024) and to freeze it until 2024. How do you feel about this? Personally feel the BBC has really made some errors in how they've conducted themselves in recent years under threat from the Tories. So it is hard to feel bad for it now the Government is coming for it, seemingly as a means of moving things on from Partygate. This will no doubt end the BBC as we do know it though, and for perceptions of bias it clearly does a huge service not only for us but the world over. The idea seems to be it would become a subscription service (assuming online) and then the rest will be privatised. I do get the argument that perhaps the licence fee is outdated, since television viewing habits have changed so much... but this feels political above all else. BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen
Each party seem to think they are biased to the other side! Don't really watch much on the BBC to make a real decision about it either way tbh. I am sure like anything there a lot of different opinions on what it on - too much sport/celeb shows/quizzes etc. Unfortunately they cannot keep everyone happy.
At around £13.25 a month the BBC is more expensive than Netflix or Prime, but those aren't public service broadcasters. Despite agreeing that recently the BBC has taken some extremely disappointing decisions I still consider it value for money. Its news remains my first port of call, its drama and comedy is still of a good standard and the iPlayer is a fantastic resource. The Tories don't like anything that doesn't pay into their coffers or tow their party line, so the BBC and the NHS will always be targets for them. If it were up to me I'd get rid of 90% of the BBCs radio network, it's just duplicated elsewhere these days.
The BBC makes decent dramas and documentaries, but its comedy content has been lacking for some time. It's sports content isn't fit for the 21st century, live text updates are a joke in this Tiktok era.
There is a strong belief that this has been shoved forward as a means to appeal to right-wing Tory members, with support within the party dwindling for the PM. Makes total sense. Another suggestion is that they will also up the ante on channel boat crossings, although surely that won't rear its head again until after Winter? We are now in a state that will basically attempt to throw an entire state broadcaster into the bin in order to grant a leader more time in office. ffs.
Does make me laugh all these BBC employees on twitter defending it whilst they are paid obscene salaries. I use the iPlayer occasionally that is it so couldn't care less about what else they have to offer it ain't worth it to me.
from What could replace the BBC licence fee? Charge a levy on every broadband connection The existing television licence is levied on the device traditionally used to receive most BBC content. A more modern equivalent would be a levy on every broadband connection in the UK used to fund public service media. This could be relatively easy to enforce, with the money collecting through existing broadband providers and has the benefit of being a near-universal. But adding £13 a month to the cost of a broadband connection could make internet access prohibitively expensive for some households. Whilst this all has the whiff of ending the BBC, it could just be a way to modernise the levy and how it is charged... since most people use a TV to stream now.
Tbf their dramas are lacking too. Other than Peaky Blinders I don't watch any. It's definitely aimed at people 50+.
I think this is a terrible decision. BBC News is, in my view, fairly close to as politically independent of a news source as you can really hope to get. Sure, there's examples of bias (see here in probably the worst case I can recall), and obviously reporters and correspondents are human beings with their own political views that are impossible to hide, but overall I see little evidence the BBC is fundamentally biased against the left or the right. Even if I'm wrong and the BBC is biased against the left or the right opening the institution up to privatisation is not going to resolve that. BBC News will completely lose any form of independence and neutrality and become a mouthpiece for whatever the beliefs of the corporation that comes to own it. Given the way most of the British media is, it will probably drift to the right, but it wouldn't be a good thing if it drifted to the left, in my view. The space for news coverage with a distinct and significant political bias is already filled. There are places to go for people to read opinions about this country that are based off of both left-wing and right-wing views. There's nothing to gain from this. However, in getting rid of a state-financed broadcaster, we lose all hope of a broadly independent news provider which supplies the public news without having to worry about making a profit whilst doing so. Do BBC News always act perfectly? No. Is there any other news source in this country that can get close to the level of neutrality the BBC provide? **** no. Is privatisation of the BBC going to make the institution more independent? Not a chance. This is all just considering BBC News, too, and not the other services it provides. A dreadful decision, in my view, but it makes total sense for the Tories: I struggle to believe the institution won't drift to the right as a result.
The fact that the execrable Rupert Murdoch has been pushing for this for 20+ years is reason enough not to do it.
Feel the BBC is definitely one of those "you'll miss it when it's gone" type things. Many people will shrug, but I think they have just taken it for granted.
Never understood why we are forced to get a license, it should be a choice. So if the fee is removed and there is a choice then I’m all for that. If it’s just going to become a forced fee elsewhere then it’s pointless. Maybe an ignorant/daft question but why can’t they just have adverts like ITV and earn money that way?
TBF It's a tax. Do you think all taxes should be opt in/out? On your second question, from a practical point of view I do not know why they cannot open revenue streams with advertisements. Apparently BBC services outside the UK do sell advertising space. It would be sad to see it happen, but it would make sense.
It's really interesting how much Cabinet members seem to influencing policy right now. Raab's British Bill of Rights, Patel's Borders and Policing Bills, now Dorries gets the BBC License Fee scrapped... These have been long-term goals of those individual cabinet: less so long term goals of Johnson. I think as the pressure turns on him Johnson is essentially using his support of these measures to ensure they stay on his side
This feels very strange. The Government is essentially putting the BBC's future into the centre of the next General Election. If they wanna reform the BBC and its funding in order to modernise it then this would be a good position to take. But if the idea is to essentially sell it off, then I think they might be overplaying their hand. I think deep down people can be won over to realise this is a bad idea. I think for the most part barely anybody is anti-BBC. They might be ambivalent, but then that isn't a reason to essentially get rid of it.
There's a finite amount of money for advertising, that's probably why ad breaks have swollen from 2 - 3 minutes a few years ago to 6 minutes now, so they can cram in more ads just to raise the same revenue. Personally I'm happy to pay £3 a week to have a few channels that are ad free, and news service that I feel I can trust at least as much as any other. Incidentally, compulsory payment to state broadcasters is a very common system, the French pay €138 a year, the Germans €220, the Italians €113.50, the Irish €160, the Swiss €340 etc. etc. etc. Television licence - Wikipedia
I guess I'll put it this way. We all pay taxes, but generally we do not know how our tax money is spent. The license fee is just another tax. However, this tax we see exactly what it goes towards and most of us utilise it to some degree everyday. If not each day, then 100% every week. You may find it silly, but I think having a tax we can very clearly see and reap the value in is pretty decent. It isn't perfect, but then what is? I do however think it might be a bit archaic. It is essentially a tax on having a television, which we interact with so differently now to 10 years ago even.
