TV licence requirements

[Rorschach]

the most recent doctor who is the perfect example of trying to please everybody, whilst pleasing nobody at the same time, it's for me the worst series they've ever created, and not because the doctor is female, it's the cast, the PC ness of it and the poor quality writing. The series before it with capaldi was one of the best so it's a real let down.

I think it was earlier in this thread I said it, but it bears repeating again from what I have heard about Dr Who. "Go woke, go broke".

 

[lanemaux]

As an unrepentant Whovy (Dr. who fan) , I agree with the above. I also do not blame the actors . Writing is key to good television as is the shows direction as provided by the show runner.
The direction we have been heading here is well expressed by a stock bit from the Animainiacs cartoon of a couple of decades ago.
WHEEL OF MORALITY , TURN TURN TURN. TELL US THE LESSON WE MUST LEARN.
All fine and well until it gets boring.

 

[AJB Temple]

Lurker I do understand that the BBC is necessary for some, especially quite old, people. But this is a declining minority. My kids are 17 and 22 and do not watch anything except on apps. My wife and I watch almost no TV live and the vast majority of what we watch is non-BBC Sky, Netflix, Apple TV, Amazon Prime from catch up or recordings.

The world has changed really radically in the last decade. It is not going to go back and the BBC model no longer works for many people. It is fundamentally unfair in the view of a great many people.

The election coverage and the crazy woke Islington attitude, has done the BBC a huge amount of damage.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

I have to agree with the negative comments about the BBC. Over the last 10-20 years it has morphed from a generally high quality broadcaster to one which sometimes produces excellent world class programming, but increasingly outputs low quality, "me too" programming swamped by repeats.

Management is clearly more concerned with "correctness" than functioning as an effective media company - and it shows.

The real question is - what does Boris think? He clearly has the resolve and self confidence to implement that which is in his political interest - eg: Brexit and HS2. He has the political clout (majority) to do to the BBC that which he sees fit, apparently irrespective of public opinion.

In my opinion it needs drastically slimming to concentrate only on quality. This may see the end of 50-75% of radio and TV programming and ensure that what remains is something of which the UK can be proud rather than living on past glories.

 

[RogerS]

Another irritation with the BBC is their 'we know best' attitude. That and their use of Crapita to man the complaints platform. They are past masters at deflection, abrogation or downright refusal to give an answer.

 

[Lons]

I also agree that the BBC is outdated, has deteriorated, and we should not be forced to pay a licence fee in the current environment however if the licence fee was abolished as I think it should be then what about the likes of Lurkers dad? He doesn't contribute at that age and possibly can't afford to buy in Sky, BT or Amazon, certainly many old folk can't and is it morally right that they shouldn't have some enjoyment in their last few years?
These old people generally don't have the apps or indeed knowledge or day to day memory to use them.

I don't know the answer btw and am purely selfish in not wanting to pay what I see as an overpriced tax on the little BBC content of interest to me.

All that assuming the BBC would drop the sport and allow free access via Freeview of course.

 

[Rorschach]

I also agree that the BBC is outdated, has deteriorated, and we should not be forced to pay a licence fee in the current environment however if the licence fee was abolished as I think it should be then what about the likes of Lurkers dad? He doesn't contribute at that age and possibly can't afford to buy in Sky, BT or Amazon, certainly many old folk can't and is it morally right that they shouldn't have some enjoyment in their last few years?
These old people generally don't have the apps or indeed knowledge or day to day memory to use them.

I don't know the answer btw and am purely selfish in not wanting to pay what I see as an overpriced tax on the little BBC content of interest to me.

All that assuming the BBC would drop the sport and allow free access via Freeview of course.

Freeview could continue without the BBC, or with a limited selection of programmes, or BBC with adverts. Just because the license fee goes doesn't mean free TV stops.

 

[Lons]

Freeview could continue without the BBC, or with a limited selection of programmes, or BBC with adverts. Just because the license fee goes doesn't mean free TV stops.

Yeah didn't really mean that but without the licence fee the BBC program quality would at least initially drop rapidly I would have thought.
My point about old people in light of Lurkers dad and the snooker is that they possibly couldn't watch sport without a pay service. My father was housebound in a chair using a nebuliser for the last 8 years of life and TV and sport was what he lived for, there are a lot of people in that situation.
My MIL is 92 and now in a care home, she relies on TV but is lucky if essential she could afford to pay, she's a minority I think.

That said, I would selfishly ditch the licence tax and make the BBC compete with commercial channels on an equal basis. TV advertising is not an issue now for viewers as it's so easy to skip them.

 

[Irish Rover]

Another irritation with the BBC is their 'we know best' attitude. That and their use of Crapita to man the complaints platform. They are past masters at deflection, abrogation or downright refusal to give an answer.

Wow! I didn’t know that. Every day’s a school day, as they say.

So the same company that harasses and bullies people who don’t have a tv licence, also forms the protective shield around the BBC from public complaints.

I have complained a handful of times over the years and every reply was as patronising and glib as the previous one.

If I wasn’t married to a lovely, sweet woman I would cancel my licence today. I would relish a visit from capita but the bride wouldn’t enjoy it at all. Plus they are well known for targeting and bullying women who answer the door to them.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I'll repeat the advice if you get a visit:
"I withdraw your Implied Right of Access."

 

[Terry - Somerset]

If the only reason for keeping the BBC are elderly viewers who rely on the BBCs unique output this should not be funded through a flat rate tax on all households.

Far better would be to either (a) allow the BBC to commercialise through advertising and subscription models, or (b) increase the old age pension to allow the elderly to subscribe to whatever channel they want.

A sudden cut to BBC funding is not the right way to go. There needs to be a steady licence fee reduction over (say) 5 years, with a clear plan agreed with the government about the funding the BBC will get from the Treasury in the future.

The BBC should plan accordingly - one hopes they will have the good sense to make focussed service reductions rather than the normal public sector response of spreading the pain and lowering the quality of everything.

 

[El Barto]

I cancelled my licence recently, very liberating. When the TV licence man comes to my door I will invite him in, offer him a cup of tea and gladly show him that I have iPlayer installed on absolutely nothing, because it's b (hammer) llocks.

 

[ColeyS1]

I've thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts on this. I'd more than happily pay £75 a year to listen to the radio without adverts. I can live without the bbc tv content. I record pretty much everything unless I'm looking for something to pass the time. Adverts are more or less 4 minutes which means two presses of the forward button and it's all but there. It feels the equivalent of the ppi scandal. In years to come we'll wonder how they got away with it for so long.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

 

[Steve Maskery]

I cancelled my licence recently, very liberating. When the TV licence man comes to my door I will invite him in, offer him a cup of tea and gladly show him that I have iPlayer installed on absolutely nothing, because it's b (hammer) llocks.

The only reason I don't do that is that it kind of legitimises their desire to come poking around. I've been left alone for a few years now, but at one time it was regular. I used to tell him that he was welcome to enter, if armed with a search warrant and accompanied by a police officer. Good luck with getting a search warrant.

 

[Rorschach]

I cancelled my licence recently, very liberating. When the TV licence man comes to my door I will invite him in, offer him a cup of tea and gladly show him that I have iPlayer installed on absolutely nothing, because it's b (hammer) llocks.

That's a stupid thing to do, they are well known for lying about what they have seen. Simply refuse to let them in without a warrant.

 

[RogerS]

I'll repeat the advice if you get a visit:
"I withdraw your Implied Right of Access."

That's almost as good as the response one should give to a constable..

"Have you anything to say, Sir?"

"Yes, Officer, please don't hit me again"

So when in court, the Officer is asked 'And what did the Defendant say ?" ...

 

[RogerS]

.... (b) increase the old age pension to allow the elderly to subscribe to whatever channel they want.

....

Name one channel that gives the breadth and diversity of the BBC's three channels.

 

[El Barto]

I cancelled my licence recently, very liberating. When the TV licence man comes to my door I will invite him in, offer him a cup of tea and gladly show him that I have iPlayer installed on absolutely nothing, because it's b (hammer) llocks.

That's a stupid thing to do, they are well known for lying about what they have seen. Simply refuse to let them in without a warrant.

Nah it’s fine. I’ll film it.

 

[John Brown]

I, also, have read this thread with interest. Personally, I don't have a problem with the licence fee. I watch a bit of BBC TV, although we use Netflix and Amazon more, I listen to R4 and the world service a lot, and I read the news on the BBC website.

I think it's fairly good value for money, but then my wife pays it.

Yes, I suppose you could regard it as a tax, but then again, we probably all pay taxes for some things we don't use. Like education, judging from a lot of what I read on this forum.
That was a joke, by the way.
But seriously, if you choose to have no children, you don't get a tax discount. Ditto if you pay for private medical care. Don't use public libraries? Never visit museums? Tough. You're paying for them anyway.

It's probably too late now, but at some point in the past, maybe back in the 70s, when TV sets outnumbered landline phones, the "Licence" could have been dropped and quietly shifted to general taxation. After all, it does seem as though a lot of folks have the biggest problem with the bullying goons who are employed to enforce the current system.

They wrote to me once, a long time ago after I'd moved house, and told me they had "Licence detector vans" operating in the area. I replied that I owned a licence, but kept it in a Faraday cage, so their chances of detecting it were slim.

 

[Lons]

They wrote to me once, a long time ago after I'd moved house, and told me they had "Licence detector vans" operating in the area. I replied that I owned a licence, but kept it in a Faraday cage, so their chances of detecting it were slim.

:lol: :lol: :lol: