BBC Licence Fee...... | Vital Football

BBC Licence Fee......

Suffolk Gills

Suffolk Gills

Vital Youth Team
...... to be charged to those over 75. While it is not a direct issue for me and I get good value, is it not time for a change. Why should over 75's pay for woke!

Personally I would rather pay for what I watch through choice, not compulsion. Too often the BBC broadcast the views of the vocal minority to the silent majority (I think that doubles as political correctness).
 
I have a soft spot for the Beeb as my wife worked there for 15 years , plus in my opinion the content is very varied and good value for money when compared to sky or Netflix. Sky TV in particular is very expensive and quite frankly full of crap stuff.

However they could of course get the money from other ways ie product placement plus other advertising which wouldn’t be hard to change to.

It does seem slightly archaic that we still have to pay a licence fee when they pay stupid wage levels to people like Gary Lineker or Graham Norton. Why couldn’t they put adverts in those programmes to subsidise the presenters wages......or indeed on their online presentations too .....
 
At present a lot of over 75s pay nothing for TV & radio. The licence fee is a separate issue because whatever the situation from now on those over 75s will be paying. In fact if we get rid of the licence fee, make everything commercial and leave it to individual choice, those pensionsers will be worse off still. They will lose the equivalent of about £13.12 a month, which will buy them precious little and they will be compelled to watch adverts.
 
I wish I could have BBC removed from my TV, hence never having to worry about the fee again, like the previous poster said let them compete with the other channels
 
As someone who worked for the Beeb in the regions for 18 years (reporter, producer, specialist correspondent, news editor, documentary maker and local radio managing editor), I declare an obvious interest...

People always associate the licence fee only with TV, but you have to remember that the BBC also runs 6 national radio stations, 39 local ones, regional TV news, the website, educational programmes, the World Service, kids' TV, etc etc. The problem with the licence fee is that if you remove it, it's the public service stuff people value most which will be lost - purely because it's not commercial. For example, local radio has played a blinder during Covid-19, supporting community volunteering etc.

But in today's digital world, the licence fee doesn't fit. I don't really know what the answer is. The BBC management isn't great and has made some massive strategic errors - including agreeing to pay for free TV for the over 75s. That on its own will bankrupt the Beeb within 20 years. But I do wish people would shut up about bias. When I was a senior editor, we got complaints from the Tories and Labour in equal measure. I'd say that shows we had it about right!

PS. Did you know the BBC logo is the world's third most recognised brand - after Coca Cola and the Christian cross? That's down to the World Service, which is renowned for its impartial coverage of global affairs. Losing that would be a catastrophe...
 
Eager - very hard to disagree with any of your excellent post. In fact the BBC is great value and I would pay the whole fee just for the radio output. However, there is a however - I totally get the point Labour and Tories both think there is bias, but I don't really see it. My gripe is highlighted by Five Live - I can no longer listen to the station apart from the commentaries and I think this is an age thing. The profile / opinions of the news presenters are such that I cannot relate any longer. I am not obsessed with BLM, GLBT and all the other things they decide are important. Besides it is a national pastime to complain about the BBC - they can take it.
 
EagerExile said:
As someone who worked for the Beeb in the regions for 18 years (reporter, producer, specialist correspondent, news editor, documentary maker and local radio managing editor), I declare an obvious interest...

People always associate the licence fee only with TV, but you have to remember that the BBC also runs 6 national radio stations, 39 local ones, regional TV news, the website, educational programmes, the World Service, kids' TV, etc etc. The problem with the licence fee is that if you remove it, it's the public service stuff people value most which will be lost - purely because it's not commercial. For example, local radio has played a blinder during Covid-19, supporting community volunteering etc.

But in today's digital world, the licence fee doesn't fit. I don't really know what the answer is. The BBC management isn't great and has made some massive strategic errors - including agreeing to pay for free TV for the over 75s. That on its own will bankrupt the Beeb within 20 years. But I do wish people would shut up about bias. When I was a senior editor, we got complaints from the Tories and Labour in equal measure. I'd say that shows we had it about right!

PS. Did you know the BBC logo is the world's third most recognised brand - after Coca Cola and the Christian cross? That's down to the World Service, which is renowned for its impartial coverage of global affairs. Losing that would be a catastrophe...
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Maybe folk should watch TR's #panodrama , to appreciate what one's license fee pays for.
When it was released , within a month BBC had lost 150,000 'subscribers' 👍
 
Happy to keep paying the license fee. From what I see the political bias complaint is a whole load of rubbish. I do think their website has weird prioritisation of stories though and has become way too bloody woke.

I think TV and radio is good though, they produce some great dramas.
 
It is the job of HM Opposition to hold any government to account not the BBC.

£100million for diversity is a total waste! The BBC already exceeds its targets in this respect.

As for Lineker don't get me started about the smuggest bar steward on TV.
 
Fantastic value for money.
Fantastic advert for our country - spoke to a Republican Yank on a plane in Cambodia this January and he said they go to the BBC fir the truth over their own news channels. People do not realise how valuable this is to our country (similarly the British Council who I used to work for).

At present the BBC has been neutered as they are scared of the Tories defunding them so don't challenge properly (unlike Channel 4) but I'd still be devastated to see it go.

Be careful what you wish for.

Ps, iirc, it is good value for money compared to other state channels.
 
I'd be happy to pay the TV license if they dropped the price down to a figure like £30 a year and used it purely for reporting the actual news and factual shows like Panarama.

For the other 90% of the time broadcasting "entertainment" shows like Strictly Come Dancing and Doctor Who etc, they can appeal to the open market and put in advertising between each show. With luck shows like Mrs Brown's Boys will earn the BBC so little in terms of advertising revenue that they'll scrap the show and start producing shows people actually want to see.
 
I support the idea of public service broadcasting, and reluctantly agree with the licence fee. One way for over 75s is to only allow free licence when everybody in the household is over 75.
 
I’d like to see the bbc defunded.
They should not be financed by tax.
They should take their chances in the commercial world of tv.
As 58 said, foreign viewers rate it but don’t contribute to it.
Subscription is the way forward but it must be voluntary.
 
Baghdad_Rob said:
and factual shows like Panarama.
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Have you seen #Panodrama Rob ? 😂😂

From wiki

'Panorama issued a statement apologising on Sweeney's behalf for his "offensive and inappropriate" comments. The Panorama episode on Robinson was never shown on the BBC. On 1 October 2019, Sweeney announced via Twitter that he would be leaving the BBC after 17 years, calling founder of the EDL Tommy Robinson a "complete ****" after supposedly being fired because of Tommy Robinson's documentary Panodrama and the protests outside BBC Manchester'
 
shotshy said:
I’d like to see the bbc defunded.
They should not be financed by tax.
They should take their chances in the commercial world of tv.
As 58 said, foreign viewers rate it but don’t contribute to it.
Subscription is the way forward but it must be voluntary.
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I respect your opinion but I repeat my earlier point. This isn't just about BBC1 and BBC2, it's about all the public service stuff the BBC does that isn't viable commercially. Once that's lost we'll never get it back, because no one else will do it. If you're ok with that, fine. But I'm not.
 
EagerExile said:
I respect your opinion but I repeat my earlier point. This isn't just about BBC1 and BBC2, it's about all the public service stuff the BBC does that isn't viable commercially. Once that's lost we'll never get it back, because no one else will do it. If you're ok with that, fine. But I'm not.
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Invicta FM used to cover the Gills.
And iFollow isn't BBC either.
 
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