Are TV licences really necessary?

[aeolium]

I don't think the appearance of the government interfering (or appearing to interfere) in the running of the BBC or trying to privatise it would go down very well in Parliament, in the non-Murdoch press, in public opinion or internationally. It is not the licence fee system that is the protector of the BBC's independence but its own status and reputation.

[Gordon]

.....It is not the licence fee system that is the protector of the BBC's independence but its own status and reputation.

Agreed and so that is the target. So undermine it by bogging it down with complaints of bad reportage, profligate with money, anything will do. Keep wearing it down. I wonder what Patten's real motives are and why he was appointed.

[aeolium]

The BBC as a large public institution will always come in for a fair amount of criticism, and some of it is undoubtedly justified. But it is a major step from criticism to seeking to undermine its existence as a public body, or its editorial independence and I doubt it is a step that any political party will want to take.

Incidentally, if the defenders of the licence fee system think it provides such a strong protection against government interference with its funding, what do they think of the recent licence fee settlement - implemented by this government - which saw an effective 20% cut in real terms up to 2016? Had that cut been applied to its grant in a system where it was funded by general taxation, there would have been cries that of course the BBC was no longer really independent.

[Dave2002]

Licence fee administration could be brought into the 21st Century. As fas as I can see it stiil works like car tax, so if you buy a licence on the 31st of some months you pay for the whole month. With modern computer accounting it should be possible to make a 6 or 12 month licence really mean what it says on the tin. It's also no longer possible to sort this out at Post Offices, and apparently the outlets which now deal directly with the public are often in supermarkets and not very satisfactory.

[Dave2002]

Would you want to substitute endless pledge drives (think of PBS in the USA) for the licence fee?

Shudder!

I think there could be much better systems than our current licence system, but others around here have reminded me of some of the difficulies with alternatives. I'd far rather have the current system, warts and all than some others, and I'd dearly hope that the good things we have from the BBC and other public service broadcasters such as Channel Four could coninue, and continue to be supported both culturally and financially.

We want:

Good technical infrastructure
High quality programmes
Unbiased and/or balanced programmes (these aren't quite the same)
Independence from political interference
Independence from commercial or other interference (think Fox News etc)

I'd happily lose the licensing if all of the objections raised could be countered. Otherwise it's better to stick with what we know, even if it does have some failings.

[Vile Consort]

Why on earth should the tax-payer fund the total dross that is 98% of the BBC's television output? There is no more justification for it than there would be for publicly funding Viz or the Beano.

What makes the BBC different from public libraries? The libraries are only 40% dross.

[Resurrection Man]

.....The BBC's independence has to be ensured in other ways, such as its charter and independent regulation. ..

I think you are confusing 'independence' of the editorial sort with 'independence' as in independent means which is effectively what the licence fee gives the BBC. I am all in favour of maintaining the status quo. If the BBC were funded out of general taxation then their money would have been reduced in line with other Govt departments.

[aeolium]

If the BBC were funded out of general taxation then their money would have been reduced in line with other Govt departments.

Whereas under the 'independent' licence fee system their money has been reduced - by the government - more than the average reduction in other government departments.

[johnb]

Maybe, but I have a suspicion that the switch from a licence fee to general taxation won't just stop there. It would just be the start of a process that changes the BBC into something very different from what we now know.

[Sydney Grew]

In the Antipodes there is no licence fee, and they rebroadcast all the best programmes from the B.B.C. and the I.T.V. within a month or two of their exhibition in Britain.

In Switzerland on the other hand there is a really astronomical licence fee (payable on every conceivable receiving apparatus, including one's kitchen transistor or walk-man thing), and yet the programmes are rubbish.

It all goes to show does it not . . .

[umslopogaas]

I dont have a television, and one of life's minor pleasures used to be ignoring the ever-more-threatening letters from the licencing authority. These culminated in a warning that I was liable for a house inspection, which of course they never made. They would then give up and the cycle would start all over again. The fun ended when a friend said oh, you need a licence even if you dont have a set. This threw me into a bit of a panic and I rang up to check. No, you dont need one if you dont have a set, but then they confirmed they had taken me off their lists, so I no longer get threatening letters to ignore.

I did find it rather irritating. I dont fly, fish, shoot or own a dog. Nobody chases me because I dont have pilot, fishing, gun or dog licences.

[french frank]

I have twice allowed them to 'inspect' my house. It was cursory, especially on the second occasion. They'd been sent to call (at the licence fee payers' expense, of course) but obviously made up their minds within seconds of entering the portals of Rat Abbey, probably from the moment they pulled on the doorbell and heard it jangling on for several minutes throughout the house, that there was no TV set there.

They do continue to write every couple of years. At some point they will call again, no doubt.

You are a licence fee payer by virtue of the fact that you use any BBC service, or may do so, or may wish to do so in the future (BBC Royal Charter §57); in many cases (e.g. if you are a new born baby) you are not literally required to produce a licence on request or pay the fee.

[Resurrection Man]

.....

I did find it rather irritating. I dont fly, fish, shoot or own a dog. Nobody chases me because I dont have pilot, fishing, gun or dog licences.

Given that in 2010/2011, the estimated evasion rate is 5.2% of the BBC's revenue, this equates to nearly £200 million and so perhaps one can understand why they chase up and investigate.

Rather bizarrely I was in Worcester the other day fiddling about with my new phone and trying to find a free wi-fi channel when up popped a secure network attributed to a TV Licence detector van! So they do exist.

[Anna]

I pay my licence via direct debit, £12.12 a month, fixed until 2016. I think it's terrific value (perhaps see the Parade's End thread? And the Secret Streets programme, which got us all talking) I rarely watch commercial channels, the adverts drive me insane (one reason why I stopped watching Downton Abbey, plus of course it had turned into a soap of the worst soapiness) BBC4 has excellent music plus "cultural" stuff and we get R3 thrown in for free. What more could you want for the price of 4 pints of beer?

[MrGongGong]

Rather bizarrely I was in Worcester the other day fiddling about with my new phone and trying to find a free wi-fi channel when up popped a secure network attributed to a TV Licence detector van! So they do exist.

allegedly

My wifi network is called "house of cheese" but the house is made of bricks