TV Licensing

My personal thoughts are that the BBC was first rate in terms of the programmes that they made and transmitted up until about the mid to late 80's, now all i see is reality tv or cheap to make fly on the wall type docs.
I now feel that for me it does not represent good value for money anymore, this in mind i would advocate a pay per view system instead of the current system.
If the fee is only for the BBC, why should those who do not wish to have it be forced to pay anyway?
I am sure the problems of freeview boxes could be quickly sorted out by means of scrambling the signal and providing those who pay with decoders, some of the old sky channels used to to that.

All the best,

Chris.

Chris, your argument seems odd to me.

You now enjoy (or perhaps not "enjoy") a wealth of additional services from those offered in the 80s - without a commensurate increase in what you pay.

You have the excellent BBC4 to choose from if you are unhappy with the more commercial flagship channel.

However the "why should I pay if I don't get the benefit" argument is spurious.

I could say the same thing about child benefit, tax breaks for married couples and so on.

Besides - most of the shows you enjoyed in the 80s can be seen again and again - so you're probably better off!

Hi Gavin,

I do not enjoy or use any of these new services.
BBC4 is a free to air channel and as such is not covered by the licence fee anyway, but is in my opinion filled with rubbish that i do not wish to watch.
The BBC is not a Government department and so has no right to tax us for the service that they provide when the technology is available to opt out of it, thats like Mc Donalds charging me £150 per year so that i can eat burgers whenever i want, a great deal for burger lovers but no good if you don't like them.
Incidentally, you dont get married couples tax breaks anymore, New Labour sorted that little gem out in the first term that they were elected.

I do not just want 80's repeats, i want good new programmes that are more than sending a film crew out with the Police or Ambulance service, and most of the repeats of 80's shows are on a sky or other channel that has nothing to do with the BBC anyway.

All i want is to exercise my democratic right to opt out of a service that a private company offers if i do not think that i will get value from it.

If the BBC is as great as some say, then it will have nothing to fear from standing on its own two feet with PPV, will it?

All the best,

Chris.

Crap.

Anyway, even if you don't watch the BBC, or use it in anyway, you can still be grateful for it. I believe the BBC is responsible for the whole country having such a high quality television service. If McDonald's had an equivalent 'burger' licence, they would probably be the best burgers in the country, and as such, Burger King and KFC would push to make theirs of equally high or higher quality, to try and steal their customers.

I get as angry as the next man when I read of stupid spending by them, and think the budget cuts are good mostly as they are helping the BBC become more efficient. I am annoyed by overpaid jobs with the BBC, and hate some of the crap they put out.

But I am grateful that we have such a quality controller.

[/big-british-castle-creeping]

Crap! ? Get a grip, anyone would think you work for them

What has happened to all the great dramas?

I will leave you to watch the low level "entertainment" such as

My Penis and me or Hairy Ladies

Real top level stuff!

I do not feel anyone can now say that the Beeb are putting out good high quality TV, nothing close to that of twenty or so years ago.

By the way .. Its not polite to call another persons opinion CRAP, so play like a nice kid and we will all get our points over!

Errm have you even read your own post, you said BBC4 is not covered by the licence fee. If it isn't then how is it broadcasting without adverts?

if you were to read his post you'd notice he's singled out a single comment as crap



how exactly is BBC4 not covered by the licence fee? Where do you think the money comes from? Thin air?

oh and nice we're now having the same conversation in two places at once

Adverts or no adverts it is not covered by the licence fee.

BBC4 is a free to air channel that although owned by the BBC is not part of what we pay our licence for.

I do read my own posts and do not understand your comment.

??
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC#Revenue

No you're wrong. I'm sorry but you are. Free to air and licence-fee covered are separate. It's like saying something is tasty and hairy. They're independent.

BBC 4 is free to air yes. As is ITV1.

BBC 4 is paid for by the licence fee. ITV1 isn't.

I called your point crap, because it is. It is wrong. Yet I haven't called your opinion crap.

And *sigh* just because you can name some crap, doesn't mean it is all crap. Anyone fancy naming their genuine BBC likes, programme wise? For me, stuff includes (recently) Britain From Above, (and in the past) Life on Mars, Planet Earth, blah blah.

By your logic: naming some crap TVF members. Beep, Tom9, looknorth. Therefore, all of TV Forum's members are crap. Fail.

You may say that the BBC is worse than it was, and that may be, but it is better than the top telly abroad. IMO anyway. At least mine is logical.

As an aside, is there any form of prize for posting the most amount of 'crap'? I suspect I would win even without this post.

Sorry old bean, it is not covered by the licence fee.

No amount of debating can make it so!