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BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

theguardian.com

91–100 of 225 posts

Re: BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

#91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The BBC is welcome to encrypt their broadcasts and sell subscriptions directly.

How does this work with radio?

Is radio covered by the license?

But on a technical level it should be possible with DAB which actually has some adoption in the UK unlike most other countries.

Re: BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

#92

One of the great things of the Licence fee was that the Government does not get to control the national TV like it does when the one who pays is it directly. In places like Spain the national TV(and regional TV too) becomes a propaganda machine for the exclusive service of the Government(s, national and regional). It is awful to have your taxes redirected for the private interest of the Party in charge. In fact with…

What about the license fee prevent the control by the government? The money goes through the government, and government chooses who pays and how much, so it's pretty close to as if the government was "paying" it directly.

Poland, as mentioned by a sibling, is a counter-example.

How does the license fee prevent the propaganda?

Re: BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

#93
post #82
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In places like Spain Spain? Spain pales in comparison with Poland. Where they collect the license fee, too.

Poland? Poland pales in comparison with Brazil, where there's a R$5.7 billion (about 1 billion US$) 'Electoral Fund' used for political campaings by the thirty something registered political parties. All paid for by the taxpayers. And let's not forget that there's also a 'Political Party Fund'. And I just love the reason for the creation of the 'Electoral Fund', but that's another story.

Are not that funds created so taxpayers are there ones in control of party finances instead of corporations?

The USA seems a good example of what happens when politicians are fully dependent on corporations if they want to be elected, and it's servitude to the interest of the few.

Re: BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

#94

One of the great things of the Licence fee was that the Government does not get to control the national TV like it does when the one who pays is it directly. In places like Spain the national TV(and regional TV too) becomes a propaganda machine for the exclusive service of the Government(s, national and regional). It is awful to have your taxes redirected for the private interest of the Party in charge. In fact with…

The BBC is welcome to encrypt their broadcasts and sell subscriptions directly.

No they can't, their remit is set by the government.

Re: BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

#95
post #60

One of the great things of the Licence fee was that the Government does not get to control the national TV like it does when the one who pays is it directly. In places like Spain the national TV(and regional TV too) becomes a propaganda machine for the exclusive service of the Government(s, national and regional). It is awful to have your taxes redirected for the private interest of the Party in charge. In fact with…

In Spain both public and private TV channels are at the service of the government. The government always finds an excuse to give money to private channels to make sure they say what they have to say. It's a disgrace.

> both public and private TV channels are at the service of the government

I have a different take. Private channels support parties that align with their interests. But private channels will criticize there government non-stop if they do not like the current ruling party. So, it's way more complex that everybody works for the government, that seems to be true in China, thou.

Re: BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

#96

I remember receiving a fair amount of threatening letters about the TV licence as a student, shortly after I moved out of my parents place to attend university. It was extremely confusing and made me a little anxious. Not only did I not own a TV or watch TV of any kind, even online, any effort to make this clear fell on deaf ears and the threatening letters continued. Eventually it became normality and I learned to d…

I would love for someone to come and visit. I'd take great pleasure in wasting as much of their time as possible and make them believe I'm about to sign up for a license via them (they get commission) just to get these assholes' hopes up. Unfortunately Capita (the company license management is subcontracted to) must really be unlucky with the "investigators" they employ because according to their letters over a dozen…

'Wasting much of their time' though would likely result is someone justifying his/her job by going along with it. Much the same with HMRC (UK tax authority) there is no matter too trivial that they are not willing to spend limitless amounts of time and energy investigating - purely because they can.

Re: BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

#97
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

State TVs don't necessarily represent the current party. I've seen plenty of examples of state TVs siding with the opposition in various countries. Media and journalists mostly have a left bias and when there is a right government they won't side with the government, unless the government is a de facto dictatorship and you can't go against it for safety concerns (Russia comes to mind). Not that I justify state TVs at…

> Media and journalists mostly have a left bias This is an astonishing comment. Can you justify it?

In the terms of UK, "left bias" means "not tory/ukip", and the majority of the UK thus has a "left bias"

Given that journalists are mostly aged between 25 and say 60, have a degree, and fit in the "AB" group, you pump it into

https://lordashcroftpolls.com/2019/12/how-britain-voted-and-...

And you find a large majority will be "not tory" all things being equal.

Re: BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

#98
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not feasible. In the UK we have Freeview [1], a free-to-access television platform which manages ~all terrestrial output. The BBC administrates this system along with the other major broadcasters (ITV, C4, ...). If the BBC did not put out its own output under Freeview, not only would Freeview collapse but the BBC would effectively be wiped off the face of British television. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Freeview just a marketing name for DVB-T (or T2 nowadays), which supported encrypted content since its inception and can mix encrypted & non-encrypted channels in the same multiplex?

This is correct but not every TV will have the slot for a decryption card. The UK has good broadband but far from the level of a universal public service. (That would be communism apparently)

Re: BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

#99
post #93
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Poland? Poland pales in comparison with Brazil, where there's a R$5.7 billion (about 1 billion US$) 'Electoral Fund' used for political campaings by the thirty something registered political parties. All paid for by the taxpayers. And let's not forget that there's also a 'Political Party Fund'. And I just love the reason for the creation of the 'Electoral Fund', but that's another story.

Are not that funds created so taxpayers are there ones in control of party finances instead of corporations? The USA seems a good example of what happens when politicians are fully dependent on corporations if they want to be elected, and it's servitude to the interest of the few.

I guess this depends on what the requirements are to access said fund. If accessing said fund requires being on good terms with the establishment then it's the worst of both worlds.

Re: BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

#100

Good. Currently I'm forced to pay for content I dont consume.

If you dont consume it, you do not have to pay. Nothing and noone is forcing you.

My dad has a TV licence despite watching 100% via streaming services. No matter what I tell him, he insists he has to have a licence. This is a widely held view with people of a similar age.

Maybe the BBC could do an information campaign to educate them otherwise? I won't hold my breath though.

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