TV licence debate

[Evans Electric]

Heard some talk about TV licences on radio earlier ,  withdrawing the  free concession from  certain pensioners  etc.    ( More proof that the country is struggling financially)

Just thought a debate may interesting  .        

I can see that , contrary to what I always thought ,  the BBC receives the full  £3.83  billion .   I can't believe the government doesn't cream off some off  TBH.  

So there are 24,789,644   people who pay a TV licence   at £ 154.50    .            ( TV licence in Denmark  costs   £ 229.00 ) 

I know that the licence creates unrest in the population much like the Poll Tax ,  but I also notice that folk will willingly pay out for SKY  & Virgin  TV   PLUS the licence fee  without a whimper .  I don't know if Sky /Virgin  etc transmits BBC .  

Its not strictly true that commercial TV is free  ,  as we all pay indirectly  in  the product cost to enable them to  advertise . 

We have over 100 Freesat channels where the full on , relentless advertising dominates the programmes ...they are just basically there to get those brain washing  messages out there.  

 

[Murdoch]

Re the BBC ..... I think the issues are that it’s not just funding the radio and tv we hear and see it’s other things.

then the BBC gets money from the EU

i suspect they are struggling under the weight of their pension commitments .... but they will never tell us that and that’s the financial problem.

fwiw the issue of pensioners getting “benefits” is a complicated matter ....so I think the simplest thing to do is allow these to continue BUT drop the higher rate tax threshold for pensioners so any benefit is lost. Remember i’m Only suggesting the higher rate threshold ...... so the vast amount of pensioners wouldn’t be affected, and the cost to implement would be very small

KISS

 

[Evans Electric]

then the BBC gets money from the EU

So that will stop shortly then ? 

suspect they are struggling under the weight of their pension commitments .... but they will never tell us that and that’s the financial problem

Interesting .....yes I think there are a few companies , councils & nationalised industries  possibly suffering from that .    Now that money is tight the commitments cannot be kept I presume .  

Personally I appreciate BBC  but as I heard yesterday , it should get shut of the inane Eurovision  so called Song Contest  for one .  

Lets face it , commercial radio does what  , other than play pop records all day , interspersed by inane chatter & adverts ....  suits teenagers I suppose . 

I enjoy a mixture of  R4 ...R5...R4extra ... RadioWM .... LBC.....   

 

[Murdoch]

Interesting .....yes I think there are a few companies , councils & nationalised industries  possibly suffering from that .    Now that money is tight the commitments cannot be kept I presume .  

Local councils, fire brigade and Police pensions have been under funded for decades............in fact all public sector pension schemes are ponzi schemes and need "help" from other budgets. 

Its one of the elephants in the room

 

[binky]

not helped by oustsorcing jobs - not enough working staff paying into the pension pot! They seem to be able to run at large deficits for pension funds, never did understand how that works.

 

[Murdoch]

not helped by oustsorcing jobs - not enough working staff paying into the pension pot! They seem to be able to run at large deficits for pension funds, never did understand how that works.

That certainly doesn't help

Successive Governments of all colours won't discuss this............... wonder why?

 

[binky]

My BAE pension fund is in the same financial hole! I think they are working on the basis that evntually the problem resolves itself! 

 

[Murdoch]

My BAE pension fund is in the same financial hole! I think they are working on the basis that eventually the problem resolves itself! 

with life expectancy now decreasing, that should help ....

 

[binky]

if they reduced tax on beer and fags..... :^O

 

[ProDave]

The TV licence gives us a few channels without adverts.

I would hapilly subscribe to a pay TV service it that delivered all of it's pay channels without adverts.  But no, you pay for it, and you get adverts shoved in your face.  Sod paying for it twice.  You may have gathered I don't like adverts.  Thankfully we now have PVR's so I don't have to watch them, I almost never watch anythingother than BBC channels live.

I suspect long before I get to retire or even qualify for a means tested free licence, the BBC will have become an advert funded commercial channel, but I suspect they will find some crafty way of doing that AND still making us pay a licence.

 

[Evans Electric]

To be honest I always assumed the TV licence was the same as the Vehicle Road Tax  ,  a general tax  by name only  going into the  gov. money pot  but not necessarily all spent on roads.    By what I can see on Google  the lot goes to the BBC .  

I presume VAT is the big earner where they get a bung from almost everything we do . 

if they reduced tax on beer and fags..... :^O 

Don't give  'em ideas Binky.    

 

[Doc Hudson]

Some confusion is added by the fact that the BBC isn't just a single business entity operating in a single country. There are other 'BBC Brands' selling content all over the world, that was theoretically paid for by the UK licence fee payers. I recall a few years ago an article about how Top Gear, Strictly Come Dancing & Dr Who were three of the biggest revenue earners for the BBC Worldwide. So if we as licence fee payers, actually paid for the original costs of those programs. If at a later date, they raise bucket loads when sold outside of the UK, shouldn't that result in a reduction in the licence fee, as the initial costs were covered by UK viewers?

Doc H.

 

[Evans Electric]

I'd say yes , it has to be run as a business ..... there is also BBC America , no idea how popular that is . 

The legal or commercial  structure of the BBC was changed  ...was it in the 1940s ?     I believe it was to separate it from  government control  , not sure  on this .  It began as the  British Broadcasting Company   & was changed to Corporation  for some reason .  

I just noticed that it's operating  fund is £3.8 Million    but the licence fee raises £3.8  Billion  .      Hmmmm 

 

[binky]

this is the main thing about the BBC it's not a state controlled TV broadcaster, although it feels like the government has a big influence,

The BBC has a reputation for quality TV, so sells lots of stuff abroad - you wouldn't believe how many American Poldark tourists are in Cornwall. So there's far more influence from the BBC than figures alone would suggest in indirect earnings for the UK.  How the finances of foreign earnings is set-up I don't know, but I undestand they are important in keeping the licence fee down? 

 

[Murdoch]

Lots of the problems in the BBC are internal

my mates misses works there, and wants the BBC to stop wasting time and money selling content around the world  ..... what she fails to grasp is that this is all profit making and helps pay her salary

 

[binky]

I know a few BBC reporters and staff, they're always maoning! Don't know when they are onto a good thing!  :^O

 

[Rob.]

I know a few BBC reporters and staff, they're always maoning! Don't know when they are onto a good thing!  :^O

Much like tube drivers

 

[Evans Electric]

I now hear on late night R5  something about £56,million being 1/5 th of the BBC's budget .

Unless my maths  are wrong  , that makes the full budget  £289 million .

So what happens to the remaining  £ 3 billion 550million  that is raised under the  premise of a TV licence? 

 

[binky]

Probably goes back into services, suach as World Service, Digital, catch-up TV etc etc. Personally I reckon the BBC spends far too much money on top quality sets, and community services for minority audiences. But that's also what makes the BBC what it is, bit like the Post Office delivering and collecting letters from places like the Outer Hebrides. They provide a compete service for the whole of the UK.

 

[Evans Electric]

Probably goes back into services, suach as World Service, Digital, catch-up TV etc etc

I think it goes into the General Taxes bucket  .which explains why they have always been so strict with any non payers .  

I also believe the myth of the Detector Van in your street has now been put to bed . 

A long standing customer of mine , when he was single ,  never had a TV , was often abroad with his job .   Every year he had a letter   demanding  payment or he would be taken to court .

Every year he replied explaining  he didn't have a TV  .    They threatened with a visit , he said anytime you wish , then they threatened court , he would ask for the date of his appearance  ....and the letters would cease until next year when , I assume , the computer threw up his address again .