Should the BBC keep the license fee?

[Dazza30]

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With new revelations set to come out about the BBC and its executives expenses, do you think the license fee should remain entirely with them, be scraped or a portion of it go to other broadcasters?

[Hero]

I have a severe issue with the licence fee - to the point where I didn't own a tv for 3 years cause i refused to pay the feed. And was pestered by TVlicence for 3 years in a row, threatening me with legal actions.

[kier]

do you think the license fee should remain entirely with them, be scraped or a portion of it go to other broadcasters?

Are there any proposals about who else should get it? Channel 4 I could see the case for, they make some pretty decent TV. ITV however should only have taxpayer money used on it to remove it once and for all from the airwaves.

[Dynamoo]

TV Licensing are a nightmare. I had an empty property for a couple of years (being renovated) and they kept sending very threatening letters even though they had been informed IN WRITING that nobody was living there.

At nearly £12 a month, the licence is over-priced in my opinion. Most of the BBC's output is complete dross designed to fill the airtime. Why the heck should I pay for EastEnders and rubbish like that? Should they be on commercial channels?

Channel 4 is a public broadcaster too.

[MattSweet]

My mate who works for the BBC sent me a login to their online archiving site the other day. It's got every TV and Radio broadcast since freeview began on it - so thats a good few years of stuff.

And I couldn't think of one thing I really wanted to watch or listen to...

Having said that, I don't watch much TV anyway so I'm probably being unfair.

[Shane]

can't say as I'm a fan of the BBC or paying a licence fee but I do know that I prefer it to sky as that just bugs the crap out of me, I pay like £50 per month to watch 40 minutes (maximum) of programming in any one hour the other 20 minutes are adverts.. so I pay for the joy of being marketed to 33% of the time

Sky is the TV equivalent of a banner farm... small chunks of content with way too much crap packed around it.

Sky should decide if its a subscription service or an advertising funded model as being both is taking pi$$ and Im sick of it.. much as the BBC has nothing to watch most days.. it's nice to actually watch 30 minutes or 60 minutes of something straight through instead of it start and then 4 minutes in it takes a frickin break so if I have to pay for the bbc to be able to do that then I'm happy to just for a break from the damn adverts

[Rich79]

Sky should decide if its a subscription service or an advertising funded model as being both is taking pi$$ and Im sick of it.. much as the BBC has nothing to watch most days.. it's nice to actually watch 30 minutes or 60 minutes of something straight through instead of it start and then 4 minutes in it takes a frickin break so if I have to pay for that then I'm happy to

You could just cancel the subscription???!I agree totally though; expensive subscription, advertising, plus add-ons for HD and Sky Plus takes the biscuit. So I don't subscribe!

I like the BBC personally, where would we be without all those amazing wildlife documentaries?!

[ian]

Keep the fee, but remind the 'talent' and executives to get their heads out of their arses.

Impose a salary cap for them all, and if they don't like it, let them rot away in the gossip pages of the tabloids. If the BBC cut wages, ITV, Sky, 4 and 5 would all follow suit in a downward spiral. The other channels only pay high high amounts to get the top talent away from the BBC who inflated the wages bubble. Execs are just as bad as they feel they need to be paid big amounts becasue they are mixing and working with high paid on screen celebs. It all comes down to greed, and as there is no incentive for execs to cut the pay.

Would the likes of Jonathon Ross turn down £250,000 a year to present his tv and radio show? Without the national exposure, he would fade away, and all the supplementary job offers would fall away as well. Goodbye after dinner speaking, corporate awards, book deals, etc etc.

[hpops]

The BBC is the greatest broadcaster in the world.
This is not an opinion, it is a clear and apparent fact.
The world service, childrens programs, natural history, local radio, newsnight, panorama, iplayer, etc etc etc
If there is one thing we can legitamately claim to do better than any other country, its the BBC
Unfortunately I do think that the multichannel era will sound the death knoll for the licence fee within 10 years. It will be a tragedy. The intrinsic link of advertising coupled with content will finally reach total saturation point.

[ian]

Unfortunately I do think that the multichannel era will sound the death knoll for the licence fee within 10 years. It will be a tragedy. The intrinsic link of advertising coupled with content will finally reach total saturation point.

Hopefully the threat of cuts to the fee will see the BBC cut its own multichannel approach. BBC3 and BBC4? Do they really have enough decent content to fill these channels? Unlikely as they have trouble filling the main BBC1 and 2 channels.

Re-establish the BBC remit with appropriate funding in place. The Beeb bang out some great programs without the need for big celebs.

[Dynamoo]

Hopefully the threat of cuts to the fee will see the BBC cut its own multichannel approach. BBC3 and BBC4? Do they really have enough decent content to fill these channels? Unlikely as they have trouble filling the main BBC1 and 2 channels.

Actually BBC3 and BBC4 are two channels that I think meet their remit well. BBC News is also good, but to be honest the private sector could do every bit as well.. except it can't compete with the BBC's funding model. CBBC and CBeebies.. well, probably yes. BBC1? No. BBC2.. well, as much as I like Top Gear, I can't quite see why it needs to come out of the licence fee.

BBC local radio? Yawn.. but local commercial radio is even worse. Radio 1? Radio 2? Radio 3? They're OK, but the commercial market provides in this sector anyway. Radio 4? Perhaps. The BBC News website? Definitely.

[ian]

[QUOTE=Dynamoo;512412]Actually BBC3 and BBC4 are two channels that I think meet their remit well.

"The remit of BBC Three is to bring younger audiences to high-quality public service broadcasting through a mixed-genre schedule of innovative UK content featuring new UK talent."

2 Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps????? High quality, nope. Innovative, nope, new UK talent, nope.

Here's tonights innovative line-up.

* 19:00 Doctor Who
* 19:45 Doctor Who Confidential
* 20:00 Snog Marry Avoid?
* 20:30 Snog Marry Avoid?
* 21:00 Can I Get High Legally?
* 22:00 EastEnders
* 22:30 The Real Hustle

Snog Marry Avoid? ~ Jenny Frost presents the world's first makeunder show, which sees POD - Personal Overhaul Device - transform OTT girls and boys into natural beauties. Before and after each makeunder, the public will vote as to whether they would rather snog, marry or avoid POD's willing victims.

Cack from Jenny Frost and repeats of Doctor Who and Eastenders. Shut down BBC3 and we could have saved around £80m, probably the same for BBC4. No onewould miss 2 pints......

[Dynamoo]

[QUOTE=ian;512429]

Cack from Jenny Frost and repeats of Doctor Who and Eastenders. Shut down BBC3 and we could have saved around £80m, probably the same for BBC4. No onewould miss 2 pints......

Oh alright then.. I admit that I think I have actually only watched one show on BBC3 recently. That's roughly the same as the dross on BBC1, but at least it's cheaper.

As for 2 Pints.. well, it's so bad it's a cult isn't it? I can't believe that they have actually made EIGHT SERIES so far.

The real problem is that out of the hundreds and hundreds of TV channels I have, most of the time their is bugger all that is worth watching!

[ian]

[QUOTE=Dynamoo;512449]

The real problem is that out of the hundreds and hundreds of TV channels I have, most of the time their is bugger all that is worth watching!

All the more reason to consolidate the number of channels and improve the 24 hour quality of BBC1 and BBC2. The only reason to have hundreds of channels, +1, +2 hours etc is to show adverts.

As for people still watching adverts. Get sky+ bt+, v+ etc record everything you want to watch, then just fastforwards at 30x speed through the ads. You'll probably watch 30 minutes less tv a night without the adverts, idents, and program trailers.

[Dynamoo]

As for people still watching adverts. Get sky+ bt+, v+ etc record everything you want to watch, then just fastforwards at 30x speed through the ads. You'll probably watch 30 minutes less tv a night without the adverts, idents, and program trailers.

I very rarely watch live TV for this reason, but even so all the blooming programmes tend to be on at exactly the same time.. so the +1s are actually quite useful!