bbc licence cost

[informashun]

the bbc dir gen has beenwhinging today re the poor deal theyve got over the next 5 years.
accepting digital is on its way they still clock up over 50 billion quid a year from fees.
the ammount they were after would have meant fees rising to over �178 per annum.
considering the large numbers of oap,s and those millions on the min wage this, ontop of other huge hikes like fuel is too much.
why on earth dont they dump the bbc 3 and 4 channels watched by a fraction of the nation.
im all for choice but my philosophy in life is you only go on holiday when you can afford it.

[Mattk]

cant see where you get your figures from.
there may be 60 million people living in the uk but i would imagine their are only around 15-20 million license payers meaning that total revenue is nowhere near 50billion also the license will rise to a mximum of �151.50 over the next 6 years.

Ms Jowell told the Commons the deal will see the fee rise from �131.50 to �135.50 on 1 April, then rise gradually to a maximum �151.50 in 2012.

dont get me wrong,im not happy to pay the extra but i can appreciate that extra funding is needed for what they are trying to achieve.personally i would like nothing more than for them to start generating revenue thru sponsorship and advertising.

[kempie]

The BBC receives approximately �3 billion per year revenue from the licence fee - this approximates to 23 million licences.

[informashun]

thanks mattk for your answer,
first i should have made it clear the �50 billion was to have been over a 10 ten year period inc. gov. digital switch funding.
however you didnt address my main concer which is a prohibitive increase to millions of vulnerable citizens already struggling with huge fuel bills and rising inflation.
remember that one of the first things brown did was to scrap pension increases linked to wage increases .
since then oaps have averaged %2.3 yearly rises
my point is that over the next 5 years the beeb wanted an increase of %7 per annum, ie �131 to �178 but at last the government said enough.

[kempie]

I can't see how you class the TV licence fee increase, even if it did amount to �50, as being prohibitive. Nobody is forced to own and watch a TV.

Surely this kind of argument would be better targeted at Council Tax; it is a greater financial burden, is unavoidable, and has consistently increased faster than the rate of inflation.

[teash]

Personally I think its great value for money, but heres a question for you. Do you buy morning, evening and paper at the weekend? If so how much per year does it cost you because it`ll proboaly be morew than what it costs you for a tv licence

[Mattk]

maybe with the onset of 100% digital coverage they would be able to grade tv licenses in a similar way to sky ie pay the basic fee you only get bbc1 & 2 pay the full amount you get bbc hd,3 & 4 etc etc