Should The Bbc Be A Fee Paying Tv Organisation Rather Than Of A Licence Paying One?

[anotheoldgit]

And the very best with this idea BEEB.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/775141/BBC-elderly-pensioners-voluntarily-pay-free-licence-fee-increase-2020-Anne-Bulford-veteran

/// TV licences are free for the over-75s, paid for out of government funding. However, the BBC will share the £700million-a-year bill from next year, and take it on in full in 2020. ///

[anotheoldgit]

THECORBYLOON

/// ANOTHEOLDGIT, by your way of thinking, basics such as food and water should be free since they would have been paying for them for the same period of time. ///

Oh, don't be so silly how can you compare a private commercial company with the state.

You will be saying next, why don't Sainsbury's dish out old age pensions and free medical prescriptions as well?

[THECORBYLOON]

Your argument was based solely on the amount paid during a seventy-five year old's lifetime and not to whom or what it is being paid.

[whiskeryron]

As an oap I do not understand the thinking behind giving free licences to watch ANY tv. On the whole there are only a few programmes worth watching on a TV set. I think that now that Freeview has arrived they should ALL be free to view & anything special we want to watch we should be at liberty to buy it, so let the BBC have the same conditions to operate as other commercial broadcasters & stop this nonsense of treating the BBC as a special case.

[whiskeryron]

To make myself clear, now that most channels are broadcast in Freeview why on earth should anyone be allowed to make a charge for watching them ???

[Gromit]

Ron,

The 'Free' in Freeview means they are free-to-air channels. That is ones that no subscription is needed.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-to-air

[whiskeryron]

Gromit, free to air channels include BBC 1,2.4 to mention just a few. I repeat, why would I wish to pay a subscription fee to watch them ?

[ichkeria]

Your question doesn't make any sense: the licence is a fee. Unless you mean voluntary subscription?
I say no to that because the licence fee, which is dirt cheap by comparison with other subscriptions, binds us together as a nation. And if it went subscription it would inevitably have to cost a lot more.

[Old_Geezer]

No. It should be neither.

[Gromit]

Ron,
I bet you get confused at Free Cash Machines too.

[Samjenko]

Why are the BBC moaning. We've had far more immigrants than over 75's to make up any shortfall. (presuming they pay their licences)

[Gromit]

The Daily Expresses owner, Richard Desmond knows all about financing tv channels by subscription. He ran a number of pornographic stations in the UK. I expect it was his expertise that inspire the newspaper to end the licence fee.

[RobNorth]

"We" in the BBC seems to mean London - time and again they slip up and refer to London instead of Britain, ergo we should keep the licence
fee but only inside the M25....

[youngmafbog]

The TV tax should be scrapped. What the BBC does after that is up to it, providing the taxpayers are not funding it.

I'd argue against the post claiming the BBC is the Governments propaganda channel. this may be the case when labour or liberals are in power but they certainly are in no way the Tories propaganda channel.

[mikey4444]

YMB....at least you recognise that last bit !

[ichkeria]

"The TV tax should be scrapped. What the BBC does after that is up to it, providing the taxpayers are not funding it. "

That is precisely why we have a "TV tax" Because it's better to have a BBC funded the way it is and therefore committed to being impartial, than a broadcaster doing something that is "up to it"
As I have said before, all sorts of allegations are made about the BBC's bias, but no credible evidence is ever produced to back it up, and nine times out of ten no evidence whatever is offered. It;s just one of those untrue truisms :-)