BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

[KingKhanWC]

The BBC will have to make deep cuts to its programme budgets after the government said the broadcaster’s funding would be frozen for the next two years, with the licence fee abolished completely in 2027.

The culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, is expected to confirm that the cost of an annual licence, required to watch live television and access iPlayer services, will remain at £159 until 2024 before rising slightly for the following three years.

She said this would be the end of the current licence fee funding model for the BBC, raising doubts about the long-term financial future and editorial independence of the public service broadcaster under a Conservative government.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2...ee-to-be-abolished-in-2027-and-funding-frozen

£159 forced to pay if you own a tv is disgrace. BBC is a state broadcaster, its news is nothing more than propaganda.

Docus are great and is match of the day/sports but the rest if poor.

5 years is too far away, it should be done at the end of this year.

 

[Technics 1210]

About time. No need to fund state propaganda. I lost faith in BBC after their bias Brexit reporting and decision to shelve the investigation into Jimmy Saville.

 

[KingKhanWC]

About time. No need to fund state propaganda. I lost faith in BBC after their bias Brexit reporting and decision to shelve the investigation into Jimmy Saville.

BBC also helped Blair and co to fool the public into the Iraq war.

They even have an Asian Network radio channel. Its supposed to desi music but all its reports and debates are more propaganda.
[MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION] [MENTION=1842]James[/MENTION] do you agree with this decision?

 

[ElRaja]

im happy enough with netflix and other streaming services, will be good riddance. £160 quid to watch any live tv, which 99% of the time aint even bbc is a rip off. made sense back in the day when u only had 4 channels, but not anymore.

 

[U$ofA]

I just cannot wrap my head around the fact that people are forced to pay for a tv channel. Whether they want/watch it or not. How in the world is the govt. involved in running a tv channel?

Though we have somewhat of a similar situation with NPR.

 

[KingKhanWC]

I just cannot wrap my head around the fact that people are forced to pay for a tv channel. Whether they want/watch it or not. How in the world is the govt. involved in running a tv channel?

Though we have somewhat of a similar situation with NPR.

If you havent got a licence you can be fined £1000 + costs.

They used to scare people suggesting there are vans which drive around, using signals to track those who are watching tv without a licence.

Even if you dont have a T.V but use iplayer online or any other BBC service, you must pay! Good news is if you're over 75 its free!

Check out the clips on youtube of baliffs and police coming to harras someone who doesnt have licence.

 

[U$ofA]

If you havent got a licence you can be fined £1000 + costs.

They used to scare people suggesting there are vans which drive around, using signals to track those who are watching tv without a licence.

Even if you dont have a T.V but use iplayer online or any other BBC service, you must pay! Good news is if you're over 75 its free!

Check out the clips on youtube of baliffs and police coming to harras someone who doesnt have licence.

What utter **. Dare I say this sounds like the Gestapo.

 

[Technics 1210]

The license fee made sense back in the day when BBC used the fee to create great TV shows like OFAH. Plus BBC World used to be amazing along with the fact the BBC channels are the only channels that are commercial free.

However these days BBC is focused on bias reporting, cover ups, and useless woke TV.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

160 quid to watch TV dramas like Line of Duty, Virgil, Body Guard

Political shows like Hardtalk, Question Time.

Throw in MOTD and really good quality regional news and it's a bargain. I suppose nowadays there are so many choices that you can't hold people hostage and extort a licence fee out of them.

The Tories have had it in for the BBC for a while and it seems the mail have been hell bent on bringing it down too. It seems like destroying iconic institutions is the new form of patriotism. No doubt that when these Death Eaters are booted out that the decision will be reversed.

 

[KingKhanWC]

What utter **. Dare I say this sounds like the Gestapo.

We have elderly people over 65 & under 75 who cant afford the fee, thus have no TV in their house. Its either TV or heating/electric/food.

One would assume you'd get letters or even some signal to stop BBC on your TV's (now we are digital) but no this is what happens, the cops turn up with baliffs!

 

[U$ofA]

We have elderly people over 65 & under 75 who cant afford the fee, thus have no TV in their house. Its either TV or heating/electric/food.

One would assume you'd get letters or even some signal to stop BBC on your TV's (now we are digital) but no this is what happens, the cops turn up with baliffs!

Wow! That video is telling. Let me get this, you buy the tv and pay sales tax or VAT or whatever it is called in UK to the govt. Then you bring it home and pay more tax to the govt. to turn it on?

 

[JaDed]

I just cannot wrap my head around the fact that people are forced to pay for a tv channel. Whether they want/watch it or not. How in the world is the govt. involved in running a tv channel?

Though we have somewhat of a similar situation with NPR.

How is NPR the same?

 

[JaDed]

Hope this will end their Indian versions as well which were utterly biased towards Congress which inturn was helping BJP.(who unfortunately have a huge media support).

 

[PakLFC]

BBC are a bunch of greedy baskets. What if you hardly watch the channel yet still have to pay. Abolish this right way. If they do that only the name of the bill will change. TV License will become a BBC license.

 

[Technics 1210]

BBC are a bunch of greedy baskets. What if you hardly watch the channel yet still have to pay. Abolish this right way. If they do that only the name of the bill will change. TV License will become a BBC license.

Not what if. Anyone who owns a TV in the UK MUST pay a for the TV license. This fee is paid to the BBC.

If the fee/license were a choice to watch BBC then I don't think anyone would have a problem, but the fact a TV owner who may never watch BBC still has to pay the BBC is ludicrous in this day and age.

 

[PakLFC]

Not what if. Anyone who owns a TV in the UK MUST pay a for the TV license. This fee is paid to the BBC.

If the fee/license were a choice to watch BBC then I don't think anyone would have a problem, but the fact a TV owner who may never watch BBC still has to pay the BBC is ludicrous in this day and age.

So the BBC is paid the TV license for all channels. Even more absurd.

 

[Technics 1210]

So the BBC is paid the TV license for all channels. Even more absurd.

Initially it was known as a Radio license (again funding the BBC) but with the invention of TV, it became a TV license.

Back in the day, 80s for example, one could argue that the license was worth it. Lesser TV channels (4, of which 2 were BBC channels), major sports on BBC such as Test cricket, World Cups, Boxing, Formula 1 etc, BBC Radio, BBC world, BBC shows - all in all a great all round package and of course costing way less than £160/year.

Now the BBC has become a political platform. Presenters like Gary Linekar use the BBC to spread political views/nonsense. It's a joke.

 

[U$ofA]

How is NPR the same?

It is not the same. But taxpayer $$$ does go to them.

 

[PakLFC]

Initially it was known as a Radio license (again funding the BBC) but with the invention of TV, it became a TV license.

Back in the day, 80s for example, one could argue that the license was worth it. Lesser TV channels (4, of which 2 were BBC channels), major sports on BBC such as Test cricket, World Cups, Boxing, Formula 1 etc, BBC Radio, BBC world, BBC shows - all in all a great all round package and of course costing way less than £160/year.

Now the BBC has become a political platform. Presenters like Gary Linekar use the BBC to spread political views/nonsense. It's a joke.

Whatever it's history people should refuse to pay it. It is too expensive and unfair too.

 

[Robert]

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2...ee-to-be-abolished-in-2027-and-funding-frozen

BBC is a state broadcaster, its news is nothing more than propaganda.

Says the man who watches RT.

It’s funny. Socialists think the Beeb has a right wing bias, Tories think it has left bias.

In truth it acts as a sort of buffer to both. It’s basically liberal. Johnson doesn’t dare appear on it because he will be exposed as a charlatan.

Fir £159 a hear - less than Netflix - you get BBC1, 2, 4, Parliament, News 24, the massive web site, CBeebies, Radio 1. 2, 3, 4, 6, World Service and local radio, all the brilliant podcasts on BBC Sounds. Drama that can take risks that a commercial channel never would. A massively effective export and cultural presence. British soft power projected round the world.

It’s brilliant value.

But the Tories are carving it up like the NHS and selling it to their donors because it won’t say what they want all the time.

The slide into Putin-style hard-right authoritarian oligarchy continues.

 

[Varun]

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2...ee-to-be-abolished-in-2027-and-funding-frozen

£159 forced to pay if you own a tv is disgrace. BBC is a state broadcaster, its news is nothing more than propaganda.

Docus are great and is match of the day/sports but the rest if poor.

5 years is too far away, it should be done at the end of this year.

By 2027, TV will go the way of the landline phone. The Internet would have taken over completely. The law is just there to cover the bases. £159 will be taken one way or the other. Consider it the cost of having the privilege to sing "God save Prince Andrew's mum".

 

[Technics 1210]

Says the man who watches RT.

It’s funny. Socialists think the Beeb has a right wing bias, Tories think it has left bias.

In truth it acts as a sort of buffer to both. It’s basically liberal. Johnson doesn’t dare appear on it because he will be exposed as a charlatan.

Fir £159 a hear - less than Netflix - you get BBC1, 2, 4, Parliament, News 24, the massive web site, CBeebies, Radio 1. 2, 3, 4, 6, World Service and local radio, all the brilliant podcasts on BBC Sounds. Drama that can take risks that a commercial channel never would. A massively effective export and cultural presence. British soft power projected round the world.

It’s brilliant value.

But the Tories are carving it up like the NHS and selling it to their donors because it won’t say what they want all the time.

The slide into Putin-style hard-right authoritarian oligarchy continues.

I think you are missing the point. The cost vs. value is not the issue; millions pay for SKY, Netflix, Prime, Pay-walled news site (Times/Telegraph), the point is the fee for using BBC services is forced on anyone that has a TV/Laptop/Iplayer compatible device.

The TV license is an arcane law. Yes it's a law rather than a choice.

If BBC switch to a subscription service then most people like yourself wouldn't mind paying for it.

Capitalism is about choice too yet the BBC is an authoritarian fee.

 

[shaz619]

[MENTION=43583]KingKhanWC[/MENTION] They use to try and get people to pay for it even if they didn’t use the service, in the current time though you can do without it really so long you don’t watch Live TV or use the iPlayer.

There are other ways to watch our favourite programmes now and youtube has some decent live news coverage to.

BBC Telly is not what it use to be although I did love the radio, Test match special and BBC4 Drama

 

[Robert]

[MENTION=43583]KingKhanWC[/MENTION]

While I value the BBC for its (relative) impartiality and quality of programs as well as overall cultural value, I think the license fee has become anachronistic.

Were the Corporation paid for on a subscription basis like Netflix, it would be less vulnerable to political interference and better able to criticise the government of the day.

 

[IMMY69]

I just hope they don't cancel Eastenders

 

[shaz619]

[MENTION=43583]KingKhanWC[/MENTION]

While I value the BBC for its (relative) impartiality and quality of programs as well as overall cultural value, I think the license fee has become anachronistic.

Were the Corporation paid for on a subscription basis like Netflix, it would be less vulnerable to political interference and better able to criticise the government of the day.

That’s laughable, did you not watch their coverage during the general election? I wouldn’t expect them to be impartial under subscription

 

[Robert]

That’s laughable, did you not watch their coverage during the general election? I wouldn’t expect them to be impartial under subscription

No, I was too busy stuffing letterboxes.

As I have said, lefties think they are right wing, while Tories think they are left. They are neither, but vulnerable to interference from the government of the day.

With no more threat of licence fee cancellation, they will be free to criticise the government, like Channel 4.

 

[KingKhanWC]

[MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION]

I dont watch RT much, usually read their website daily along with the BBC, Sky, Al Jazeera.

All state broadcasters arent independant, the trick is to read all esp those you disagree with.

As for value for money, it all depends on the indivdiual. Eg Many Asian families only watch Asian tv channels.

I personally enjoy so many BBC programmes but also feel a lot of others are trash.

Crimewatch was so good before Jill was murdered, since it was never the same.

Im sure BBC will not die out, plenty will end up paying a monthly subscription.

 

[KingKhanWC]

[MENTION=43583]KingKhanWC[/MENTION] They use to try and get people to pay for it even if they didn’t use the service, in the current time though you can do without it really so long you don’t watch Live TV or use the iPlayer.

There are other ways to watch our favourite programmes now and youtube has some decent live news coverage to.

BBC Telly is not what it use to be although I did love the radio, Test match special and BBC4 Drama

TMS will be missed for sure. Its such a calming type of cricket commentary , none of the hysterics of Channel 9 or sometimes Sky. Great when travelling.

BBC have Bellator now which is getting more traction but their sports went downhill so quick after Sky launched.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Wow! That video is telling. Let me get this, you buy the tv and pay sales tax or VAT or whatever it is called in UK to the govt. Then you bring it home and pay more tax to the govt. to turn it on?

You buy a tv, take it home and then pay to keep a TV in your house(£159) even if you NEVER watch it but simply plugged in.

I cancelled my TV licence a few years ago. I have a monitor with a fire stick, this curves around the law from what Ive been told. No TV inspector has ever knocked my door. IF they did , I'd just shut it in their face, all you ever need to do. In the video, this chap must have allowed a previous inspector to see a TV plugged in, hence he was fined and baliffs turned up with mullitpe cops.

 

[Technics 1210]

[MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION]

I dont watch RT much, usually read their website daily along with the BBC, Sky, Al Jazeera.

All state broadcasters arent independant, the trick is to read all esp those you disagree with.

As for value for money, it all depends on the indivdiual. Eg Many Asian families only watch Asian tv channels.

I personally enjoy so many BBC programmes but also feel a lot of others are trash.

Crimewatch was so good before Jill was murdered, since it was never the same.

Im sure BBC will not die out, plenty will end up paying a monthly subscription.

This.

Reading multiple newspapers/websites provides a broader perspective on subjects.

I read Bloomberg, FT, RT, and even the BBC when it comes to the economy etc. It's quite revealing how the economy is viewed from all angles but experts and commentators from all sectors.

If BBC go subscription based then it can attract subscribers from around the world (at the moment BBC IPlayer is only available for UK users). BBC could give the likes of Netflix a run for their money. Better yet, BBC should float on the stock market.

 

[KingKhanWC]

This.

Reading multiple newspapers/websites provides a broader perspective on subjects.

I read Bloomberg, FT, RT, and even the BBC when it comes to the economy etc. It's quite revealing how the economy is viewed from all angles but experts and commentators from all sectors.

If BBC go subscription based then it can attract subscribers from around the world (at the moment BBC IPlayer is only available for UK users). BBC could give the likes of Netflix a run for their money. Better yet, BBC should float on the stock market.

Its also interesting some are making a noise as they feel BBC is 'soft power'. BBC is avaialbe in Hindi/Arabic and other languages on live TV or news pages. A lot of ex colonial nations still have people with such a mindset, who will take BBC as gospel. This is prob the main reason for its existance in the last decade.

 

[Robert]

[MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION]

I dont watch RT much, usually read their website daily along with the BBC, Sky, Al Jazeera.

All state broadcasters arent independant, the trick is to read all esp those you disagree with.

As for value for money, it all depends on the indivdiual. Eg Many Asian families only watch Asian tv channels.

I personally enjoy so many BBC programmes but also feel a lot of others are trash.

Crimewatch was so good before Jill was murdered, since it was never the same.

Im sure BBC will not die out, plenty will end up paying a monthly subscription.

Beeb’s not a state broadcaster though, it’s a nonprofit corporation like C4.

When it switches over to subscription there will be service cuts. I expect that Radio 2, 3 and 6 will close, and a lot of the local channels will merge. Radio 4 and World Service will continue.

Probably BBC4 will go. The quality of programming will drop. Less challenging drama and more game shows.

 

[Robert]

Better yet, BBC should float on the stock market.

If that happens the Murdochs will buy it up and it will become another hard right neocon mouthpiece.

Something had to be done to stop the oligarchs, many of whom are what you term Zionists, getting control of all media.

https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/nov/19/rupert-murdoch-jews-twitter

 

[Robert]

Its also interesting some are making a noise as they feel BBC is 'soft power'. BBC is avaialbe in Hindi/Arabic and other languages on live TV or news pages. A lot of ex colonial nations still have people with such a mindset, who will take BBC as gospel. This is prob the main reason for its existance in the last decade.

Not just ex-colonies but everywhere that can get a signal. A lot of Americans love Doctor Who.

Soft power projection has got to be better than hard power projection e.g. Iraq invasion.

 

[Technics 1210]

If that happens the Murdochs will buy it up and it will become another hard right neocon mouthpiece.

Something had to be done to stop the oligarchs, many of whom are what you term Zionists, getting control of all media.

https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/nov/19/rupert-murdoch-jews-twitter

Not if the UK government hold a 51% stake or more. Though they would need to make a commitment on never selling their shares.

 

[Robert]

Not if the UK government hold a 51% stake or more. Though they would need to make a commitment on never selling their shares.

Then the govt would have to nationalise the Corporation first. And it really would be a state propaganda organ then.

 

[Cover Drive Six]

The rule is... whether you're watching live TV on a television, computer, tablet, games console, smartphone or any other device, you'll need to be covered by a TV licence.

TV Licence? wth..Never heard in my life

 

[James]

[MENTION=1842]James[/MENTION] do you agree with this decision?

Yes, it’s a good call because the “licence fee” is effectively a tax on anyone who owns a television; and even more horrifically it is enforced as such, with non-compliant (often old and poor) citizens facing fines and/or prison.

The BBC makes some good stuff, but surely the world is evolving to the point now where one can envisage its ties to the British state being severed & its programming becoming part of a subscription service.

 

[Technics 1210]

Revenue
Increase £5.064 billion (2021)

Operating income
Increase £290 million (2021)

Net income
Increase £227 million (2021)

Total assets
Increase £2.11 billion (2021)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC

 

[James]

Beeb’s not a state broadcaster though, it’s a nonprofit corporation like C4.

When it switches over to subscription there will be service cuts. I expect that Radio 2, 3 and 6 will close, and a lot of the local channels will merge. Radio 4 and World Service will continue.

Probably BBC4 will go. The quality of programming will drop. Less challenging drama and more game shows.

Big difference between the quality of the radio and TV output of the BBC imo.

Radio 2, 3, 4, 5, 5 Xtra, and 6 are all excellent.

BBC4 is by far their best TV channel. The others are pretty poor, apart from Monday nights on BBC2 when the more intellectual quizzes are on.

 

[IAJ]

I just hope they don't cancel Eastenders

Oh is it still being telecasted? When I was kid I remember I used to switch to BBC to listen to the theme only.That is some 25-30 years ago lol.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

About time. No need to fund state propaganda. I lost faith in BBC after their bias Brexit reporting and decision to shelve the investigation into Jimmy Saville.

That's the one thing I'll miss to be honest. I don't really find much time to watch outdated BBC programmes other than Match of the Day, but I always liked their news reporting. Was it worth £160? No, probably not, but the Beeb held high reporting standards, and those will be missed once they go pitching to the highest bidder.

 

[the Great Khan]

Glad I left..

 

[Technics 1210]

That's the one thing I'll miss to be honest. I don't really find much time to watch outdated BBC programmes other than Match of the Day, but I always liked their news reporting. Was it worth £160? No, probably not, but the Beeb held high reporting standards, and those will be missed once they go pitching to the highest bidder.

BBC license fee was worth it when there was less choice (before Netflix/streaming etc). BBC used to be the bomb with the sports coverage in the 80s/90s. Used to be the lick when it came to Radio 1 (clubbing scene) and TMS.

Plus you add the TV shows like Only Fools, Mind your Language, Spooks, Line of Duty etc.

The issue isn’t license; it’s how the license is enforced.

 

[Technics 1210]

Glad I left..

Left what? The UK? Or left your TV?

 

[Markhor]

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2...ee-to-be-abolished-in-2027-and-funding-frozen

£159 forced to pay if you own a tv is disgrace. BBC is a state broadcaster, its news is nothing more than propaganda.

Docus are great and is match of the day/sports but the rest if poor.

5 years is too far away, it should be done at the end of this year.

Which sports do they even have rights to anymore ?

For cricket they show like 2 T20Is a year. Complete disgrace.

 

[HitWicket]

Which sports do they even have rights to anymore ?

For cricket they show like 2 T20Is a year. Complete disgrace.

From a personal point of view their radio and written coverage of the county game alone makes it worth it which would presumably struggle for funding without the license fee.

 

[the Great Khan]

Left what? The UK? Or left your TV?

The beeb

 

[IMMY69]

Oh is it still being telecasted? When I was kid I remember I used to switch to BBC to listen to the theme only.That is some 25-30 years ago lol.

It sure is.
They recently covering things like right wing racism and anti islam. But they've moved on from male Gay Muslims to lesbian Muslims...it's all very intriguing

 

[Robert]

What I miss from the Beeb is the intellectual heavyweight political reporting, and satire from The Two Johns and Yes Prime Minister.

I watched some footage of Question Time from 1999. Complex argument and counter-argument, presented by top intellects and received respectfully by the audience.

But by 2018 QT had become debased and dumbed down, with second-rate intellects that have somehow become Ministers, and people like the boss of Weatherspoons churning out pub xenophobia to a barracking audience.

Then the insistence of having to present a counter to anybody, no matter how truthful and reliable - an astrophysicist is “balanced” by a flat earther. The broadcasting corporation that produced Bronowski’s ‘Ascent of Man’ fifty years ago now propagates gibberish. So learning and competence becomes discredited, and conspiracy theories grow like weeds into the intellectual gaps and come to the fore.

Our country has gone to the dogs.

 

[James]

Then the insistence of having to present a counter to anybody, no matter how truthful and reliable - an astrophysicist is “balanced” by a flat earther.
…
Our country has gone to the dogs.

It’s not just the UK imo — this salient example can be applied across the board in Europe & the Anglosphere and represents the decline of western intellectual thought, debate and education more generally. It’s what happens when egalitarian thinking, social liberalism, and the apparent value of each individual are stretched to their respective conceptual extremes.

 

[Robert]

It’s not just the UK imo — this salient example can be applied across the board in Europe & the Anglosphere and represents the decline of western intellectual thought, debate and education more generally. It’s what happens when egalitarian thinking, social liberalism, and the apparent value of each individual are stretched to their respective conceptual extremes.

Plus social media - which promotes the Dunning-Krueger Effect.

People are confused because scientists - quite rightly - do not offer certainty. So they turn to populists such as Trump and Farage, who for all their intellectual inability, offer simple and easy solutions and certainty.