Do you pay your TV license fee?

[Belushi]

Every 15 minutes? What commercial TV paradise do you live in? Here in the US, the amount of programming between commercial breaks, especially in prime time, rarely exceeds seven or eight minutes, and is often as low as four or five.

I didnt relaise the extent of Yank advertising until I got the 24 box set which is actually only about 17hours long without the adverts.

I dont think I could actually watch something with that many ad breaks.

 

[Wyn]

obviously the poll (which will be along shortly) wont be public.

Why?

 

[mhendo]

Why?

I'm guessing it's because some people might not be comfortable admitting to illegal activity (i.e., not paying their licence fee) on a public message board.

 

[Nine Bob Note]

Every 15 minutes? What commercial TV paradise do you live in? Here in the US, the amount of programming between commercial breaks, especially in prime time, rarely exceeds seven or eight minutes, and is often as low as four or five.

The amount of adverts that can be shown here is strictly regulated. No more than three advert breaks in a one hour show (used to be two an hour until a couple of years ago)

 

[Wyn]

I'm guessing it's because some people might not be comfortable admitting to illegal activity (i.e., not paying their licence fee) on a public message board.

Your assumtion is that everyone has a TV?

 

[mhendo]

Your assumtion is that everyone has a TV?

No, my assumption is that there are some people who do have a TV, who don't pay the licence, and who would understandably prefer that the authorities don't find out about it.

 

[mhendo]

The amount of adverts that can be shown here is strictly regulated. No more than three advert breaks in a one hour show (used to be two an hour until a couple of years ago)

I know. It's one of the things i miss about living in the UK (i was there for a couple of years in the early 90s).

I just looked up the current regulations (pdf), and it seems that the daily average cannot exceed 7 minutes per hour on channels 3-5, and 9 minutes per hour on other services. Also, there can't be any more than 12 minutes of advertising in any given clock hour, even during prime time.

[Monty Python's Yorkshireman]

Loooxury!

[/MPY]

Here in the US there is no official limit. I haven't looked at the figures in a while, but the last time i did (a few years ago) prime-time advertising levels on US network TV were up around 18 minutes per hour. That's certainly borne out by Belushi's experience with the TV show 24. When 24 hours of TV programming results in 17 hours worth of actual show, we're talking about 17.5 minutes of advertising per hour for that show.

 

[kyser_soze]

Anyone who wants to see where the license fee money goes simply needs to visit the website - 4 TV stations, 7 national, 1 international radio station, 50+ local radio stations, community involvement, journalism (TV and radio) and other creative apprenticeships/internships, possibly one of the greatest repositories of music and TV in the world (which it's planning on giving the public access to)...the list goes on.

Do you object to paying tax to fund state services like the NHS which you may go for years without using? Same goes for the Beeb...and I think we get a pretty good deal for £2 a week, no?

On the subject of the mney the Beeb has to invest in .co.uk...anyone thought how much the bandwidth for that site costs?

 

[Nine Bob Note]

On the subject of the mney the Beeb has to invest in .co.uk...anyone thought how much the bandwidth for that site costs?

I think the online services cost only £40m per year, which I would assume includes hardware, software, staff and bandwidth

 

[JTG]

out of interest, anyone know how much the BBC makes from merchandising, overseas sales of progs etc compared to the licence fee?

Just interested, no great point to make

 

[Nine Bob Note]

Not sure about overseas royalties, but I believe sales of DVDs and such provide 5% of their revenue, which I find unbelievably low, considering the money I, alone, have spent on BBC DVDs in comparison to the licence fee

 

[JTG]

Not sure about overseas royalties, but I believe sales of DVDs and such provide 5% of their revenue, which I find unbelievably low, considering the money I, alone, have spent on BBC DVDs in comparison to the licence fee

Really?!

DVDs, videos, books, other merchandising, copyright stuff etc etc...

I just find it hard to believe they can fund so much mainly off the back of licences. How many TV licences can there be? 20 million, tops? That's not enough surely.

 

[Nine Bob Note]

According to Wikipedia, "BBC Commercial Enterprises" provide £624m of the £4b budget, with overseas rights contributing £23.5m

 

[gentlegreen]

why isn't it a public poll ?


[/part time detector van driver]

.

 

[spanglechick]

a lot of the money from overseas rights, dvds etc come back to the writers, directors and performers. particularly the performers, we have a gooooood union .

obviously the beeb make money on it, but not as much as you might think.

 

[Lord Camomile]

Aside from what I think of their output (big fan in the most part, as it goes) I truly believe in a lot of what the BBC does, and so even if the Licence Fee wasn't compulsory I would still donate to it on a regular basis.

The website, the World Service, the magazines... the Beeb goes far and beyond just being a TV station.

Yes, it may have it faults, but you just have to look at how it is viewed by the rest of the world who don't have something similar to see how lucky we are.

I also think the NHS comparison is a good point.

 

[JTG]

I also think the NHS comparison is a good point.

No it isn't. The NHS is a vital service, the BBC is an entertainment source no matter how good or informative it is.

May as well say I should pay money to my local theatre on the off chance I should use it some time in the future.

 

[mhendo]

out of interest, anyone know how much the BBC makes from merchandising, overseas sales of progs etc compared to the licence fee?

Just interested, no great point to make

Well, according to the Financial review (pdf) section of the 2004/2005 Annual report, total licence fee revenue for that year was £2,940 million. This makes it far and away the BBC's largest sources of income.

The total number of licences are as follows:

Colour: 20.6 million
B+W: 0.1 million
Over 75s: 3.8 million
Concessionary: 0.2 million

That's a total of 24.7 million licences.

The BBC estimates licence fee evasion at 5%, down from 5.7% the previous year. The cost of collecting the licence and reducing evasion was 10.2% of licence revenues, or about £300 million. This is a dramatic reduction from the early 1990s, when such costs made up almost 19% of licence revenue. Subtracting collection and enforcement from revenue, the licence brings in about £2,640 million for the BBC.

Of the BBC's other income sources, £150 million came from the sale of BBC technology, and £151 million from other commercial businesses. BBC Worldwide Limited, the largest such commercial enterprise, brought in a total of £145 million made up of profit (£55 million) and direct investment in BBC programmes.

The BBC as a whole ran at a deficit of £188 million, which was a £61 million improvement over the year before.

 

[JTG]

three quarters of the funding comes from the licence fee according to wikipedia. I'm a bit surprised tbh, I would have thought it would be less than that.

 

[Lord Camomile]

No it isn't. The NHS is a vital service, the BBC is an entertainment source no matter how good or informative it is

Well true, it's not an artight analogy, but I still think the point is worthy.

And anyway, the NHS isn't a vital service, how many other countries don't have it? They ain't all limbless and deed.

 

[Nine Bob Note]

No it isn't. The NHS is a vital service, the BBC is an entertainment source no matter how good or informative it is.

May as well say I should pay money to my local theatre on the off chance I should use it some time in the future.

Well, if your local theatre is the only trusted source of global news for millions of people throughout the globe, then, yes, I'd say you should give them some money. Entertainment my arse.

 

[JTG]

Well, if your local theatre is the only trusted source of global news for millions of people throughout the globe, then, yes, I'd say you should give them some money. Entertainment my arse.

So, you're saying that I should pay a licence fee, for services I do not use (no really, I don't. Radio, telly, web), because it's a charitable thing?

 

[Nine Bob Note]

So, you're saying that I should pay a licence fee, for services I do not use (no really, I don't. Radio, telly, web), because it's a charitable thing?

Yes. Call it social responsibility

 

[spanglechick]

No it isn't. The NHS is a vital service, the BBC is an entertainment source no matter how good or informative it is.

May as well say I should pay money to my local theatre on the off chance I should use it some time in the future.

you almost certainly do, though your income tax -> arts council of england -> subsidies/grants.


which is a very good thing, imho.

 

[spanglechick]

Yes. Call it social responsibility

don't be mean - if he doesn't have a telly, or never watches his flatmate's - then he doesn't have to pay.

it is optional by virtue of the choice not to have a tv. That's fair enough.

 

[JTG]

Yes. Call it social responsibility

Um, no.

I'll be socially responsible in a way of my own choosing cheers.

 

[JTG]

don't be mean - if he doesn't have a telly, or never watches his flatmate's - then he doesn't have to pay.

Ah, but the telly in the flat is mine...

If I disabled the aerial then I understand I wouldn't have to pay but I haven't. So, I am breaking the law.

Morally however, my conscience is clear. I do not use the BBC's services, I do not pay for them. Plenty of stuff I do pay for but also never use but most of those are things I think should be provided. If the licence fee was replaced by funding from the exchequer then I'd have no problem with paying for it.

But it isn't. The law says 'if you want to be allowed to watch telly in your own home then you pay for a licence'. I don't watch telly in my own home these days so I don't have one.

 

[PacificOcean]

I don't really watch much on the BBC, but don't object to the licence fee.

What I do object too is the BBC paying talenless fuckwits like Davina McCall £1m to present her chat show, which of course has been a total flop, and then unlike any other job where you would be fired if you were crap - the BBC says they are sticking by her and her show (her other BBC show 'He's Having a Baby' was a complete ratings disaster too)

ITV would have dropped her in a heartbeat due to commerical pressures.

 

[William of Walworth]

I don't really watch much on the BBC, but don't object to the licence fee.

What I do object too is the BBC paying talenless fuckwits like Davina McCall £1m to present her chat show, which of course has been a total flop, and then unlike any other job where you would be fired if you were crap - the BBC says they are sticking by her and her show (her other BBC show 'He's Having a Baby' was a complete ratings disaster too)

ITV would have dropped her in a heartbeat due to commerical pressures.

We could all do that -- pick put the worst examples.

I could list the best, quite easily ...

If you don't like Davina, watch Planet Earth, or some news/current affairs, or some quality drama, or (with the sound turned down if you don't like Gary!) Match of the Day instead -- whatever you're into, there's something for everyone.

I pay, and although I get a tad annoyed temporarily come July, that's somewhat my fault for not being organised enough to pay by instalments,

I'm happy to pay though, even though I don't watch all that much TV.

If you hear anyone moaning about the licence fee on some alleged principle, check the moaner thoroughly for :

1. Tory tendancies,
or
2. Possible employed-by-Sky status ...

 

[spanglechick]

Ah, but the telly in the flat is mine...

If I disabled the aerial then I understand I wouldn't have to pay but I haven't. So, I am breaking the law.

Morally however, my conscience is clear. I do not use the BBC's services, I do not pay for them. Plenty of stuff I do pay for but also never use but most of those are things I think should be provided. If the licence fee was replaced by funding from the exchequer then I'd have no problem with paying for it.

But it isn't. The law says 'if you want to be allowed to watch telly in your own home then you pay for a licence'. I don't watch telly in my own home these days so I don't have one.

so why not disable the aerial, thereby negating the possibility of a fine?