NEWS: BBC licence fee to be scrapped?

I thought they were meant to be a PSB? Ratings should be irrelevant.

If they’re chasing ratings, let them complete on a level playing field with everyone else.
 
One of our last remaining crown jewels being sold off by the tories. We will simply get 24/7 reality crap and US imports. Where are the quality British shows going to come from??

Surely even the tories can see this would be a massive downgrade for the country on a whole as millions of people depend on the BBC to some extent?? Unless they want to make us the 51st State.
Quality and the BBC? If that was the case the debate about the licence fee would I suspect be very different. The BBC doesn’t make much of its own output now, and what it does is frequently ‘me too TV’. The BBC can’t be all things to all people, it never was, but at present it’s nothing to many people, who object to paying for something that they seldom, if at all, use. As for the BBC being part of the fabric of the country, that boat sailed years ago.

Clem
 
Ah well, even more low rate Reality TV garbage incoming
 
Don’t like it, don’t watch it. If I’m not satisfied with the content on Prime, Netflix or Sky, I can cancel and save myself some money. Not so the BBC.
 
Yes they are paid a lot but then they usually get poached by the comercial stations and paid more.
Too easy to get involved in the politics of envy.
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Has nothing to do with envy, they are a public funded organisation and the example I saw was a person being paid £3000 per episode for points of view which is outrageous.
 
I really hope they scrap the fee, I wouldn't even want to pay £1 a month to watch BBC lol. When you compare the value you get from Netflix, the licence fee is a complete rip off IMO. I'd quite happily have Netflix all year round with the amount of decent content they host and produce. But I think I've watched BBC channels once this year (usually Sky At Night on BBC4). The only thing BBC related I listen to on a weekly basis is the Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo Film Review Podcast and that's downloaded through a podcast app.

I think you should at least have the option to not pay the licence fee and they simply block your incoming signal, but a subscription service for those that want to continue to receive the service seems to be step in the right direction.

I do like Peaky Blinders and Line Of Duty though (which are both on Netflix) so I wonder whether they'll be removed from Netflix along with any other BBC content.. I'd imagine they will..
 
People watch Match of the Day for the football highlights, not to listen to the benefit’s of Lineker’s “wisdom”.

Anyone could present MOTD and they’d probably get similar viewing figures.

If Itv, BT, Sky or anyone else want to pay him £50m that’s up to them, they aren’t publicly funded.
 
The BBC is not the only public service broadcaster in the world, however the others just concentrate on public broadcasting and leave the rest to subscription services, this makes sure that everybody as access to the essentials without having to pay for something they may not want to watch.

Bill
 
Reported by the Sunday Times which is owned by Rupert Murdoch. Think about that for a second. Rupert Murdoch want's us to scrap the BBC licence fee. I wonder why?

Do you really want a UK version of Fox News opening up in the vacuum created once the BBC is radically downsized? Fake news presented as the real news and half the country believing it?

People often forget about the "public good" that is provided by a public service broadcaster. The BBC's mission is to act in the "public interest". No other news organisation or information provider in the UK has that primary objective.

There could be other ways to keep the licence fee, but at a much lower cost than it currently is. How about allowing limited advertising on the BBC News and BBC Sport websites? How about less money spent on entertainment and chasing ratings and more on proper public service broadcasting?

Scrapping the whole licence fee and replacing with a subscription model would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater and leave the country in a poorer state.
 
Commercials are huge issue when searching for something to watch of an evening. Try looking for a programme and then I guarantee instead of the programme you'll be watching commercials.
Nope. Get Netflix, Prime, whatever. I guarantee in an evening instead of commercials you'll be watching programmes.
 
Has nothing to do with envy, they are a public funded organisation and the example I saw was a person being paid £3000 per episode for points of view which is outrageous.
And NHS consultants get paid a lot, also public funded. How disgusting.
Councillors and politicians get paid loads, also public funded.
What a shocking country we live in.
Let's just get random people from the public to present shows and see how good they are.
Might as well use the same idea for doctors.
To be fair politicians are poor no matter what they're paid.
 
Act in haste repent at leisure. I'm no fan of the BBC
but it looks like local radio will take a hit, programmes like
Robert Elms on BBC Radio London , BBC Solent etc could be
consigned to the bin replaced by mediocrity
 
Scrapping the whole licence fee and replacing with a subscription model would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater and leave the country in a poorer state.

Not sure about that, think about the people on low income that struggle on a daily basis, they'd be £150 better off per year :)
 
Personally the bbc doesnt provide me with anywhere near value for money I very rarely watch anything they put out but as I have sky q I have to pay the licence fee. The recent equal pay scandal only served to highlight just how much presenters are paid for very little work.
Does ITV pay women the same?

Does anywhere pay the same for professionals?

I probably don't watch don't watch enough to justify the licence fee. I just worry that the good stuff won't get made anymore, or more likely the small stuff that will get dumped

TBO since like most, i watched recorded stuff, so I'd be happy for them just to go commercial. Hated commercial radio, but I don't listen to BBC radio anyway.
 
I really hope they scrap the fee, I wouldn't even want to pay £1 a month to watch BBC lol. When you compare the value you get from Netflix, the licence fee is a complete rip off IMO. I'd quite happily have Netflix all year round with the amount of decent content they host and produce. But I think I've watched BBC channels once this year (usually Sky At Night on BBC4). The only thing BBC related I listen to on a weekly basis is the Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo Film Review Podcast and that's downloaded through a podcast app.

I think you should at least have the option to not pay the licence fee and they simply block your incoming signal, but a subscription service for those that want to continue to receive the service seems to be step in the right direction.

I do like Peaky Blinders and Line Of Duty though (which are both on Netflix) so I wonder whether they'll be removed from Netflix along with any other BBC content.. I'd imagine they will..
So you'll be watching the BBC for the next series of both then?

I'm not saying BBC is a great Holy thing, but like everyone complaining about say, paying for Sky, or Comcast, Warner for channels they never watch, be careful what you wish for. Do we really want ANOTHER streaming channel? How much money would Netflix get if people were really stringent and cancel NF after watching one or two series? If everyone cancelled everytime Peaky and LoD season finished they won't get made again.
 
Way overdue. In my experience what annoys people the most is that the BBC seem to have a bizarre assumption that the masses can't exist without television. They have stood still for so long that they really are going backwards.

It's always been very simple to me. If you watch television then pay for a licence. If you don't watch television then don't pay for a licence. Nobody can force you to.

If you go fishing and get caught without a rod licence, you are breaking the law and should face the consequences. If you drive a motor vehicle with no licence and get caught then you should expect to face consequences. If you watch television without a licence, ditto.

If you don't drive a car, go fishing or watch television then your conscience is clear, sit back , relax, grab a decent book, put on a blue ray or dvd or the radio and enjoy.
 
Long long overdue. The current standard of BBC reporting and programming is horrendous.

I don't care where you fall politically but the BBC has completely fallen down the progressive identity politics rabbit hole. They were hugely pro-EU in the Brexit debates, look at how loaded the Question Time audiences have been compared to actual voting results. Indefensible salaries for their stars, covering up of pedophiles.

If they focused on presenting the facts instead of ramming left wing identity politics down people's throats I'd imagine they'd not have this level of dislike from the public. Before you say this is my opinion, here's the viewing figures for BBC News 2012-2019:

 
I love the BBC (mostly) but is is bloated and needs some sort of reform. I don't mind paying for the licence fee and have been doing so for over 40yrs. The thing that worries me is the parts of the BBC I do like, drama/documentaries/natural world/radio 4/5 for instance and also their news coverage (when not overly biased left wing) is how much I will have to pay if they do away with the licence fee.

I certainly would not miss some of the dross like soaps/day time telly fillers, Strictly and numerous quiz/ chat :( and talent shows. The amount that is paid to so called stars, news readers and presenters is getting beyond a joke. I mean Gary Lineker for instance nearly 2 mill a year and some news staff on £600k and more.:eek:

It should be stripped back to 2 tv channels of good quality stuff, maybe 3-4 radio stations and charge £75-100 a year.If people want any more than that pay for Sky/Netflix/Prime etc.

Agreed, also Gary Lineker is on just under £2m a year - whilst people on the breadline can face criminal prosecution for not paying for the licence fee. Truly disgusting.

I would also add that BBC News needs to go back to being BBC News and not some left wing identity politics propaganda channel. Just give me the facts and let the public make their own (hopefully informed) decisions.

I think the big issue is the BBC is part of the London metropolitan left wing globalist bubble, whilst the rest of the country has taken a different path. This has put the BBC at odds with the majority of their base.

Also I found out last week the BBC has an Arabic radio station? Why in gods name is British tax payers money going to this? There is monumental levels of waste and bloat at the BBC. Like you said, strip it back to the bones of what originally made it good + decriminalise the licence fee.
 
So you'll be watching the BBC for the next series of both then?

I'm not saying BBC is a great Holy thing, but like everyone complaining about say, paying for Sky, or Comcast, Warner for channels they never watch, be careful what you wish for. Do we really want ANOTHER streaming channel? How much money would Netflix get if people were really stringent and cancel NF after watching one or two series? If everyone cancelled everytime Peaky and LoD season finished they won't get made again.

I’ll most likely watch them. I’m paying for them, so why wouldn’t I?

Do you really think if the BBC announced today they were shelving future series of Peaky Blunders or Line of Duty, somebody else wouldn’t snap them up?
 
So you'll be watching the BBC for the next series of both then?
I haven't seen any of the episodes on BBC so far, I haven't yet started season 4 of LOD and only on season 3 of PB (currently watching both on Netflix) Although the new seasons are on the US Netflix IIRC but not on the UK Netflix, but that's an easy fix with a VPN..
 
You can also pick them up on DVD, iTunes, Amazon streaming and Google play too, if you don’t want to subscribe to something to watch them.
 
Labour will be in in 2027 and they'll scrap the change.
But seriously, it'll mean ads, less content and radio stations and then people will complain. Oh and a subscription fee that will equal or be greater. For the amount of daily programming on offer, it's actually a reasonable fee.
The blurb about exorbitant star's pay and them reaping money outside of the BBC and being forced to give it all to the station is crazy. That sounds like some old music producer slave contract or pimp set up! People take second positions/contracts and/or jobs in all manner of occupations but the BBC or Government can take all the revenue? Yeah, who's going to work extra hours for free? The outside earned monies have been a source for it's employees/stars that has allowed the BBC to actually pay less but you don't hear about that from the axe groups.
The fact of the matter, is the stars have to be paid something near commensurate to the industry and wanging on about wasting licence fee money etc. is clearly intended to raise payer's anger. Yes, cut the pay and see what local 'talent' you end up with.
If people want another version of Sky with 5+ minutes of ads carving up everything, even more dross and a larger fee, well...
If you don't want to pay the licence fee, you can opt out at anytime. Do it and jog on. Really!

Like Goooner said, you can opt out in principle but the reality is you can't. Let's say I want to watch rugby on Sky Sports and never view a BBC channel - I could get a criminal record for that. That is grossly unjust and unfair.

Why not make the licence fee a subscription like Netflix or make it optional - if the BBC is so wonderful and all then I'm sure they'll have no shortage of subscribers. But I don't believe that would be the case and I think you know that too which is why you don't want things to change.

You're telling me Gary Lineker is worth almost £2m a year? Are you honestly telling me that? You could find a bloke in just about any pub who could do his job for 1/10th the cost. This is the sort of nonsense people are fed up of. It's no longer justifiable.

You need to accept the fact the licence fee's day's are numbered.
 
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I’ll most likely watch them. I’m paying for them, so why wouldn’t I?

Do you really think if the BBC announced today they were shelving future series of Peaky Blunders or Line of Duty, somebody else wouldn’t snap them up?

But they wouldn't stay on the BBC then? That's my point? More to my point, they might not have gotten past the first season.
 
You can also pick them up on DVD, iTunes, Amazon streaming and Google play too, if you don’t want to subscribe to something to watch them.
Well duh, of course you can but they are still made by the BBC!
 

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