BBC license fee proposals...

[Werewolf]

Broadcast TV has been dying for 20 years, cinema has been dying for around 50 years.

Broadcast TV is probably going to be around as a major player for quite a long time (multiple decades), as it's cheap to run per viewer, easy to implement and maintain (one transmitter per X tens of thousands or millions of users), and scales up extremely well with no additional cost per user (for the output) from 1 to 10,000,000 if they're within range of the transmitter.

Internet services will likely still be struggling to provide enough bandwidth for all properties covered by Broadcast TV in 10-20 years for one channel at a time, let alone multiple channels at once (especially if the definition of the content increases).

 

[OpenToSuggestions]

Bought myself a license at the weekend after 3+ years of freeloading.

My only amazement is that it took until 2016 to close the loophole. Fools.

 

[Pottsey]

What I don't understand is the people making all this noise about now having to pay the TVL were more than happy to watch iPlayer when it cost them nothing.

Meanwhile the rest of us were funding their free lunch by paying the TVL and have been doing so for years. This anomaly has now been stopped and somehow this is seen as being a disgrace. I must be missing something.

You are missing a lot as the disgrace isn't over paying a licence to watch Iplayer. Most if not all of us don't have a problem with that. The disgrace is how the BBC are wasting tax payers money spending it on bullying and harassing people who don't have a licence and don't need a licence. You should be upset at how much money BBC are wasting chasing people they know don't need a licence.

 

[spoffle]

What I don't understand is the people making all this noise about now having to pay the TVL were more than happy to watch iPlayer when it cost them nothing.

Meanwhile the rest of us were funding their free lunch by paying the TVL and have been doing so for years. This anomaly has now been stopped and somehow this is seen as being a disgrace. I must be missing something.

This is such a selfish and have not attitude.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Most if not all of us don't have a problem with that. The disgrace is how the BBC are wasting tax payers money spending it on bullying and harassing people who don't have a licence and don't need a licence. You should be upset at how much money BBC are wasting chasing people they know don't need a licence.

It must pay otherwise they wouldn't do it, simple as that.

 

[Werewolf]

It must pay otherwise they wouldn't do it, simple as that.

It's not even that.

The government has charged the BBC with collecting the TVL.
The BBC have outsourced it to a company that specialises in such services.

Most people will never have an issue with TVL, and from what I understand the collection costs for TVL (let alone admin) are well under what the likes of Sky or VM end up paying as a percentage of the total.

IIRC it used to be done by the post office, but the BBC ended up with it when they pointed out they could manage it more effectively and were able to demo it (the methods haven't changed, but the efficiency has).

 

[cainer]

Personally I reckon the BBC is the best value product in Britain today.

 

[Pottsey]

It must pay otherwise they wouldn't do it, simple as that.

Its not that simple as clearly they are wasting money they don't need to. They waste a lot of cash sending letters and inspectors to people they know don't need a licence. I am sure it does pay but that doesn't change how inefficiently they are doing it and how much money they waste.

 

[Werewolf]

They're probably not wasting much, IIRC the total for collection is about 2.5% which includes the admin and things like payment processing from what I understand*.

It's also worth noting that they have a legal obligation to try and ascertain if a property needs a licence, and that has to allow for things like rental properties that might be empty for a while (so a letter a month isn't bad as the landlord will likely throw them out, but TVL have no way of knowing when it's occupied), or the resident changes.


*It's gone down from about 6% since the 90's.

 

[Faustus]

I think all this sudden concern about the BBC wasting money in trying to collect the TVL is really a cover for people who don't want to pay it, or am I being cynical?

 

[malachi]

What I don't understand is the people making all this noise about now having to pay the TVL were more than happy to watch iPlayer when it cost them nothing.

Meanwhile the rest of us were funding their free lunch by paying the TVL and have been doing so for years. This anomaly has now been stopped and somehow this is seen as being a disgrace. I must be missing something.

Simple, people don't like paying for something which was free in the first place.

The BBC call it a loop hole but its them moving the goal posts to make more money. If iPlayer wasn't popular then they wouldn't of included it with the TVL.

 

[Glaucus]

I think all this sudden concern about the BBC wasting money in trying to collect the TVL is really a cover for people who don't want to pay it, or am I being cynical?

Cyncical, i pay and see it as an utter waste of money. its also not their 2.5%. but police and court time as well. if we want to keep it, should just come out of general taxation. this also has the benefit of helping the poor.

 

[Hagar]

Simple, people don't like paying for something which was free in the first place.

The BBC call it a loop hole but its them moving the goal posts to make more money. If iPlayer wasn't popular then they wouldn't of included it with the TVL.

It was not free in the first place, iPlayer was put on line for the convenience of subscribers (licence payers) to catch up on programs. It is not free to air programming. ITV and Channel 4 require you listen to adverts to use their service. Sky, Netflix and Amazon require subscription payments so the BBC is just formalising their arrangement.

There are a lot of people here who know the price of everything and the value of nothing IMO.

 

[Basher]

It was not free in the first place, iPlayer was put on line for the convenience of subscribers (licence payers) to catch up on programs. It is not free to air programming. ITV and Channel 4 require you listen to adverts to use their service. Sky, Netflix and Amazon require subscription payments so the BBC is just formalising their arrangement.

There are a lot of people here who know the price of everything and the value of nothing IMO.

iPlayer was free at the point of consumption.

Granted, it has never been free to produce but that's not what was being talked about.

 

[Faustus]

Cyncical, i pay and see it as an utter waste of money. its also not their 2.5%. but police and court time as well. if we want to keep it, should just come out of general taxation. this also has the benefit of helping the poor.

We've already covered this, not everyone pays taxes though and as said before I see a lot of my general taxes as a huge waste of money but that's life. It's no good moaning we just have to suck it up.

 

[StriderX]

We've already covered this, not everyone pays taxes though and as said before I see a lot of my general taxes as a huge waste of money but that's life. It's no good moaning we just have to suck it up.

Or you know, not pay it.

 

[Faustus]

It was not free in the first place, iPlayer was put on line for the convenience of subscribers (licence payers) to catch up on programs. It is not free to air programming. ITV and Channel 4 require you listen to adverts to use their service. Sky, Netflix and Amazon require subscription payments so the BBC is just formalising their arrangement.

There are a lot of people here who know the price of everything and the value of nothing IMO.

Very well said. In fact the iPlayer not needing a licence to view it was an oversight. It simply wasn't foreseen at the time it was conceived. It might seem ridiculous now giving the digital landscape, but it is a fact.

The problem is the younger generation expect to consume their digital content for nothing. As we all know this state of affairs has been going on for years, hence all the attempts by Hollywood to stop it.

How a significant section of society have got to this situation of entitlement i.e. having a 'free lunch' is a different discussion and a very complex one.

 

[Glaucus]

We've already covered this, not everyone pays taxes though and as said before I see a lot of my general taxes as a huge waste of money but that's life. It's no good moaning we just have to suck it up.

this makes no sense, ln relation to what you quoted.

 

[T100]

Hi everyone I am new here , has anyone worked for the BBC here ?

I would like to awnswer some of your valued questions

In some departments there is an open bullying system where by if you don't do what they want then your fired .

This is like there so called detector van people ( what a joke )
Who are aggressive just like the BBC

It was a far known fact that the boss of the BBC has over 100 people doing his job for him , each on over £100'000 per year. ( reported by the union bectu )

Value for money ? The BBC moved their entire sports coverage department to Manchester only to move them back to London for the Olympics
. (What foresight )

We all had a joke at that one ,on your licence payers fee not.

Or how about moving casualty from Bristal to Wales which cost over £100'000000,
This move was as I am told due to the labour government at the time trying to revamp Cardiff .

Or let's all go to a very expensive hotel spa and discus next years scrips


As to band width the BBC has a terrible band width .

It had been reported in the past that if the BBC was privatised it could generate enough for money in advertising just from Radio ?

Hmmm so what's the problem with the licence fee ???

Very well said. In fact the iPlayer not needing a licence to view it was an oversight. It simply wasn't foreseen at the time it was conceived. It might seem ridiculous now giving the digital landscape, but it is a fact.

The problem is the younger generation expect to consume their digital content for nothing. As we all know this state of affairs has been going on for years, hence all the attempts by Hollywood to stop it.

How a significant section of society have got to this situation of entitlement i.e. having a 'free lunch' is a different discussion and a very complex one.

 

[vincent1989]

don't pay the license, haven't for the last two years, I don't have time to watch TV working full time and studying 2-3 hours a day, can't say I've missed it. So long BBC!

As an aside I don't understand how people have so many problems with them, the misses simply fills in a form once a year, never had anything I'd call hassle. Sure we shouldn't have to waste time filling in the form but it's hardily a hardship.