The Student Room Group

Why do we have to pay for a TV licence?

Do you think it's fair that we have to pay for a TV licence in order to (legally) receive television broadcasts?

A large amount of the TV licence fee goes towards supporting the BBC and its various TV and radio channels. This means that the BBC doesn't have to use advertisements to fund its programs. While the lack of advertisement within broadcasts is definitely convenient for the viewer, for people who don't make use of the BBC's services, it's a very unnecessary tax. After all, there are plenty of alternatives to the BBC.

Of course, you don't have to pay for a TV licence; but if you don't, you won't be able to legally watch live television broadcasts and could be prosecuted if you attempt to. For this reason, it's a bit of a catch 22 for the people who, for whatever reason, don't want to support the BBC. Additionally, it seems pretty harsh to prosecute someone for refusing to support the BBC, even if the licence fee is a tax.

Having said that, I'm not sure about what would happen to the BBC if it were forced to fund its projects without the help of the public.

So, do you mind paying for a TV licence? If so/not, why?
(edited 10 years ago)

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Reply 1
We live in a society and there are certain obligations we have as citizens of that society, the licence fee is one of them.

Do you want to live in a country where the media is domination by people like Murdoch? Because that's the alternative to the licence fee model.
Reply 2
The BBC does make a lot of high quality programmes. So to get the funding they have to make everyone pay.
For the record, it also funds ITV.
Now, although I see your point, I personally agree with Chefdave - arguably, it's the fact that it is funded by the public and so it having no (major) ulterior motives, that enables to do what it does so well. Namely, provide a neutral viewpoint.
Original post by chefdave
We live in a society and there are certain obligations we have as citizens of that society, the licence fee is one of them.

Do you want to live in a country where the media is domination by people like Murdoch? Because that's the alternative to the licence fee model.


Doesn't it only fund the BBC though?

I would prefer adverts without the licence fee to be honest. I don't mind paying a fee, but I think we should have more of a say over what happens to the money. Paying obscene amounts for supposedly "top" presenters is not a good use of the money.
Original post by chefdave
We live in a society and there are certain obligations we have as citizens of that society, the licence fee is one of them.

Do you want to live in a country where the media is domination by people like Murdoch? Because that's the alternative to the licence fee model.


It's difficult to tell whether you're being sarcastic. I thought that you were opposed to conventional taxation, Chefdave.:confused:
Reply 6
Yeah, I got that letter from UCAS about TV licence too. :redface:
Because Britain is ****
Reply 8
Don't like it don't watch TV.

I've never paid for a TV licence in my life and never intend on doing so. I don't watch stuff as it is broadcast (and only watch an hour or two online a month beyond that).

Paying over a tenner a month for a TV licence would require that I watch a lot of TV for it to be worthwhile.
Reply 9
I'd much rather pay for a TV licence than have adverts on the BBC. Like others have said, being funded by the public makes them neutral and 'for the people', haha.

And there are so many BBC channels and radio stations there's something that everyone would enjoy.
Reply 10
I don't have a TV license, I just watch anything I like on iplayer and demand. I believe that if they changed it so that you could choose to pay the license to recieve BBC, the BBC would be no more.
Reply 11
What I don't like about the TV license is not so much that you have to pay but that they are so nazi about it. As soon as you move into a new property they practically hound you from day one threatening you with court action. Even if you sign up but miss one payment you have TV gestapo all over you banging down your door on a Sunday night and sending you letters about impending court dates. Why did it have to be a criminal offence why couldn't it just be like the water or electricity supply where if you don't pay they just take civil action against you recover the costs?
Original post by peter12345
What I don't like about the TV license is not so much that you have to pay but that they are so nazi about it. As soon as you move into a new property they practically hound you from day one threatening you with court action. Even if you sign up but miss one payment you have TV gestapo all over you banging down your door on a Sunday night and sending you letters about impending court dates. Why did it have to be a criminal offence why couldn't it just be like the water or electricity supply where if you don't pay they just take civil action against you recover the costs?


The thing is, the BBC is not like Sky or Virgin Media, where if you don't pay, you simply won't get the channels. It's so easy to watch BBC channels just like anybody else would, and still not pay the licence fee, without getting caught.

The only way an enforcer could fine you is if you allow them entry into your property (which you don't have to do in the first place), and they find equipment specifically set up to enable you to watch TV (all it takes is one disconnection of a cable before letting them in to make sure that doesn't happen), or if they actually catch you in the act of watching TV on e.g. your laptop, which again, is very unlikely.

Because of this, they really need to scare you into paying. Otherwise, nobody would, but they'd all just continue to watch TV anyway, and there's nothing they could do about it.
Original post by BritBoyWonder
Because Britain is ****


You can always leave.
Reply 14
i think the BBC is great. it produces some of the best quality british TV, great documentaries, news, radio... i really think the BBC is the best, i wouldn't want it to change.
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by maturestudent36
you can always leave.


oh **** offff
Reply 16
Original post by TheTranshumanist
It's difficult to tell whether you're being sarcastic. I thought that you were opposed to conventional taxation, Chefdave.:confused:


I was just throwing it out there.

Tbh I think the problem of the licence fee can be neatly solved with geo-libertarian economic theory. If the BBC want to monopolise the airwaves thereby excluding the rest of society from using this precious finite resource they should be asked to pay us money as a form of compensation, then they could encrypt their channels and charge a suitable subscription fee. That's the logical answer for me.

Of course emotion comes into too as the BBC is an instantly recognisable worldwide brand and responsible for some of the best television ever made, but they don't have to fund themselves with the T.V tax, I'm sure there are suitable alternatives if we don't want to go down the geo-lib route or keep the licence fee.
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by peter12345
What I don't like about the TV license is not so much that you have to pay but that they are so nazi about it. As soon as you move into a new property they practically hound you from day one threatening you with court action. Even if you sign up but miss one payment you have TV gestapo all over you banging down your door on a Sunday night and sending you letters about impending court dates. Why did it have to be a criminal offence why couldn't it just be like the water or electricity supply where if you don't pay they just take civil action against you recover the costs?


Really. Is the BBC involved in some form of Genocide that we haven't heard about? Is it's license enforcement officers (The Gestapo as you call them) spiriting people away in the night to never be seen again?


You have to pay, and if hey didn't ensure people didn't pay, then people would just stop paying.

11% of the license fee actually goes to supporting the whole broadcasting network. So even if you chose not to watch BBC, your claiming the benefits of the license every time you listen to a radio commercial radio channel and watch TV elsewhere.

We have a system that is actually envied by pretty much every other nation in the world.


The other option is the US model, but I sort of oppose watching adverts every ten minutes. The US system isn't like ITV. It's incessant adverts. Opening credits come on. Advert break. Program finishes. Advert Break then the end credits come on. Ever wondered why programmes like family guy are only 20 minutes long and fill a thirty minute gap on telly in the states. That's right. For every 2 minutes of TV you get bombarded with a minute of adverts.
Original post by chefdave
We live in a society and there are certain obligations we have as citizens of that society, the licence fee is one of them.Do you want to live in a country where the media is domination by people like Murdoch? Because that's the alternative to the licence fee model.
That isn't the alternative, the alternative is that those who wish to pay for the bbc pay, those who dont wish to pay dont and dont get the bbc. EDIT: The BBC gives lots of money to sky for programme rights.
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 19
Original post by MatureStudent36
Really. Is the BBC involved in some form of Genocide that we haven't heard about? Is it's license enforcement officers (The Gestapo as you call them) spiriting people away in the night to never be seen again?


You have to pay, and if hey didn't ensure people didn't pay, then people would just stop paying.

11% of the license fee actually goes to supporting the whole broadcasting network. So even if you chose not to watch BBC, your claiming the benefits of the license every time you listen to a radio commercial radio channel and watch TV elsewhere.

We have a system that is actually envied by pretty much every other nation in the world.


The other option is the US model, but I sort of oppose watching adverts every ten minutes. The US system isn't like ITV. It's incessant adverts. Opening credits come on. Advert break. Program finishes. Advert Break then the end credits come on. Ever wondered why programmes like family guy are only 20 minutes long and fill a thirty minute gap on telly in the states. That's right. For every 2 minutes of TV you get bombarded with a minute of adverts.


Apart from BBC channels, all other channels do the same thing, so essentially were paying for BBC not to have adverts, and there are people that don't watch BBC.
I don't watch much TV but when I do, I only watch TV from my nationality over satellite, so I don't like how we are paying for something we actually don't use.

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