Why Are We Forced To Pay £154.50 Per Year To Watch Bbc?

[anotheoldgit]

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1168861/BBC-News-TV-licence-BBC-bias-pay-rise-James-Whale-Nick-de-Bois-Mandy-Boylett

Would any other broadcasting company be allowed to force us to pay yearly to watch or listen to their programmes?

One cannot even say that at least the BBC don't include commercials, they increasingly do, the difference is that their commercials only advertise their own products.

[davebro]

I wouldn't mind so much if more of the money was put into programmes instead of paying inflated salaries to managers and presenters and wasting money on expenses and sending too many staff on overseas jaunts in the name of reportage.

[Georgiesmum]

Because thats the cost of the license fee. Nobody "makes" you watch BBC..

[Bazile]

You need to be covered by a TV Licence to

watch or record programmes as they’re being shown on TV or live on an online TV service
download or watch BBC programmes on iPlayer.

//watch or record programmes as they’re being shown on TV or live on an online TV service//

I think it could be that some people think that the fee is for
watching / recording bbc programmes only

Whereas the fee is for doing the above on other channels ( the fact that the money goes to the BBC is another issue )

[THECORBYLOON]

SPICERACK, do you have more details of the free access to those providers?

[New Judge]

//Because thats the cost of the license fee. Nobody "makes" you watch BBC..//

Indeed they don't. But the issue is that the entire licence fee (apart from admin costs) goes to the BBC. Imagine if there was a "BBC Times" daily newspaper funded entirely by a "newspaper licence". You had to buy such a licence to read any newspaper but you never read the BBC Times. Fair?

[Spicerack]

Corby, you don't have to pay to watch Sky, Netflix, etc. as jim claimed.
If you like the content and can afford to pay for it then you can choose to pay for it.
Not so with the beloved aBBC.
If some of you people like it so much and it's as popular as you say it is then you won't mind paying for it by subscription and it will positively thrive.
As NJ said, if every time you bought a Guardian, the newsagent charged you a 50p Daily Mail Tax, you'd be spluttering your granola everywhere.

[anotheoldgit]

Perhaps those who love the BBC so much, wouldn't mind paying extra to cover the costs for those who don't want to pay out their money, to fund the BBC?

[vulcan42]

I don't mind paying the fee, it's how they spend it concerns me, some of the salaries are ridiculous and totally unnecessary. Would less people watch football if Gary Lineker wasn't one of the pundits?

[Gromit]

You are not forced to watch television, it is something you do voluntarily.
The Government believe we should have a national broadcaster that is not commercially owned, but run with the oversight of Parliament. The funding of that organisation is from a tax.
Many countries have a national broadcaster funded in a similar way. And many countries don’t.
By all means the situation should be reviewed, but it does seem very good value for money. SKY is over £600 a year for arguably less services.

[maggiebee]

Strange that those in prison can watch for free but over 75s will soon be paying.

[Gromit]

maggiebee
The licence is for the owner of the television to pay. People in Prison do not own the tvs.
The exemption for older people is relatively new, introduced as an election bribe by Gordon Brown. It makes no sense at all.