While I was browsing the BBC News website, as I often do of an afternoon, I came across this article:-
BBC Licence fee changes
The BBC are hoping to increase the price of the TV licence by 2.3% above inflation, a rise of £3.14 per annum until 2013.
It did set me thinking though. Why should I pay my licence fee?
We have, no doubt, all seen the adverts that the BBC put out at prime time encouraging people to avoid a £1000 fine buy spending £126.50 on a TV Licence. So why this tax on TV watching?
As a loyal Sky customer (my subscription was a Christmas present in 1996), I already pay enough for my TV watching habits. I was pleased that terrestrial TV lost the rights to the Test cricket, and that Champions League football is shown almost exclusively on Sky. That way I am guaranteed to see my favourite sports without excessive corporate sponsorship and advert breaks.
So my money is not being spent on popular live sports, and the BBC rarely show expensive Hollywood films, so where is it going? Does the BBC really need £126 from the 2-3 million households in the UK to maintain their website? (Incidentally the biggest in the world.)
In an age of alternatives, where the BBC is not the only thing on, is a licence fee necessary and relevant? By refusing to use a car, one pays no fuel tax. By refusing to smoke, the consumer pays no cigarette tax. Yet even if I were to tune my TV permanently away from the BBC, I would still be subject to a licence fee.
Timmy "Not watching the Snooker" Magic
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
errr... if the BBC showed live football there wouldn't be *any* commerical breaks.
True enough, but I don't believe that the BBC could achieve the mark that has been set by Sky. It is unlikely that they would be able to provide, for example, 16 cameras at every live match, all of which able to be watched by the viewer via interactive services.
Post a Comment