Former Member Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Christy Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 First, I must declare an interest: Many, many years ago, I worked for the Beeb as an engineer. I can assure you that not everyone at the Beeb is on a massive salary. One of the reasons I left is because I could double my salary working for ITV! Don't blame this license mess on the Beeb! Originally, the government paid for the license fee of entitled pensioners. Then, because of austerity, they foisted it off onto the BBC. The BBC had no say whatsoever on the matter. At the same time, they also had to fund a lot of other activities previously supported by government grant, even when that meant paying to support their commercial rivals. It was always on the cards that they couldn't continue to do this, and do all the other things they are required to do, indefinitely. They are a broadcaster, not a charity. The license fee exemption should be funded by the government, as it was originally. The government palmed it off on the BBC in the full knowledge that this day would come, but that someone else could take the blame for it. This is the governments fault, pure and simple NOT the BBC's. -- Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted June 12, 2019 Author Share Posted June 12, 2019 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will -0 Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 i don't see why i should pay for old people to watch TV if they can afford to pay for it themselves tin hat on Edited By will -0 on 12/06/2019 16:48:27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Christy Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 Posted by Doc Marten on 12/06/2019 16:41:27: Shouldn't the Beeb have been doing as the commercial stations do for funding rather than rely on the government if it was always on the cards? That, again, is a government decision, not the Beeb's. And again, I point out that the Beeb is now required to subsidise some commercial stations - Welsh language ones, for example. That is something that ITV could well afford to do, but the government has decreed that it must come from the license fee. Level playing fields? We've heard of them! -- Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SR 71 Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 Well I would sooner pay for our old people to watch tv Than I would pay for all the foreigners that are here getting free treatment on the NHS, helping overcrowd our hospitals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 The BBC does do some of what commercial stations do, it sells a lot of its content to other broadcasters and on DVD release (etc). Pete, of course it isn't a level playing field. The BBC has a massive, free, guaranteed income - unlike actual commercial broadcasters. All it has to do to collect it is administer the TV license, mainly by unsavoury letters threatening the use of (and eventually actually using) very dodgy debt collectors on people who don't or can't pay. In fact that wing of it is so unpleasant, the BBC go to lengths to disassociate their 'brand' from the licensing activities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solly Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 I'm 74 and can afford to pay a license fee, so I wouldn't object to that. The problem is that, like all nationalised industries, the BBC costs us a fortune to run. It's also supposed to be politically neutral, - well, that's a laugh. It's one of the most left wing organisations I've come across.Privatise it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted June 12, 2019 Author Share Posted June 12, 2019 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 "the BBC costs us a fortune to run" £154 a year, if you have a colour telly, surely? Left wing? Really? Think we've veering into politics which will get the mods upset... edit for typo Edited By Nigel R on 12/06/2019 17:21:45 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Flynn 1 Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 I agree Solly, neutral is one thing they are not. Their political bias really winds me up. They are the same as all large companies, far too many chiefs and overpaid Indians. if Boris wins and delivers Brexit, then the BBC should be his next challenge, as they really need a vast reorganisation from top to bottom, and made to stand on their own two feet rather than being subsidised by the poor old tax payer, who after bailing out the greedy bankers, feels that the money wasted on these 2 should go on the NHS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 how did "the poor old tax payer" bail out those "greedy bankers"? which sort of Brexit is Boris delivering? a good one, a hard one, one that the EU likes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i12fly Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 I agree with Solly. And I hate having to watch their adverts - for themselves. They may as well have commercial adverts and reduce the licence fee. It seems that the underlying reason they have stopped subsidising the 3 million over 75's is that they have lost 3+ million people who have cancelled in the last few years, people who 'don't watch live telly'. Oh, and I'm quite a way off being 75, so it doesn't affect me - perhaps I should keep out of the discussion, but it just seems rather mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Christy Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 Posted by Solly on 12/06/2019 17:06:14: It's also supposed to be politically neutral, - well, that's a laugh. It's one of the most left wing organisations I've come across.Privatise it. Have you ever watched Channel 4 News? (and yes, I've worked for them too!) -- Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Bastow Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 if this helps you decide, Over 60 MPS have claimed for tv licences on there expences allegedly, Prisoners in prison get free tv but a D-Day veteran cant? Make of it what you will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin b Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 Coo, a double whammy. Drone registering and TV licences. This should keep the mods busy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J D 8 Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 Might it be possible to divert some of the votes to the drone petition / Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Flynn 1 Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 Nigel R i think you will find that Alister Darling launched a £500 billion rescue package to the Bankers(W) , which saw the tax payer pick up large shares of many major banks. This money which came out of the country’s budget has led, still going on today, to the underfunding that every service this country has depended on. The NHS being the major victim, without going on about policing, special needs, libraries etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 Posted by Nigel R on 12/06/2019 17:20:56: Left wing? Really? Think we've veering into politics which will get the mods upset... Well worth a mention, Nigel, we are keeping an eye on things.... The saddest thing of all is that we are all suffering from a government policy of 'divide and rule', it would seem. I don't think I've ever seen the country so split between generations, let alone classes... Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ashby - Moderator Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 Posted by kevin b on 12/06/2019 18:44:10: Coo, a double whammy. Drone registering and TV licences. This should keep the mods busy. Yep, all sleep cancelled. Would somebody mind starting a thread for good news? Just for a bit of balance... Edited By David Ashby - Moderator on 12/06/2019 19:12:08 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted June 12, 2019 Author Share Posted June 12, 2019 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted June 12, 2019 Author Share Posted June 12, 2019 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Fry Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 Steady on lads, Honest Boris is coming to save us, assuming he has got out of bed. I'm quite ashamed I consort with such views. Pity I fly aircraft. I think the BBC is a bit Right wing. There you go. Tin hat not needed. Nuclear fallout suit donned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted June 12, 2019 Author Share Posted June 12, 2019 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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