Good Options to Replace the BBC TV Licence
Many countries abroad have got rid of the TV licence altogether, and just incorporated it into general taxation (The Netherlands, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland).
Winfried Baijens (above) is a Dutch news presenter. Because there is no TV licence in The Netherlands, he (like all presenters) gets paid a good salary, but capped to earn no more than government ministers. So he earns a good living, but not ‘silly money’ like UK presenters funded by licence fee payers.
The UK TV licence is pretty controversial these days, because not only it is very expensive, but also many people hardly watch terrestial TV. It seems unfair if someone watches other programs to be charged, especially when BBC programs have massively gone down in quality in recent years.
It’s less David Attenborough documentaries and more lazy repeated programs of quiz shows, home makeovers and shouting presenters.
How much is the BBC licence fee?
At time of writing, a standard licence for a colour TV costs £180 a year (and a black-and-white licence is £60.50). Even if you never watch the BBC, you still need one to watch programs live on any channel (ITV, Channel 4) plus streaming platforms like You Tube, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
And all content (live or not) on BBC iPlayer. This law applies to all devices including smart TVs, laptops, smartphones, tablets and games consoles.
You don’t however need a licence to watch on-demand programs on other channels, and people over 75 (or who receive Pension Credit) are entitled to free licences. Residents in care homes pay a reduced fee of £7.50.
Penalties are large, a court fine of £1000. It’s not true that you can be put in prison for not paying your licence. But you can if you don’t pay it, as it’s seen as ‘contempt of court’. Yet dangerous criminals are released early?
If you don’t watch any live/streaming channels or BBC iPlayer, you can legally cancel your TV licence and receive a partial refund.
The culture secretary has recently announced plans to extend the licence fee to some streaming on other channels. It seems that any which way, the BBC is determined to take your money.
Recently, the number of TV licences fell by 500,000 in just one year. The argument to keep it is always that it does not want to show ads. But BBC News and other channels are always ‘taking breaks’ to show trailers of other programs or to publicise themselves, so it’s not much different.
Listen to a good indie radio show instead!
Althouhg 94% of people in the UK watch TV, only 80% have a licence, as many are often angry at paying so much money for poor quality TV. Alternatives like LBC’s James O’Brien show are far more popular (only a few ads, and his 3-hour talk show that holds MPs and climate change deniers to account) is way better than any radio phone-in on BBC channels.
Recently a man who makes roller blinds phoned in during the heatwave, letting listeners know that Shade It has all the information you need to reduce heat in buildings. A fountain of knowledge, James was so impressed he said ‘We’re not the BBC, let us know your company!’ The BBC would not allow this, yet this man is saving people’s lives, by showing people how to make their homes cooler.
And instead of being ‘impartial’ and pandering to climate-denying MPs, he goes full throttle in exposing those who seek to deny climate change, and talks daily of its consequences. It’s a brilliant listen.
Recently when some other radio presenters were complaining about schools shutting down due to the heat, he said on radio: ‘Some who previously doubted climate science, now criticise children for being too hot’.
Why the BBC TV license law is bonkers
If you have low vision, the BBC won’t give you a free licence. But if you are registered blind, you only get a 50% discount on your TV licence. So it costs around £90. But get this – they offer a discount to bring it down to £30 if the TV is black-and-white!
If someone is blind, they don’t know if the TV is colour or black-and-white. So why on earth are blind people being charged £60 more if they have a colour TV? No wonder people are campaigning to replace this archaic scheme with a subscription service.
What does the general public think?
Options range from a single low fee (with top-ups with ads) to people saying the best way to reduce the licence fee, is to stop paying silly money to top presenters. That is paid for by pensioners sometimes sitting in a bedsit, to watch a bit of telly in the evening.
One reader at the Independent’s website has it spot on:
People have Netflix: why would they want to pay for an afternoon full of antiques programes and people buying houses (‘but we only have a budget of £900K FFS). Followed by an evening of unwatchable rubbish?’
It takes a bit of effort. But if you want to, you can get a scart lead and plug it into the back of your TV, then find far better programs on YouTube to watch, at no cost. You just then have to turn your laptop round the other way to avoid a duplicate screen (or you’ll feel like you’re in a TV shop!)
