"BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen"

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

I've gotten my hopes up before but God Damn I hope so. Nasty hateful organisation and I am tired of paying a tax to keep them going.

I'm an American, so I'm not well informed on the BBC's current form outside if DW. What's exactly wrong with them?

Number 1 on my list is how they escaped any culpability for shielding paedophiles and rapists for decades. They SHOULD be spoken of in the same breath as Harvey Weinstein when it comes of MeToo but they aren't.

Number 2 is being forced to pay a tax for a channel that I do not watch but have to in order to own a television. Even if you just own a TV to play your PlayStation on you need to pay the BBC for the privilege lest you go to prison. That is not what a free country in 2022 should be doing and it bothers me to my core that I have to pay it. And BTW, the TV Licence is £159 a year, which converts to $217. I could get Disney Plus, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Paramount Plus, and HBO Max for that and still have change left over.

There are other reasons but these are the two that truly bother me.

The whole TV License thing has always struck me as a bizzare institution since I learned of it. If it helps any, there is no true legal way to enforce it, but that's it's own set of problems.

[Riedquat]

I've gotten my hopes up before but God Damn I hope so. Nasty hateful organisation and I am tired of paying a tax to keep them going.

I'm an American, so I'm not well informed on the BBC's current form outside if DW. What's exactly wrong with them?

Number 1 on my list is how they escaped any culpability for shielding paedophiles and rapists for decades. They SHOULD be spoken of in the same breath as Harvey Weinstein when it comes of MeToo but they aren't.

Number 2 is being forced to pay a tax for a channel that I do not watch but have to in order to own a television. Even if you just own a TV to play your PlayStation on you need to pay the BBC for the privilege lest you go to prison. That is not what a free country in 2022 should be doing and it bothers me to my core that I have to pay it. And BTW, the TV Licence is £159 a year, which converts to $217. I could get Disney Plus, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Paramount Plus, and HBO Max for that and still have change left over.

There are other reasons but these are the two that truly bother me.

The whole TV License thing has always struck me as a bizzare institution since I learned of it. If it helps any, there is no true legal way to enforce it, but that's it's own set of problems.

Not quite as bizarre as paying for some subscription service and still getting bloody adverts.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

So do you just pay the tax after you buy the TV and have to pay it forever? How does this work, how do they know you're watching a transmission?

edit:

Jesus, Klingons have nothing on your honor system

https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ15

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

I've gotten my hopes up before but God Damn I hope so. Nasty hateful organisation and I am tired of paying a tax to keep them going.

I'm an American, so I'm not well informed on the BBC's current form outside if DW. What's exactly wrong with them?

Number 1 on my list is how they escaped any culpability for shielding paedophiles and rapists for decades. They SHOULD be spoken of in the same breath as Harvey Weinstein when it comes of MeToo but they aren't.

Number 2 is being forced to pay a tax for a channel that I do not watch but have to in order to own a television. Even if you just own a TV to play your PlayStation on you need to pay the BBC for the privilege lest you go to prison. That is not what a free country in 2022 should be doing and it bothers me to my core that I have to pay it. And BTW, the TV Licence is £159 a year, which converts to $217. I could get Disney Plus, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Paramount Plus, and HBO Max for that and still have change left over.

There are other reasons but these are the two that truly bother me.

The whole TV License thing has always struck me as a bizzare institution since I learned of it. If it helps any, there is no true legal way to enforce it, but that's it's own set of problems.

My city has a similar downtown public parking fee that we gave to businesses after an earthquake. Last I heard they got rid of the fee and passed it on to downtown parking permit holders, which happen to be issued only to employees of downtown businesses lol.

[Frustration]

I'm an American, so I'm not well informed on the BBC's current form outside if DW. What's exactly wrong with them?

The potential answers obviously vary from person to person. But the BBC is an arm of the government and people are forced to support it regardless of their support for their various opinions, positions, and stances. So unless you agree 100% with everything the BBC says and does, you likely have valid reasons to object to being forced to pay for it.

In theory, you can evade the tax by not having anything capable of accessing BBC content, but that wasn't really feasible even decades ago, and it's virtually impossible now - if you have radio, a television, a laptop, or a smartphone, they'll track you down and make you pay the tax.

Imagine if FOX News or NPR received their funding straight from the government budget, and you knew you had to pay to support them regardless of how much you hated them.

[Frustration]

Not quite as bizarre as paying for some subscription service and still getting bloody adverts.

That's not bizarre. People will put up with it, and the providers will do anything they can get away with.

If most people won't cancel their subscriptions despite ads, why shouldn't there be ads?

[TGLS]

I'm an American, so I'm not well informed on the BBC's current form outside if DW. What's exactly wrong with them?

Imagine if FOX News or NPR received their funding straight from the government budget, and you knew you had to pay to support them regardless of how much you hated them.

What, like Voice of America?

[McAvoy]

I actually do like the BBC documentaries but honestly you guys should treat it like how Americans do with PBS.

Or let it die and let other networks pick up the pieces.

[Frustration]

What, like Voice of America?

At least that propaganda isn't directed at Americans. But I am strongly opposed to it, too.

This isn't the time or place to discuss America's many failings. We're discussing the UK's many failings.

[TGLS]

At least that propaganda isn't directed at Americans. But I am strongly opposed to it, too.

This isn't the time or place to discuss America's many failings. We're discussing the UK's many failings.

Yeah well the problem I have with the BBC and license fee is that it's a stupid way to fund a public broadcaster. Many other countries have partially or fully funded public broadcasters from tax revenue. The United States's lack of a mostly public funded broadcaster is a uniquely American peculiarity.