Abolish it! (TV Licence)

Member Name: jpegington

Product:	TV Licence
Date:	05/05/06 (345 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some good programs on BBC

Disadvantages: Another Tax on every household!

What is the TV Licence?

In the UK, every household that has a TV must pay a TV licence. There are two versions, a black and white TV Licence (for B&W TVs – Does anyone still own one?) and a colour TV Licence. It is interesting to point out that even if you have a PC with a broadcast card, then you still need a TV licence. A colour TV Licence costs £131.50 and a black and white licence costs £44.00 (as of 05.05.2006).

What purpose does the TV Licence serve?

Basically the thought behind the TV licence is that this pays for the BBC programs that I am sure we all watch so regularly. The aim is to allow the BBC to run certain public interest programs that are probably not that profitable.

This is what the BBC say about the purpose:

The BBC is financed by a TV licence paid by households. It does not have to serve the interests of advertisers, or produce a return for shareholders. This means it can concentrate on providing high quality programmes and services for everyone, many of which would not otherwise be supported by subscription or advertising.

Should the TV Licence exist?

I personally think that the TV licence should be abolished. With the amount of various different options of TV to watch, including SKY, Cable, Freeview, etc this licence has no requirement nowadays.

Why?

My view is that nowadays the BBC seems to mainly show repeats of older shows and some certain popular TV shows that I am sure a large majority would still want to watch.

Here is a little calculation for you, in the 2001 Census there were 58,789,194 people in the UK. Lets take an average of 4 people per household = 14,697,298 Households in the UK. Again lets assume that 75% (3 out of 4) of these households have a TV and buy a licence. This would mean that 11,022,973 Households have purchased a TV licence. That mean annually the BBC is getting from UK Households £1449,520,949.50, which in words is one thousand, four hundred and forty nice million Pounds. And this is based on the 2001 Census! I have heard that the BBC get around £4 Billion (4,000 Million Pounds) in cash from the TV licence which is crazy.

Now I know that is a very rough calculation but I think that I have probably taken a lower amount of households then actually buys a TV Licence and shows the large amount of money that is being generated from us. I personally do not think we are getting our money worth from the licence fee and personally do not think we should be paying this licence fee.

What might happen if licence fees are abolished?

Firstly I would expect the BBC to carry advertising as well, which is one benefit the BBC does have over other channels. Secondly I would expect better programs, it is amazing how much better you can get at something when you don’t get paid if you do not do a good job.

I would also expect our current government to probably introduce a TV Tax, which would be compulsory for everyone in the country to pay so that the government gets our money instead. As you can probably tell, I am not happy with the amount of stealth taxes we are having to pay nowadays.

Further Comments:

This is really what I think the TV Licence actually is, it is a Tax on everyone in the UK who owns a TV. You have to pay it, you have no choice and cannot get out of paying it, even if you only watch Sky. Therefore you are paying over £10 a month for the privilege of owning a TV whether you watch it or not and on top of that have to pay for a SKY package that you actually enjoy. It is also a Tax that is completely unfair, it does not matter how much of the BBC you watch, whether you are rich or poor and anything else.

It is also extremely annoying for anyone who does not actually own a TV. I have heard of many households who do not have a TV receiving what really are quite threatening letters telling them they have to buy a TV licence or else face a £1,000 fine. This cannot be pleasant and I certainly would not enjoy it.

In short I think that the TV licence should be abolished and the BBC should have to live off its own earnings from TV programs and advertising.

Summary: Abolish the licence!