The BBC's funding and the whole in our pockets... (TV Licence)

Member Name: topherbenn

Product:	TV Licence
Date:	25/03/09 (92 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The BBC do produce some great shows.

Disadvantages: The price is getting a little rediculous!

TV licensing has been around for years, of which 75% of the fees go towards the UK's biggest independent public broadcaster; the BBC. Fees at April 2008 were £139.50 and £47.00 for colour and black and white TV's respectively. This seems a lot, however, the fees cover households, so no matter how many TV's are in your house, they are all covered under the one fee. Conversely, live in student accommodation with a locked door, and this fee only covers the room you are living in, at £139.50, this is quite a steep price to pay for TV. Fees are set to rise March 31st 2009, so if you can renew yours early, make sure you do!

What does the fee go towards? The fees go towards the BBC's television program schedule, making it possible for them to offer a wide range of interests and shows to the general public. Often the BBC is criticised for wasting good money on poor shows, but looking back at some of the great shows that have been aired in the BBC in recent years, I'd say the BBC were making good use of the fees.

Television license fees are paid annually, and the easiest way to pay for them is online at "www.tvlicensing.co.uk". Here you will find lots of ways to pay, whether you can stump up the cash upfront and pay for the year, or wish to pay monthly, by direct debit. The TV licensing company realise that not everyone can stump up this cash upfront; especially students, which is where the direct debit comes in handy.

By law, if you are watching or recording programs that are being transmitted live you should have a TV license. However, other ways to watch TV such as iPlayer and 4OD can by pass the license fee because they come online minutes/hours after the broadcasting has taken place.

One would assume that a TV license applies to televisions, but this is not necessarily the case. What ever the device may be, watch or record TV live through an product that has viewing capabilities and you will have to pay this fee, that means if you watch live TV on your laptop, you should be paying your fees.

In my opinion TV licensing is and always should be encouraged. I agree that sometimes the BBC get it wrong and their schedules aren't the best, but the majority of the time they get it right. The only downside is the price, just think of all the people in the UK, and how much money must be raised by this fee; is £139.50 too much? I think it is, and believe fees should not be rising. At that price I know when I go off to University I'll stick to iPlayer and 4OD, and use the £139.50 on something more useful!

Summary: The millions of viewers of TV are all paying their fees, just think of the money raised!