Permit or remit? (TV Licence)

Member Name: Andyc

Product:	TV Licence
Date:	10/07/00 (23 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Come on, it's the BBC!

Disadvantages: Under increasing pressure

Yes, yes the old debate of "Is the TV licence worth it?" well my instant answer is yes! Of course it is! £9 a month? I'd pay that just for Eastenders! Throw in flag-ships like Newsnight, Question Time the plethora of shattering documentaries, "MacIntyre Under-cover" and "Predators" to name two and I think it represents pretty good value for money already. However, add the much maligned BBC Sport, which has already had Euro 2000 and Wimbledon and will soon have The Davis Cup AND the Olympics and when the cinema costs around £5 a time, if you go twice a month to your local cinema you're already spending more than on T.V. Even if you saw Ben Hur twice, which do you spend more time in-front of? The silver-screen? or the small one?

I have to say I have no qualms about paying my t.v. licence at all. That said there are several arguements against it, which I can see the merit in. If all the licence fee money goes to the BBC, why should those that don't watch it have to pay? I know people that spend 99% of their time in-front of Sky or cable or the like, why should they pay when cable etc. costs another £9 a month minimum?

Well the answer would be that the BBC maintains high standards in British television and for the past decade or so I'd stick with that. However, over recent years the Beeb has drifted from it's initial idea of "Create, innovate and educate." as it cannot resist the battle for ratings. BBC 2 manfully clings to educational and moral high-ground but BBC 1 continues to 'drift' towards head-on-clashes with ITV and Sky, specifically over the football rights. Having read Media at university, in my opinion ITV and the like need another competitor to keep things fresh, but the potential of Channel 4 is being held back by their government remit to cover ethnic and more diverse programming. Solution? Swap C4 and BBC 1's remits! Ok, so it'll never happen. I think a way to ra
ise more money for the Beeb would be through advertising. And let me qwell those gasps of horror.... not on t.v. but through the BBC's other ventures. Their web-site is apparently one of the most popular on 'the net' surely the odd ad there wouldn't detract too much from their reputation? And would raise much needed revenue.

There's more to look at than just the fault of the Beeb though. There's links to the government. They have a hand in setting the licence fee and it's up to them to cover the cost of subsidising pensioners fee's and those house-bound.

Yes, the BBC is a bit antiquated and it's not the most cost effective media company out there, but it's trying. Greg Dyke has been unweilding with 'the axe' in trimming the BBC middle-management structure. The BBC is still a massive corporation. In White City alone there are 3 enourmous buildings to link with TV Centre. It's a big employer.

Lets face it, we can all moan about the licence fee, but life just wouldn't be the same without the Beeb.

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