Talking Point: How should the BBC be funded?
Created | Updated Sep 10, 2002
The BBC is currently funded through the Licence Fee. This is an annual fee that allows people to own and use a television in the UK. If you have any equipment capable of receiving a television signal and receive any programmes, including satellite, you must have a licence.
Other UK broadcasters resent what they see as the BBC's privileged position. But the BBC Governors argue that not being funded by advertising gives the BBC the ability to make programmes that are in the interest of the public and will appeal to minority audiences. What are your views on the issue of how the BBC should be funded?
Do you resent paying a licence fee?
Or do you prefer not to have adverts breaking up the programmes?
Does the BBC offer value for money?
Does the Licence Fee result in a different standard of programming?
Should it be used, as it currently is, to pay for other services such as web sites and radio?
Or should a television licence fee be used solely to pay for television programmes?
Are there other ways of funding the BBC?