h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

As I understand the word, the BBC Licence Fee could be considered an Excise

On a personal note, I like Advert free TV, Radio and Websites and if the Licence Fee achieves this then long may it continue

I totally agree with HappyDude, here - advert-free TV and Radio is an absolute blessing, increasingly so when compared to most other media which is utterly broken up and riddled with companies trying to sell you something. Old fart? Me? Naaahhhhh.

I agree that it's better without advertising, and also that advertising should be better regulated. However, adverts are a small price to pay, I'll reword that, No Adverts is too high a price to pay, many people simply cannot afford to pay £110 a year, so that Auntie Beeb can keep retain her upper class superior air.

The product is good, but it's not good enough to justify the mandatory tax on every TV owner in the UK.

The way I see it you would pay at least the same amount money out anyway…
How do you think companies would pay for advertising on the beeb
By charging more perhaps

Less than £10 a month for BBCi, 8 TV channels, 6 National Radio Stations and numerous Local Radio Stations - A bargain

I can't really agree with the statement that the price of products that would be advertised on the BBC would increase therefore we would be no better off.

Does that mean that if there were no TV adverts things would be cheaper? Or would they would just spend more to advertise in other places? Is it compulsory to buy products that would be advertised on the BBC, as it is compulsory to buy the BBC?

so where would the cash come from

I still say its excellent value for money at under £10 a month - if thats too much get a Black & White TV.

Ah, so your response if £10 a month is to expensive, get a b/w TV. Fair enough. I notice that you don't suggest that anyone actually gets rid of their TV altogether, that would be a ridiculous notion. That means that the BBC pretty much has every household in Britain under the thumb. You say that you pay £10 a month for your 8 tv channels, do you not have to pay extra for your sattelite/cable subscription? So therefore if you watched only the 8 BBC channels you would be paying more than your £10 a month.

If you buy a digital TV or Radio you do not need a satellite or cable subscription.

And I'm sorry but £2.12 a week is a bargain for access to 24/7 entertainment & education.

As for funding by advertising either the current pot is split among the BBC & commercial TV & Radio resulting in a lowering of production values or more money is found which would mean prices going up to pay for it.

I think one of the great things about advert-free channels is that it not only reduces the amount of annoying adverts you have to watch, but you also get content that doesn't have gaining ratings (and thus advertisers) as its sole aim.

The only thing I have against the license fee is that it's not progressive, and thus everyone pays the same price even though some people are far richer than others.

so your saying it should be a Tax not an Excise

(bad idea in my opinion)

Just to expand the BBC provide a non essential service as such a fixed fee for most users is nice and simple as long as the fee remains relative low if it was to double or triple in real terms then you might have an argument. If it was must have service (and not a Luxury) then income related fee would perhaps be more appropriate.

Yeah I do think it should be a tax, you're paying for public service broadcasting after all. One good argument against it being a tax though is that the license fee seperates it from governmental control a bit more (though in reality the two are quite close anyway).

But yeah it should be income-adjusted.

I'd go as far as saying that *all* broadcasting should be publicly funded (as should artists and musicians) - it can still be independant, just wouldn't have to rely on commercials.

but If wot we got works and offers value for money why rock the boat

Just to take it back a little to your previous point.

Have the BBC and the Government continued to support the Licence fee, to keep prices of goods down in the shops? That's wonderful of them, taking £110 a year out of every household in the realm to keep inflation in line.

BBC television programming is almost indistiguishable to that of commercial TV. Also, the Beeb is not entirely non-commercial, they sell and advertise a wide array of magazines and paraphanailia, as well as premium line phone numbers.

the Radio time hardley a wide array & I know nothing of premium lines - if you pone Radio 2 its a free call

I still say under 50 pence a day is good value

and the publicity the bbc gives the radio timed dose not interrupt programmes the way adverts do

A quick search through the BBC website, finds 24 magazine titles, many spin offs from TV shows and therfore "advertised" after the show.

also www.BBCshop.com boasts over 4,000 BBC products available to purchase online, not too bad for a non-commercial TV station

BBCshop along wiv beeb.com is a commercial enterprise not funded by the licence fee but whose profits help keep the licence fee down
and your grasping at straws - these take up a far smaller percentage of airtime than adverts do on commercial stations.

I don't believe I am clutching at straws, although to be honest straw clutchers rarely do.

The point I am endevouring to make is, commercial or non-commercial, you cannot be a wee bit commercial.

The bottom line is that they are a commercial enterprise, why do they save us all the bother and just admit it and let us keep the money they have been extorting from us. That's what it is, even if you do not have BBC tuned to your telly and don't listen to their Radio stations, you still get charged.

Single mothers and the unemployed get paid the same as anyone else, wrong.

And as someone pointed out earlier that the programmes they make are not for ratings as they don't have advertisers to report to, why then does Eastenders seem to get another night added to the schedule every few months?

So you are telling me that the BBC has a licence fee keeps prices down in the shops. Due to keeping buisness' advertising budgets down.

And the BBC shop keep the price of the licence fee down. Due to the incresed revenue, from products as diverse as Umberellas, duvet covers and the RAC guide to B&B's.

Taking that then to the next level, why then does Auntie Beeb not kill 2 birds with one stone and sell everything cut price, not charge itself for advertising and they will keep the price down.

Therefore, they advertise beans, don't charge for their advertising, thus keeping shop prices down and also increse their profits to the level that they no longer require a licence fee.