TV licence fee to rise by FIFTEEN pounds?

Bella51

Look how much Hue Edwards was getting paid.

Yes, for really doing very little.

There definitely were TV dectector vans . My first husband was involved in working with this as a new technology and took one home with him to check if it worked , simply to be able to say what his mother was watching in what room etc. at that time they lived in Mill Hill and the post office was overwhelmed by people coming in to buy licences !!!

Urmstongran

I’m in two minds over this. On one hand it seems not much per month and it hasn’t gone up in a while. On the other hand I just wish the BBC would make cuts in ridiculously high salaries (I’m looking at you Gary Linekar). Anyway Sunak says he’s going to block it so we’ll see what unfolds.

I agree with you about the salaries, not just the sports commentators but other presenters and management
Honestly I think it's about time the licence fee went and the BBC was forced to pay its own way as other channels do. I appreciate that this could mean having advertisements, but then they would have to produce programmes that advertisers felt would draw customers for them.
I rarely watch the BBC, not even the news as other channels are now better. I do listen to the radio but so much of it is repeats, R4 Extra is all repeats (3 times a day and sometimes weekends too).
For the same fee as the BBC I can pay for quite a few streamed channels with programming I enjoy more, or I can get some free such as ITVX if I watch the ads.

Granny23

I think it is time that we had a mass campaign as we did for the Poll Tax. IE "Can Pay, Won't Pay"

Even if you meant "Can't Pay, Won't Pay" - absolutely not! Lefties just don't want to pay for anything and expect to get everything free from the "gummerment"

I think that the government are deliberately trying to make things worse for BBC as they dont like the fact that there is someone who will tell the truth about what they are doing. I have lived abroad for quite a long time and in some cases in rather dangerous areas and I can tell you that people from both sides will hear their own radio or news and say we will wait to hear what the BBC say. The BBC overseas is something that brings goodwill to this country and many many people listen for trusted news and good programmes that are not government ruled altogether. I have lived under two dictators and when I was back in England things like That was the Week that was and of course Have I got News for you and the wonderful Spitting Image were available to watch and whilst not thinking it was always true , you did see the brilliance of the satire and the comments. Oh how I wish spitting image could have been around to comment on Boris et all!! Even the politicians came to enjoy it and those with a sense of humour and less arrogance than the latest group were able to laugh at themselves and be seen as human. I always remember things like Douglas Hird with his icecream hair and Micheal Heseltine like Tarzan. Dennis Healy who just laughed at the way his eyebrows grew and grew, not to mention "We are a Grandmother" Margaret Thatcher especially the wonderful sketch were the waiter asks her what she wants to eat and she asks for steak . The waiter then says "what about vegetables ? " and she waves at her cabinet and says they will have the same!! I love the BBC variety of programmes that I can choose from were I can learn something and ignore the so called celebrity lot that have no interest for me. Long may the BBC provide the opportunity to listen to radio 3 and 4 . At least they try to provide some decent programmes which y ou do not have to have a computer or netflix to be able to be part of. Yes there are lots of things that could be improved, but if the government succeed in stopping the BBC and let the commercial lot take over they will just be doing the same thing as they have done to our NHS syphoning the good bits off to their cronies and if you are not rich you can say good bye to any thing like Wimbledon or the Proms etc They already try to make those without a computer into second class citizens and insist that you have to go online for various things. Well keep them off the BBC

Shez1955

I believe we should have the choice to whether we have BBC and pay or not. Surely the technology is able to provide that now like Sky or Netflix.

You can, as long as you don't use the BBC platform either live or use iplayer - just cancel it!

There's no such things as TV Detector Vans and if they turn up to your door you just say you don't use it until they go away!

I think the licence fee is AMAZING value. In lockdown I must have watched hundreds of hours of high quality tv series on iPlayer which helped keep me sane. I now have a grandchild and Cbeebies alone makes it worth paying. Not to mention all the amazing Radio, including the World Service which keeps me company on sleepless nights...

Germanshepherdsmum

Those of us who do watch BBC don’t want adverts Louella!

Precisely. Ifeg you subscribe to ITVX you have to pay if you want to watch it advert free. Same with some podcasts that I listen to.

Those of us who do watch BBC don’t want adverts Louella!

I'd prefer the BBC to change how it's funded. We hardly watch anything on the BBC as we have numerous channels to choose from.

It also galls me that I'm helping to pay Gary Lineker's wage. Can't stand that man.

Thank goodness for Our BBC. It's still the cheapest around. I used to pay a lot more for Sky and it most certainly was not good value for money to me. I am elderly and live alone and find plenty to watch that interests me. While I am not interested in antique selling and buying I find plenty things
on the TV that I watch during my waking hours.

I'm really grateful for the TV nowadays even though I admit I grumble sometimes about the programmes. I don't think £15 is a lot for the company it provides especially on dark winter evenings.

Sorry - that was @OP, I totally agree with M0nica and others who think we get excellent value for money in so many respects.

But it isn’t is it?

Absolutely agree seadragon , it is worth paying the licence fee for R4 alone, which is really all it does pay for in this household.

I think this is worth reading for those interested in the full context:
www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/reports/consultation/age-related-tv-licence-policy#:~:text=Currently%20all%20households%20with%20people,and%20to%20pay%20for%20it. You may have to copy and paste the link to make it work.... For me, as for some others, Radio 4 alone is worth the licence fee and we prefer to watch programmes without commercials interrupting every 10 minutes.... After our careers in public service, we are living on an income that is just over the personal income/tax threshold of £12,570 and are happy to pay the BBC for our entertainment. Many of the repeats, necessitated by the tightening BBC budget, have brought back happy memories of our younger days watching together as a family.....

It’s incredible value for money!
Where else can you get world class entertainment 24/7/365 for 2p an hour?

Public broadcasting in Australia is funded directly by the government.

A form of financing for the BBC that would be total anathema in the UK.

Would you rather see more amateur presenters and dramas?

Commercial channels pay more than the BBC already, and if you cut the BBC salaries further people would defect. It's only a few people who get paid very high salaries - the majority of staff are on surprisingly low ones, and most of them are insecure, too.

Brahumbug

@BlueBelle
Why did they take the free licence away from 75 year old what was wrong with that ?

They didn't, the government took it away.

The Licence settlement agreed , 2015, was that the BBC would take over the funding of the over 75s free Licence. So thecBBC reneged on their agreement, yet continue to pay over rated presenters huge salaries.

I get the impression some people think the BBC is a charity.
I think you're right, and that there are people who seriously think that others should work free so that they don't have to pay for things. I have a friend who is outraged at having to pay for downloads, whether they are knitting patterns, apps, music, e-books, anything really. I have pointed out that if people don't pay then the developers/authors/designers are working for nothing, but I don't think she grasps that. Paying for the BBC is an extension of that mindset, I think.

I get the impression some people think the BBC is a charity.

I pretty much only watch BBC and i-player. It's definitely no worse than any other channel for offerings and no annoying ads every 10 minutes. Even during tennis/cricket/football/rugby season I can usually find something to watch on i-player. Or I might wander over to freeview for a while.

nanna8

You shouldn’t be paying a tax for TV. We have never had that and hopefully never will. It was an old idea from the start of TV - time they moved on and people refused to pay. You can still keep the BBC, just as we have ABC, ad free over here. They are playing you all for fools.

Australians used to have to buy a TV licence, they were abolished by the Whitlam Government in 1974.

I haven’t got time to listen to or watch all of the BBC programmes that I want to see or hear. I listen to BBC Sounds all the time, listen to music on BBC6. Villages by the Sea, Wales Home of the Year are current favourites; tonight is quiz night. Just finished watching Boat Story and Time. It’s still good value for money imo.

Radio 4 is worth my licence. We need to support an institution, both television and radio which is not in thrall to advertising. .