The BBC Funded by Subscription or Advertising?

We don’t watch much BBC other than the news, I think fairly soon they will begin to show sponsored programmes rather than show adverts, together with a freezing of TV licence.

I don't watch it enough to justify paying for it, so I would rather not pay in order for other people to avoid adverts.

I hardly watch BBC now. I used to enjoy the documentaries but everything is drowned out by 'music' these days, so it's not worth it.
I watch the news and weather and that's about it.

I don't think this issue is about how much or what individuals watch.

I don't watch much TV at all but I am still willing to pay the licence fee because I believe that there should be advertisement free channels available to all.

I would hate to see a time when there were no channels that were free from rampant commercialism.

I thought this could be an interesting debate until I read your last paragraph which is just plain silly.

Amanda Holden appears regularly on BBC channels, btw. There is an Off button.

But I don't believe that, and I no longer believe in the values of the BBC, so I am at a loss why I should pay for it.

Nice to know this institution may actually become as mindlessly inane as commercial channels, with sponsors dictating the agenda of what we may be allowed to watch.

And this. Are commercial channels particularly more inane than some BBC offerings?

I begrudge paying for them when I watch very little of their output and the news and current affairs programs are so biased. You have to look at many sources these days to try to find all sides of a story.

The licence fee doesn't pay for the BBC. It's just one among many of the myths governments find convenient to perpetrate.

Licence fee is for the device or devices used to watch live TV.

I agree with the OP, even if they're being a bit hyperbolic. The prospect of no advertisement free TV is appalling.

(Calling it 'sponsorship' doesn't cut it. That's just advertising under another name)

Still watch the BBC, especially for the news and weather.

MaizieD

The licence fee doesn't pay for the BBC. It's just one among many of the myths governments find convenient to perpetrate.

Licence fee is for the device or devices used to watch live TV.

I agree with the OP, even if they're being a bit hyperbolic. The prospect of no advertisement free TV is appalling.

(Calling it 'sponsorship' doesn't cut it. That's just advertising under another name)

According to the link 80% funds the BBC, could be a lie of course.

What does your TV Licence fee pay for? - TV Licensing ™ share.google/VbFViRrDZZn5x4Emy

How will this work for the BBC Radio channels, do you think?
I am a passionate supporter of Radio 4.

Me too Chocolatelovinggran.
I would pay.
I do wish the World service hadn't been so decimated though.

The UK TV licence fee is a mandatory payment for the legal right to watch any live TV, pay TV, or live streaming like Youtube or Netflix, Sky etc, on ANY device, eg, TV, computer, phone, lap top in the UK.

The licence fee covers ALL BBC channels/services- radio, websites, BBC player, podcasts and S4C while currently ensuring services are ad free.

OldFrill provided a link that 80% of BBC services currently funded by licence fee- the rest of its spend is covered by commercial activities- e.g it sells programmes abroad.

Adverts! I shall wind through them anyway.

I watch the BBC for the news although its sensationalism really gets on my nerves at time. But all the other channels are the same.

I hate reality-type/light entertainment stuff like Strictly, Traitors, and anything of that kind.

However, I do love the dramas that the BBC does - the latest one about Nazanin Gazari Ratcliffe being a great example. It would be such a shame to have good dramas interspersed with stupid adverts.

I think the BBC is worth preserving and if the licence fee system is a dead duck then it should be funded by the Arts Council, the government increasing the AC grant accordingly. That should provide sufficient buffering from political interference of which both Tories and Labour have been guilty. Of course if Reform get in that will be the end of the BBC.

I'm perfectly happy paying for a TV licence. The BBC is good value and would hate for it to change.

Cabowich

I watch the BBC for the news although its sensationalism really gets on my nerves at time. But all the other channels are the same.

I hate reality-type/light entertainment stuff like Strictly, Traitors, and anything of that kind.

However, I do love the dramas that the BBC does - the latest one about Nazanin Gazari Ratcliffe being a great example. It would be such a shame to have good dramas interspersed with stupid adverts.

Absolutely agree with everything here.

i got rid of my tv rather than pay a licence, i would have been happy if i could have chose not to have the bbc, i never had sky. netflix or any of the other paid services.

Allira

^Nice to know this institution may actually become as mindlessly inane as commercial channels, with sponsors dictating the agenda of what we may be allowed to watch.^

And this. Are commercial channels particularly more inane than some BBC offerings?

Over the past two nights there has only been 2 programs that I have watched on the BBC. That is BBC 1,2,3,&4
Those programs were Civilisations Rise and Fall and University Challenge.
Hardly value for money.

OldFrill

MaizieD

The licence fee doesn't pay for the BBC. It's just one among many of the myths governments find convenient to perpetrate.

Licence fee is for the device or devices used to watch live TV.

I agree with the OP, even if they're being a bit hyperbolic. The prospect of no advertisement free TV is appalling.

(Calling it 'sponsorship' doesn't cut it. That's just advertising under another name)

According to the link 80% funds the BBC, could be a lie of course.

What does your TV Licence fee pay for? - TV Licensing ™ share.google/VbFViRrDZZn5x4Emy

It's pure fiction, OldFrill. A convenient government myth.

It's a licence for the device that receives live TV.

Like the long ago radio licence.

I watch bbc, and other terrestrial channels. Brilliant programmes I am sure many have watched.
Also listen to r4 daily and listen to the world service if I can’t sleep.
The BBC world service is a beacon that shines all over the world, and a treasure we should value.
I don’t have sky, Netflix or any other paid channels, happy with what I have got.

silverlining48

I watch bbc, and other terrestrial channels. Brilliant programmes I am sure many have watched.
Also listen to r4 daily and listen to the world service if I can’t sleep.
The BBC world service is a beacon that shines all over the world, and a treasure we should value.
I don’t have sky, Netflix or any other paid channels, happy with what I have got.

Absolutely agree, silverlining48, though we do have some paid for channels as well.
I often wonder about the claims of basis about the BBC. It seems as both right and left wing parties claim the corporation is biased against them. To me, this suggests they have the balance about right.