If BBC was subscription only...

Until recently, I have always trusted the BBC but they are so 'woke', left-left wing with unbalanced reporting that I have almost boycotted them.

They do not now represent me and I am sick if having some ideals thrust at me day after day.

I understand the world evolves and society changes but I feel the Beeb (a term hitherto used fondly) has gathered pace and is ahead of the pack and even itself. It has discarded people like me and amongst other gripes (mainly foreign political reporting) they aim at a vastly younger audience.

I absolutely would pay a subscription for our great BBC.

I have seen ‘news’ broadcasts from around the world and there is NOTHING to compare with the even-handedness, impartiality, and trustworthiness of the BBC. NOTHING. I have friends abroad who turn to the BBC for the real news. So despite recent wobbles which have now been identified, and despite political attempts to denigrate it and threats to impose more political control over editorial content, of course I will continue to support funding via the license fee. I can’t believe that people prefer to be fed adverts as a means of funding.

And, incidentally, I have one friend who thinks that Laura Kuenssberg is too biased towards the left and another who thinks she is too biased to the right. She must be getting something correct!

I think it would depend on the cost and what is offered....maybe if they divided it up so I didn't have to pay for sport and the current events rubbish

BBC has gone woke and is biased against government -should be neutral would not pay them a penny too many repeats

Surely it is subscription only? You are free to choose to pay for a licence, or not.

I agree with those who are saying the BBC is the envy of many in the world and we would lose something really valuable and unique if it were to disappear, or be reduced in scope by becoming a subscription service like Netflix. It would have to chase ratings in a way it doesn't have to now - so important 'serious' programmes might suffer or disappear, as might the wonderful Radio 3 and even Radio 4. The BBC has made terrible mistakes around the Diana interview and is rightly acknowledging this and taking steps to make sure such a thing cannot happen again - but this awful error should not be the means of sinking the whole BBC. We would be much the poorer as a nation if it loses its status as a public service organisation based on the license fee - and we would lose the priceless value we and others in the world get from the international services. People in far flung places rely on the BBC, as well as those of us who live in the UK. I would certainly subscribe if forced to do so but would far far prefer the BBC to survive and be funded by the licence fee.

I would pay if only to make sure the world beating Natural History programmes were safe. The BBC also works closely with the Open University as well as other educational investment in programming. Their investment in the arts and music like the Proms series is fabulous. Without it we would all be the poorer.

I think the BBC will have to change. In 50 years this current 30 + generation won’t want to pay for a license just to fund the BBC. My adult children never watch it at all preferring Netflix etc. Apart from some good dramas it does go down the ‘easy’ time filler route by repeating things such as Mrs Brown’s Boys and moving afternoon slot programmes to prime time. Time to change I think !

No I would not pay to watch BBC, I do watch Eastenders but could leave it if I had to. I did watch and enjoy Line of Duty but again if you could pay for single events/programmes I would prefer to do that and not pay for a TV licence. re no adverts.. many years ago we lived in Germany for a couple of years and one of their TV channel had ALL the adverts at the beginning of the evenings TV, There was half hour of ads interspersed with comic figures, my children called them 'the little men' once these ads finished there were no more for the whole evening. Maybe BBC could do something like this and dispense with the licence.

Yes, definitely we'd pay for BBC. (Radio 4 alone is worth the license fee, IMO.)

I do watch the news on BBC but very little else, so no I would not pay a subscription, there is an ample variety of material on other channels. If I want to watch a particular film I can pay for it when it suits me.
BBC is going to have to change, it’s poor value.

Artaylar

BBC's Radio 4 alone is worth the licence fee, as is the absence of adverts.

I agree

Although I regret the way the BBC has over the last five years morphed into the Brexit Broadcasting Corporation and the dominance of Tories amongst its political staff has badly dented its reputation for impartiality, I still believe that the BBC is a credit to our country and a great asset.

We do not pay for any subsricption channels and do not intend to but we regard our tv licences fee as giving value for money.

At one time, we Brits had much to be proud of - the BBC, the NHS, free state education, up to and including university, an unarmed police force and a relatively uncorrupt political system.

So many of these have either gone or been badly damaged. I hope we can keep the BBC.

We would. We watch quite a few documentaries on 2 and 4, and the odd drama. I certainly wouldn’t want to be without R4 and the World Service. It was a lifeline for us during many years abroad, and we still use it a lot. Especially me, when I’m sleepless at 3 am.

I agree Esspee. The news is really frustrating in so many ways.

We watch so little on the BBC these days I wouldn’t pay for it.
I used to consider the BBC news as being above reproach but now it is clearly biased and unreliable or an advert for other BBC programmes.

I only seem to watch a tiny percentage of their programmes these days. I honestly don't know if I would pay for it. If it came as part of a TV package I might but cough up eg £10 per month extra ,maybe not. Never thought I'd feel like this.

I think BBC do produce some really good programmes, apart from Eastenders which I can’t stand. I never watch the morning programmes or the main news, only my local version. Think I would give it a go if subscribing came in, which I don’t think will happen, they have too much to lose
This is what I object to, when my 92 year old Aunt has to start paying for her only bit of entertainment
www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34902244

Daisend1, I'm interested to know if you watch any television and if so what.

BBC's Radio 4 alone is worth the licence fee, as is the absence of adverts.

Never watch BBC.They would have to pay me not me pay the BBC to watch what they see as entertainment.

Good question! We were discussing this just the other day.

We were trying to think what we watch on the Beeb.

Wimbledon.

Pointless ... my guilty pleasure

Eurovision ... another guilty pleasure

And that's about it

So no. I don't think I'd pay for it.

Oh that's a good point about The Repair Shop, Ilovecheese. Used to watch that when it was a day programme and used to say they should get it on evening TV. Which of course they did.

The only real benefit of BBC is lack of adverts.

before i get slammed, i don't have a licence because i don't ever watch any tv than needs a licence at my address.
i know you need a licence to watch any bbc tv, ever;
also if you watch other terrestial tv at the time of broadcast.
you can watch non-bbc tv after it has been broadcast, but i don't.

I have lately felt like boycotting the BBC.

I think I would but then I enjoy dramas like Line of Duty.
I also like the idea of a state owned broadcaster, they did such good educational programmes for children during the lockdowns which no commercial broadcaster did.
I am not sure that commercial broadcasters would be willing to take risks with some of the unexpected very very popular programmes that the BBC has done.
I am thinking of someone suggesting a programme where the public brought in broken items that meant a lot to them, and other people mended them. Who would have expected The Repair Shop to be such a hit?

I also listen to radio 4, I don't know of any other radio station that can compete with that.
There is also the BBC World service, which is a bit like marketing our country to the rest of the world and it very trusted.

My ideal solution would be to abolish the licence fee and pay for the BBC out of general taxation, no one would then end up in prison for not paying the licence fee, which I think is awful.