tele licence

[grannyclaret]

do you mean when i am 80... or whatever age it is,when you get freebies

[jambutty]

I am amazed that people still insist on equating the TV licence with the BBC.

Even if the TV licence was directly equated to the BBC, which it isn’t, it is still good value because there is more than just BBC1 and 2. There are several digital channels plus dozens of radio stations and of course all the other commercial channels be they cable or satellite. How many trips to the cinema would the cost of the licence fund?

Your licence authorises you to set up an audio and video receiving station in your house much in the same way that you need a licence to operate a CB radio or a Ham radio system or use a car/motor bike/lorry on the public highway. It has nothing to do with the BBC or any other organisation apart from the government.

Although a department of the BBC does the actual collecting of the licence money and monitoring who has and has not got a licence the money actually goes to the government and the government funds the BBC with an amount that is based on the licence fee. But you can bet your sweet life that the government keeps some of the money collected.

If you have a licence read what it states on the back.

To save you the trouble:
What you need a TV licence for

You need a TV licence to install and use any equipment to receive or record television programme services – for example a television set, video recorder, set-top box, PC with a broadcast card or any other TV receiving equipment.

Surely that is plain enough? The BBC doesn’t charge a licence fee – the government does.

Incidentally the BBC does fund itself with the sale of programmes to other TV stations around the world.

[grannyclaret]

its still painful coughing up £126,50 ....,still we all have it to do...

[Madhatter]

They've changed that recently, to include any other aswell as pc's. suppose thats to include mobile phones.
Bit complicated on set ups cos skybox's output analogue on the ariel lead. I wasn't sure what would be the best card to get for my pc, as I wanted to connect the skybox to it. If I had an analogue card the skybox would work but when analogue is turned if, I'd only be able to get the skybox. If I have a digital card, I'd have to connect the sky box another way, which i didn't want to do.I've since seen a dual analogue digital card , but don't know how well they work.

[garinda]

In answer to Jambutty.

How is the BBC funded then, as opposed to independent television companies, if not through the television licence fee?

[Gayle]

Take a look at the BBC website

http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/licencefee/

Which explains how they spend the licence fee

I think it's pretty self explanatory and they themselves claim to receive all of the licence fee and spend it on programming.

[MITZY]

I'm sure I have heard or read somewhere the license is going up to £131 in April.

[Madhatter]

It's cheaper if you dd

[jambutty]

In the same way that the NHS or schools are funded garinda. From the money the government raises in various taxes and licensing fees.

As I said before the licence allows you to legally view TV. It doesn’t matter who the broadcaster is or how you receive the programmes. All those people clammering for no licence fee because they don’t like what is on the BBC channels should find their remote and switch to a channel that does have a programme to their liking. One man’s lousy programme is another person’s great programme.

If there were no licence fee the government would have to get the money to run the BBC by increasing taxes or close the BBC down. If we all didn’t pay the licence fee in one year the BBC would still exist and broadcast.

Whether the BBC gets all the licence fee is debatable in the same way that all of the Road Fund Licence doesn’t go to the maintenance of existing roads and the building of new ones.

[Madhatter]

If the were no bbc the gov would still have a licence system.

[Gayle]

If you look at the BBC site, it clearly states that they get all the licence and that they spend it on programming. If they didn't have a licence they would have to put adverts on like ITV, Channel 4 and Five do. They've been going for quite some time now so it's obviously a successful way of doing it.

I suppose it can be broken down quite simply - what do you want - to pay a licence fee or to watch adverts.

You also have to weigh up the quality of some of the programmes. Whilst I can't say that BBC1 is particulary brilliant as it caters for the masses, the loss of the licence fee would affect the less mainstream programming on BBC2.

[jambutty]

Those stats are for the public to argue over. Every year the BBC bigwigs negotiate with the government what funding they will get to run the BBC.

Sorry Gayle but you’ve got it wrong. It isn’t a case of pay a licence or watch adverts. It’s a case of pay a licence fee and watch anything or don’t pay a licence fee and watch nothing.

[Madhatter]

No it's a case of pay your licence fee and for that the government throws in the bbc programs. If you didn't have the licence clearly the government wouldn't pay for the bbc and you'd loose it. If they didn't have the bbc you'd still pay a licence fee and get less for it. so really in a wierd way, the bbc are bonus channels.

[Gayle]

Originally Posted by jambutty

Those stats are for the public to argue over. Every year the BBC bigwigs negotiate with the government what funding they will get to run the BBC.

Sorry Gayle but you’ve got it wrong. It isn’t a case of pay a licence or watch adverts. It’s a case of pay a licence fee and watch anything or don’t pay a licence fee and watch nothing.

I'm quoting from the BBc's own website and that's what they say

[chav1]

the TV license is purely for the bbc they even ironicly run an advert occasionaly showing how they spend your TV license fee

the only thing the government has involvement with is upholdingthe rule that you have to have a licence

where did you get your information from jambutty because if you are rightthen the BBC are liars