The BBC to push their TV License even harder
0
Gravity cat
the adequately amused
If you don't know what a TV License is, basically it's a yearly "subscription" to watch TV. In the U.K it primarily funds the BBC, but unlike most subscriptions it has legal backing so you can get fined for recording or enjoying content off the TV without one, with jail as a last resort. This is in contrast to modern subscriptions which simply cut off the service if you don't pay, and no more will be said about it. It used to be a criminal offense to watch TV without a License but this was changed in 2015, with a narrow margin in favour. Which is good, because a criminal offense over a TV is fucking retarded.
However some of the predictions that decriminalising not having a TV License will put the BBC into financial disarray seems to be coming true; I guess the scummy act of benefitting financially from ruining someone's life over paying an obscene amount of money for TV was pretty profitable. The BBC aren't making as much money as they used to and now claims it can't afford the free licenses it currently has, and now wants to relinquish free TV for over 75s, and instead blanket-force everyone to pay for a TV license, unless you're over 75 and can prove you're claiming pension credits so your household will then retain its free license when this rolls out in June 2020.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/jun/10/bbc-confirms-plans-to-make-over-75s-pay-licence-fee
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48583487
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/06/10/bbc-link-free-over-75s-tv-licences-pension-credit/
Naturally there are concerns about it, with the most obvious being the elderly who cannot pay for it and those who are eligible for a pension credit but don't claim, so they'd have to pay as well. The BBC says it's the only way to avoid cutbacks both for channels and hired staff, and they argued that "many over-75s are increasingly wealthy and it could not afford the cost of providing them with a service for free." They've also thought about how they're going to roll this out by informing those with a free license that things will be changing, and have a free helpline to help them out if they have concerns.
Personally, I feel like this is a step in the wrong direction. The BBC have grown too big for their own good and rely on an increasingly redundant system as their primary source of income, and are effectively punishing those who they've extended a free license to to keep them afloat. They're struggling to sustain themselves. I've personally never felt the necessity behind the TV License, and I feel that if any company tried starting up in the current age with the BBC's practises they'd be told to go fuck themselves and would very quickly go out of business. The BBC had the advantage of popping up and enforcing the License before the Age of Information and have had government and legal support throughout the years, but has done very little to adapt and are now aggressively monopolising what they've built up behind the TV License Paywall. BBC iPlayer is a good example of this. I feel that many generations are familiar with and accept the License just because it's always been a thing in their lives, but the BBC has done quite little in terms of earning money to really adapt and it's pretty evident that they're hemorrhaging money. Rather than reform/abolish free licenses, they should've reformed the way they make and manage their finances. Not only that but the stark difference between a TV License and other subscriptions makes alternate methods of entertainment more appealing. Users can dictate what entertainment they view rather than what the company tells them to, and if you don't pay then the service would simply be cut off until you start paying again. No fines, unless you cause them problems and you're in the wrong but that's a given.
What are your thoughts?
Spoiler:
However some of the predictions that decriminalising not having a TV License will put the BBC into financial disarray seems to be coming true; I guess the scummy act of benefitting financially from ruining someone's life over paying an obscene amount of money for TV was pretty profitable. The BBC aren't making as much money as they used to and now claims it can't afford the free licenses it currently has, and now wants to relinquish free TV for over 75s, and instead blanket-force everyone to pay for a TV license, unless you're over 75 and can prove you're claiming pension credits so your household will then retain its free license when this rolls out in June 2020.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/jun/10/bbc-confirms-plans-to-make-over-75s-pay-licence-fee
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48583487
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/06/10/bbc-link-free-over-75s-tv-licences-pension-credit/
Naturally there are concerns about it, with the most obvious being the elderly who cannot pay for it and those who are eligible for a pension credit but don't claim, so they'd have to pay as well. The BBC says it's the only way to avoid cutbacks both for channels and hired staff, and they argued that "many over-75s are increasingly wealthy and it could not afford the cost of providing them with a service for free." They've also thought about how they're going to roll this out by informing those with a free license that things will be changing, and have a free helpline to help them out if they have concerns.
Personally, I feel like this is a step in the wrong direction. The BBC have grown too big for their own good and rely on an increasingly redundant system as their primary source of income, and are effectively punishing those who they've extended a free license to to keep them afloat. They're struggling to sustain themselves. I've personally never felt the necessity behind the TV License, and I feel that if any company tried starting up in the current age with the BBC's practises they'd be told to go fuck themselves and would very quickly go out of business. The BBC had the advantage of popping up and enforcing the License before the Age of Information and have had government and legal support throughout the years, but has done very little to adapt and are now aggressively monopolising what they've built up behind the TV License Paywall. BBC iPlayer is a good example of this. I feel that many generations are familiar with and accept the License just because it's always been a thing in their lives, but the BBC has done quite little in terms of earning money to really adapt and it's pretty evident that they're hemorrhaging money. Rather than reform/abolish free licenses, they should've reformed the way they make and manage their finances. Not only that but the stark difference between a TV License and other subscriptions makes alternate methods of entertainment more appealing. Users can dictate what entertainment they view rather than what the company tells them to, and if you don't pay then the service would simply be cut off until you start paying again. No fines, unless you cause them problems and you're in the wrong but that's a given.
What are your thoughts?
0
animefreak_usa
Child of Samael
200$ a year to watch basically what we call local TV. Wow. My question is how can they tell your watching BBC. Is it on the air aka tuner TV which is power from radio signal or is it like cable feed? Because I feel they can't check if it coming from the sky.
0
Gravity cat
the adequately amused
animefreak_usa wrote...
200$ a year to watch basically what we call local TV. Wow. My question is how can they tell your watching BBC. Is it on the air aka tuner TV which is power from radio signal or is it like cable feed? Because I feel they can't check if it coming from the sky.That I'm not 100% certain about. The TVs we have do require tuning so I assume it's got something to do with that. Either that or you have to be reported by someone.
Edit: According to the website I linked in the spoiler tag in the OP, they have a few ways.
The tone they use on that page is intimidatory in nature, and in my opinion bordering on tyrranical, but they're just a business run by humans. I don't think they're as omniscient about who has a License as this page would make it seem. No doubt they have a database, but the vans sound a bit far fetched.