Is the TV Licence fee worth it? Poll results/discussion

A question about : Is the TV Licence fee worth it? Poll results/discussion

Poll Started 01 April 2008:

Is the TV licence fee worth it? It costs Ј135.50 a year for any home with a colour TV, and pays for the BBC - that's TV, radio, regional programmes and BBC online. We’ve run the same poll twice before, have views changed?

Is it worth it? Which of these is nearest to your view?

A. Yes. Due to its quality output - 5% (698 votes)
B. Yes. Mainly due to BBC radio - 2% (289 votes)
C. Yes. As Public service broadcasting is important -4% (509 votes)
D. Yes. It's a good buffer against govt & tabloid power - 1% (180 votes)
E. Yes. Simply so I needn’t watch ads - 3% (376 votes)
F. Yes. All the above/another reason - 9% (1241 votes)
G. No. It's too expensive - 14% (1862 votes)
H. No. I don’t watch/use any BBC output - 2% (267 votes)
I. No. I already pay for Sky,why pay twice? - 16% (2081 votes)
K. No. It should simply have ads - 13% (1712 votes)
L. No. It's another tax - 16% (2074 votes)
M. No. All the above/another reason - 14% (1813 votes)

Total votes: 13102

This vote has now closed, but you can still click 'post reply' to discuss below.

Best answers:

• If you ditched your TV and only used BBC iplayer and 4OD would you still need to pay the licence fee? If not, I am tempted as I hardly watch any TV, what I do i mainly catch up with on iplayer or 4OD and apart from that I mostly watch an occassional dvd. 90% of TV is carp.
• I think it should simply have adverts and drop the licence fee all together as there are enough financial strains on people today, to some the tv is the only form of entertainment they get,much more expensive they would have to lose the tv.
  Perhaps we shold have the option of just receiving itv, channel 4 and channel 5 and see how many would regret no longer payin for BBC1 and 2!
• To be quite frank I haven't had a TV for getting on two years now and am much better off because of it and not just financially.
  I'm not constantly bombarded with rubbish and mind numbing rubbish at that and I have £135 to spend one doing something much more entertaining.
  I think the BBC should scramble all their channels and if people really want it they should pay that way so the less well off and people who don't watch BBC don't have the burden of yet another £135 of their hard earned cash disappear on a non-essential!
  To be honest, alot of people would be better off if they didn't have a TV at all!
• Apart from House on Channel 5, non BBC channels have little to offer except cheap entertainment. The days of quality drama and good investigative journalism of ITV are a distant memory. The only purpose of the commercial channels and Sky are to keep the great unwashed of the streets. Give them cheap booze and mindnumbing TV and they are controlled. The Romans used the Games for the same reason.
  The BBC is still the best TV broadcaster in the world. Just go to the US or Austrailia and see what dross is churned out ther.
• The TV icence is outdated - with SKY, Freeview and Cable most people are paying twice to watch TV. How many people would really miss BBC channels and Radio if you had the choice to have them taken away and not pay the licence fee - me personally, well other than eastenders i dont think i watch any BBC channels and i never listen to BBC radio so i would choose to have them removed and save myself Ј135 per year
• stripypixiesocks,
  My wife and I enjoy reading a good book and have discussed selling our telly and doing something more productive. You are right, the news has become very aggressive and insulting as reporters dig up more and more dirt on people who are at the mercy of their attacks. I personally think it does more to cause fear in society than actually 'reporting the news'.
  For example, I don't think the recent trouble at Heathrow T5 was worth all the news coverage that it received. My heart goes out to those folks who were inconvenienced with their luggage, but the story sits and runs in a loop as though a major catastrophe has happened, and it's irritating.
  I can give you a list of things that need to be scrapped in this country!
• we are planning to ditch the tv in four years when we move to orkney, as mostly its non educating rubbish. we have a collection of dvds and yes we know if we have internet we have to pay the fee,
  but i hope that eventually it is seen for what it really is a tax on us by the state sponsored media...
  1984
  we pay to be told what to think
  lol
• A TV Licence costs Ј139.50 for colour and Ј47.00 for black and white. (www.tvlicensing.co.uk)
  A total rip-off.
  I purchased on 31/03 to miss increase (first license, moving into new flat this week) yet TVL craftily set up DD over 4 months instead of 5 to pay for this years (they say on the site if it is your 1st and you pay monthly DD current year is paid for months 1-5, and next years start to be paid for in month 6)
• M. I mainly use my TV set to watch DVD so resent paying so much for programmes I hardly ever watch!
• The total licence paid to the BBC is I have read about half what Sky tv rise from subs. and advert, so at about Ј2.60p a week is good value.
  poor man south wales
• It is better value because the of the quality programmes which not interrupted by adverts, you can then concentrate more on the storylines. HOWEVER who can ever forgive the BBC for showing Eastenders? The biggest load of tripe ever!:confused:
• IMHO the BBC is more than just TV/ radio and we probably benefit more from it being there than we would if it wasn't.
  The TV licence is a tax and unfortunately none of us have the option to dip out of the taxes that we don't think we benefit from. Just because you have private medical insurance doesn't mean you can opt out of paying the proportion your taxes that go towards the NHS, if you drive less than the average mileage you don't get a rebate on your car tax, your poll tax pays for loads of council services that you will never use.
  A global tax (like the TV licence) funds services that overall make this a better country to live in than it might be if they didn't exist. In that way the BBC provides a global service that you can choose not to watch if you want (that is your right as a taxpayer) but that the majority of people use and enjoy. Not using a public service is not an excuse for refusing to contribute to the provision of that service to others. Society is founded on exactly that sort of shared contribution model.
  I pay more for Sky per year and they also have commercials but that is my conscious choice. If I could only choose one or the other I would choose the BBC every time.
• I agree with Bogart. It is a tax on everyone who has a television because we have a publicly funded television network. If you don't want to pay it, don't have a television. If you use your television purely for watching DVDs/playing games on and watch i-player re-runs on your computer plus listen to the radio then it's free. Check the licence fund pages. It's precisedly what is says it is - a licence fee. If you have a car, you have to get a licence, if you have a televison, you have to get a licence! Simple.
  I can't quite agree with the "safer than private television because it's independent from the government of the day" as the media seem to hunt with the hounds mostly, only the "daring" ones run with the fox! It shouldn't be like that , but it is, so, bearing that in mind, I still think that the BBC is exceptionally good value for money.
  I'm happy to pay the licence, it isn't just all about adverts or not. There's a lot more to the BBC than is immediately obvious.
• The TV License Fee is a total rip off, it should be scrapped and adverts should be on BBC.
• Once i can download the contents of iplayer and play it on my ipod (i could for 2 days when someone had cracked it.. but it's been fixed).. i'll be very happy paying for it.
  I mean, i'd pay 5 to 10 quid a month just to download the contents.. give me the service BBC!!
  Watching iplayer on my Wii would be nice too
• Personally, i pretty much only watch bbc channels now anyway, with occasionally channel 5 for films and House, but with new shows coming through like Torchwood, Ashes to Ashes, 10 Days to War, and Dr Who (not exactly new but you get the idea), the licence fee is now even better value for money in my opinion. Although i don't see the point in paying the likes of Jonathon Ross millions of pounds a year for his show, which i think is OK, but it's not worth the amount they have paid him. I also have to point out that one of the reasons you pay for the NHS even if you have Private Insurance is that even if you don't see yourself needing it, if you are in an accident, would you call a BUPA Ambulance or an NHS one? Which would then take you to a Public Accident & Emergency Dept who would treat you free of charge. And if, God forbid, it was extremely serious, and you needed to go into surgery, do you think a Private Doctor would get out of bed at 3 in the morning in time to save your life? No, but the NHS Doc would be ready and waiting. There is a reason why our Health Service is the most envied in most of the world- it is free. Yes, you might be able to pay Ј90 to have an immediate Operation instead of waiting a month, but I for one am glad to know the NHS is there if i need it. Sorry for the rant guys, i just wanted to point out a few things.