BBC licence fee

[I'm With Stupid]

I dont think the argument is exclusive, both the TV licence and the energy "surcharge", allegedly to pay for those who have defaulted on payments can both be wrong. Its like me saying, strange that people are complaining about season ticket prices going up 5% when the TV licence has gone up 6.6% which is above to the current rate of inflation (4%).

Any above inflation increase which is purely lining the pockets of those with money more, without an improvement in the quality of the service provided needs to be challenged.

If you look at the BBC, the quality of the service, by comparison to 10yrs ago, has fallen. There's been a move from high quality to what can only be described as the fast food equivalent of TV, in a move I'm sure to connect with a younger audience, but seeming this has failed with only 1 in 20, 18-30yr olds watching or listening to BBC programming according to a Yougov poll.

For those of us that do watch, in my experience yes there's the odd gem here and there, along with ubiquitous Attenborough nature documentary but its very few and far between. Local radio and Local TV programmes have been killed off slow but sure. Programmes that require any intellectual thought e.g. the likes of Horizon are down to the odd 3 or 4 programmes each year, Panorama has been cut back and seemingly dumbed down. Maybe they should focus on their core audience groups which seem to be the under 10s, with their excellent kids programmes and the older age groups if finances are tight.

The Rest is Entertainment podcast with Richard Osman is really interesting, because he basically talks about the finances of TV a lot. One thing he mentions is that the BBC funding has been cut dramatically and that affects the sort of TV it has to make. In particular, things that are topical have little repeat or resale value. So in the world of panel shows, something like Mock the Week gets cut because it's harder to sell, whereas something like Would I Lie To You can be watched and rewatched at any time. He mentioned that sketch shows have died a death on TV because they're very expensive because of the number of different scenes required. Meanwhile formulaic stuff like property shows and quiz shows are very cheap to churn out quickly.

Also the BBC World Service has been merged with BBC News, meaning they're expected to provide the same service with a vastly reduced budget (although apparently they're going back on this). The BBC World Service along with the British Council are two areas or soft power that the government have cut massively, and made to run like businesses rather than government institutions, which I guess fits in with this insular, inward-looking government.

Like so many things with this government (councils, universities), you're paying more but getting less, because the money the central government used to put in has disappeared, and service providers are having to put their prices up to make up the shortfall while also cutting costs.

 

[Kompany Car]

The Rest is Entertainment podcast with Richard Osman is really interesting, because he basically talks about the finances of TV a lot. One thing he mentions is that the BBC funding has been cut dramatically and that affects the sort of TV it has to make. In particular, things that are topical have little repeat or resale value. So in the world of panel shows, something like Mock the Week gets cut because it's harder to sell, whereas something like Would I Lie To You can be watched and rewatched at any time. He mentioned that sketch shows have died a death on TV because they're very expensive because of the number of different scenes required. Meanwhile formulaic stuff like property shows and quiz shows are very cheap to churn out quickly.

Also the BBC World Service has been merged with BBC News, meaning they're expected to provide the same service with a vastly reduced budget (although apparently they're going back on this). The BBC World Service along with the British Council are two areas or soft power that the government have cut massively, and made to run like businesses rather than government institutions, which I guess fits in with this insular, inward-looking government.

Like so many things with this government (councils, universities), you're paying more but getting less, because the money the central government used to put in has disappeared, and service providers are having to put their prices up to make up the shortfall while also cutting costs.

I agree it’s fallen from 2008 see graph below, but in real terms relative to what we paid in the 90s its roughly the same income particularly if you take into account that the number of TV licenses has increased from 22m to 24.3m between 1997 and 2023 so 10% making the real terms income normalised to same number of licences in 1997 to just over £186 per licence. To my knowledge with the exception of the world service, there wasn’t government funding, the money coming from the tv licence (at a value agreed with the government known as the funding settlement) and commercial enterprises even in the 90s. To quote the director of the BBC “it has never been government funded and has alway been independent”.

The BBC still made high quality programmes in the 90s.

 

[domalino]

The BBC still made high quality programmes in the 90s

They still do.

They’ve just got 47 nominations in the BAFTAs.

Leading programs across every single category up against all the competition for domestic rivals, streamers and the US shows via Sky Atlantic.

BBC studios makes £2.4Bn a year selling BBC shows to tv networks worldwide.

https://www.bbcstudios.com/about-us/about-bbc-studios/#:~:text=In%20the%20last%20five%20years,through%20organic%20and%20inorganic%20growth.

Bafta TV Awards 2024: The list of nominations https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-68614794

 

[bluethrunthru]

anybody who thinks scrap the fee and makes it subscription is mad. Its £13.25 per month. You get BBC TV channels, News, Parliament, Radio ( though they have decimated local radio ) , on line content plus Sounds and iPlayer. Subscription will mean a separate payment for access to each and before long it will be like paying for a large SKY Package plus other streaming.

Oh and BTW the argument about advertising is bollocks too. There is a finite budget for advertisers as ITV are finding out. Add the BBC into the mix and you just spread that jam thinner. And awful lots of advertising has gone on to YT, FB, Insta etc where you can get more reach for less money. Also through BBC Worldwide etc they already generate income - the fee is only 65% of BBC income as it stands

BBC TV licence fee: How much is it and what does it pay for?

The licence fee will rise to £169.50 on 1 April, an increase of 6.6%, after a two-year freeze.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Kompany Car]

They still do.

They’ve just got 47 nominations in the BAFTAs.

Leading programs across every single category up against all the competition for domestic rivals, streamers and the US shows via Sky Atlantic.

BBC studios makes £2.4Bn a year selling BBC shows to tv networks worldwide.

https://www.bbcstudios.com/about-us/about-bbc-studios/#:~:text=In%20the%20last%20five%20years,through%20organic%20and%20inorganic%20growth.

Bafta TV Awards 2024: The list of nominations https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-68614794

Im sorry but being nominated for a BAFTA is a bit like being nominated for an Oscar. Not really a measure of quality. I mean Bill Nighy got a best supporting actor for a bit part in Love Actually and the Masked Singer best entertainment show ?

Its all relative as well to the year of the nominations, if the quality has fallen which in general it has across the industry, in part due to the writer strikes, then the bar is much lower.

Maybe im expecting too much from the 2.27 billion budget the BBC spend on TV shows.

 

[Deleted member 13905]

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

Is that what your stalker looks like?

 

[Deleted member 13905]

Is that what your stalker looks like?

the middle one, yes.

 

[I'm With Stupid]

I agree it’s fallen from 2008 see graph below, but in real terms relative to what we paid in the 90s its roughly the same income particularly if you take into account that the number of TV licenses has increased from 22m to 24.3m between 1997 and 2023 so 10% making the real terms income normalised to same number of licences in 1997 to just over £186 per licence. To my knowledge with the exception of the world service, there wasn’t government funding, the money coming from the tv licence (at a value agreed with the government known as the funding settlement) and commercial enterprises even in the 90s. To quote the director of the BBC “it has never been government funded and has alway been independent”.

The BBC still made high quality programmes in the 90s.

View attachment 113709

They did. The government used to pay the licence fees of over-75s. George Osborne changed this and made the BBC cover the costs instead. That meant they had to fill a £1 billion funding gap.

It was your classic cowardly politician move, knowing that eventually the BBC would have to make over-75s pay, and then they'd get the blame rather than the government. And that's exactly what happened, so now only over-75s on pension credit are eligible.

 

[East Level 2]

They did. The government used to pay the licence fees of over-75s. George Osborne changed this and made the BBC cover the costs instead. That meant they had to fill a £1 billion funding gap.

It was your classic cowardly politician move, knowing that eventually the BBC would have to make over-75s pay, and then they'd get the blame rather than the government. And that's exactly what happened, so now only over-75s on pension credit are eligible.

That can't be correct as it would show the Tories to be a bunch of small-time, penny-pinching cunts.