Why must I pay for the B.B.C

Originally posted by ANNED
Do the British have any good TV
Or are they still punishing us for kicking them out. and for our GIs during WW2

OK buddy now it's on!

We eat your fast food, we all put in at least 2 hours a day watching American made programs, we politely overlook your rather opportunistic timing in entering said world war, some of us even buy your cars we let you flaunt all your shiny guns at us when the best we could hope for is a rusty double barrelled shotgun found in the back of some barn somewhere..... We even let you park your flipping nukes and other hardware on our soil making us a target!!!!

And yet you still have to rub our crap television in our face and watch it with out paying the queen (or who ever gets the money).... I hope you choke on your Twinkie

[/slaptalk]

[edit on 11/5/2009 by Now_Then]

reply to post by ANNED


No Way !!!!!!!!!!!

Are you sure it is BBC ?

oh come on, what's the issue really?

it's half the price of sky or virgin and really, what would we all do on a rainy tuesday evening without quality stuff like a three part history of th motorway as part of a whole season on motorways and all the different aspects of motorways, that was just insane.

i really don't see why you'ld complain.

The point is not how many radio and T.V stations they offer me most of them arnt even watched and really i dont know when i last heard someone mention raido 3/4/5 etc?????
The fact is they can offer all of these channels based on an advertisment funded programming schedule there really is no need for us to pay for it and as for the quilty of the programming i really dont seem how it would be worst off there are alot of other shows out there that are funded by advert T.V and there great
but the truth of the matter is even though there are some good shows on there most of what is played is repeats they looked at last years viewing schedule and worked out about 85-95% of the programs were repeats meaning i had already paid for them in years gone by and now i have to pay to watch them again....so how much does it cost to play a repeat???

As for the tax problem....... i really dont want to get started on this as i can already feel my blood boiling but you know your country has a tax problem when there taxing you on HOW MANY WINDOWS YOU HAVE ON YOUR HOUSE... yeah i know its crazy but thats what they want to do and dont say they cant do this as the truth of the matter is this tax law was once inforced in this country many years ago and there about to do it again!!!

Originally posted by The real world order
HOW MANY WINDOWS YOU HAVE ON YOUR HOUSE

I hadn't heard that... where did you pick up that snippet?

I love the wiki intro to the Window Tax (en.wikipedia.org...):

The tax was introduced under the Act of Making Good the Deficiency of the Clipped Money in 1696 under King William III and was designed to impose tax relative to the prosperity of the taxpayer, but without the controversy that then surrounded the idea of income tax. At that time, many people in Britain opposed income tax, on principle, because they believed that the disclosure of personal income represented an unacceptable government intrusion into private matters, and a potential threat to personal liberty. In fact the first British income tax was not introduced until the late 18th century and the issue remained intensely controversial well into the 19th century.

Just the 19th century? Hmmm, methinks the controversy is still raging!

...the tax was unpopular, because it was seen by some as a tax on "light and air"

They can go and shove it if they think I'm paying a Window Tax!

I think people are complaining because it's a tax that is imposed in a dictatorial manner.

Ever recieved a payment reminder? It's not "Please pay us this amount"... its "PAY THIS NOW OR ELSE WE WILL PROSECUTE YOU UNDER SECTION X OF THE LAW".

The BBC needs a new system which allows opt-in content delivery. Of course they would never do that because the regional stuff like BBC Gaelic would get nuked.

So basically the British Government is saying their TV isn't worth it.

Its the harsh reality of living with the Illuminati.
And we all have to live with them.

No media news is worth it and US cable has UK INTEL shows
like the History Channel of unreal history.

I was told to read real history in books yet going up to 1993
there seems to be one source in Bill Lyne.

reply to post by 44soulslayer


Personally, if I lived in the UK with this tax I'd throw my TV out and get all my news and entertainment off the internet. Thats what I mostly do now anyway.

You don't have to pay.

Surprised no one has mentioned Freeman John Harris.

How do you post links? Sorry.

www.tpuc.org...



[edit on 11-5-2009 by sharps]

Best use of 'Window Tax' in pop culture has to be in Blackadder 3, the election episode when bladder is telling the Prince about the cost of the tuppeny ha'penny piece of land they had to buy to control the only voter.

"I thought you said it was a tuppenny ha'penny place."

"That's the land, there are many more factors to consider such as swamp insurance, window tax...


[edit on 11-5-2009 by sharps]

The license fee also helps stop the BBC from becoming another popularist cesspit of Big Brother/X Factor style reality shows. Without a guaranteed budget they would have to play the same ratings game as everyone else thus we would get the same programming. I wouldn’t want to see Panorama or Horizon replaced by “The F Word” or Big Brother's Little Sister's Fat Arse or whatever it's called now.

It’s also a good way of spreading our language and culture in a nice, lovely, fluffy sort of way without the need to kill people.


It’s not really that unusual, most of the world operate either a licence fee system or off government grants (which of course come out of taxes).

Surprised no one has mentioned Freeman John Harris.

Because it’s bullocks.

reply to post by New Lanark Boy


Everything you listed there is crap. Just because it is a long list does not make it "worth it". The BBC will continue to bloat due to their insane budget and then demand even more money. I can think of a much better way to use £12/month, or "pittance" as you call it.

Originally posted by stooge247
reply to post by The real world order

 

Also how about BBC world service or BBC America? The rest of the world gets to watch/listen to the stuff we've paid for, for free!!!!!! Its a flippin outrage!
A shake-up of the licence fee is long overdue.

World Service is paid for by the Foreign Office, and not from the license fee, as it was and may still be basically our semi-official propaganda arm for the world. BBC America is not free. People have to pay for access to this channel on cable, it's one of the few places BBC actually turns some profit.

My issue with the license is the way they make it so it's just for the TV, and not specifically for BBC, that means that people who want to opt out and just watch ITV and Channel 5 can't (Channel 4 does receive some money too).

I would be much happier to pay if it was stated this way, I think the BBC is pretty good. No adverts, and the most important part, is due to the way they are funded they have a charter which means they must provide more wholesome programming, like documentaries, political, current affairs, and that kind of programming. When you compare something like BBC2 or BBC4 to ITV there is no comparison. Due to ITV's commercial nature, they pander to the lowest common denominator at almost all times. The BBC does this too, particularly on BBC1 and BBC3, but many of the other channels produce very high quality programming. Only Channel 4 has historically been able to provide competition to this, but since the rise of Big Brother, they have gone down the pan quite a lot too, with makeover shows, reality nonsense, and other garbage filling the air for the majority of their time.

Channel 5 barely deserves a mention, unless you like low quality programs about Hitler and soft porn.

[edit on 12/5/2009 by RubberBaron]

reply to post by YourForever


If you think everything on that list is crap you either have ridiculously high standards or are a stuck up snob & don't even own a TV at all.

£12 is a pittance. I wouldn't even chase a tenner down the street if it fell out my wallet. If you can't even afford £12 how on earth can you afford a TV in the first place ?

I thought the BBC was meant to be impartial and objective - it seems theres a hugely disproportionate amount of 'islamic programming' being comissioned at the expense of all other Asian religions:

Sikhs and Hindus accuse BBC of pro-Muslim bias:
www.independent.co.uk...

Hopefully the new boss won't have an agenda:
entertainment.timesonline.co.uk...



[edit on 02/10/08 by karl 12]

Originally posted by LostNemesis
I always kind of laugh when it comes to you guys, and BBC, and all that stuff. As the other poster said, not even pretending to try understanding.

But still, the thing that makes me laugh....

Here, we need a license to drive. We need a license to run a business. We need a license to build properties.... For the most part, we need to prove skill or knowledge, in order to do it... thus the need for license.

And you guys, need a license to watch TV.

Dunno why you need to pay the fee, with the excuse that it goes to BBC for no commercials. It is my guess that it is being funneled somewhere. That is a LOT of cash!

I think the Brits have the last laugh. It's a well known fact that US Television is crap.

Originally posted by RubberBaron

Originally posted by stooge247
reply to post by The real world order

 

Also how about BBC world service or BBC America? The rest of the world gets to watch/listen to the stuff we've paid for, for free!!!!!! Its a flippin outrage!
A shake-up of the licence fee is long overdue.

World Service is paid for by the Foreign Office, and not from the license fee, as it was and may still be basically our semi-official propaganda arm for the world. [edit on 12/5/2009 by RubberBaron]

And where does the Foreign Office get the money from to pay for World Service?

That's right, from OUR TAXES!!!!

Whichever way we turn we are screwed!

Roy.