Why does the UK still stand for a TV liecence fee?

I did not read all the (probably) ignorant and incorrect rant above.

Suffice to say that the UK is NOT the only country that requires a TV license.

Most european countries require a tv license

as do Israel, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, S. Africa and others.

You appear to be confusing two different points.

- the legality of the TV licence.

- the reasons why it exists.

Re. legality the TV licence exists under the Broadcasting Act and has a clear legal foundation. Using hyperbole like "biggest criminal is the BBC" simply suggests that everything else you write may be equally silly.

Concerning it as policy, if TV was to suddenly appear today a different system might well be adopted. The TV licence, as you write, goes back to the 1940's when both TV technology and British culture were quite different.

In the 1940's betting shops, casinos, and lotteries were all illegal in Britain, plays had to be licenced before they could be performed, topless 'page 3' type pictures were illegal, the sex scenes in many modern paperback novels would have lead to prosecution for obsenity, and outside London most pubs were required to close by 10:30p.m. All these were widely supported by the public at the time. In that cultural context, there was a widespread view that advertising on TV was vulgar and might lead to crass commercialism undermining British and Christian values.

It was decided that there would be no commercial (advertising-funded) TV in Britain, and instead there would be the BBC, funded by a tax on TV sets (the TV licence). That remained the case until 1955 when commercial TV was introduced. However it was not universally welcomed: many viewers, particularly parents were suspicious of advertising and remained mainly BBC viewers for years.

At the time, BBC programme schedules were published in advance in the Radio Times magazine only, and ITV schedules were published only in the TV Times magazine. Under copyright rules at the time, no-one else could publish them in advance, although newspapers could print that day's TV schedules for all channels, as that then counted as current news (which was not copyright). So most people either bought the Radio Times and mainly watched BBC or the TV Times and mainly watched ITV. It was only in the late 1980's that the modern range of TV listings magazines, listing both BBC and ITV, appeared.

Perhaps the TV licence is no longer the best option, but as it has been around so long getting rid of it brings up the dispute over what to do instead. It seems to me that there is no consensus on a replacement system (e.g. some people want a US style mainly commercial system, others inc. some vocal parents groups worried about adverts affecting kids, want to safeguard the concept of an advert-free BBC as the 'flagship' channel). The current system will stay (for no better reason than that it is the current one) until there is a firm agreement over what to do instead.

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If you look up TV licensing you will see that most countries in Europe have them , its not just the UK, The BBC were discussing the possibility of issuing encryption cards and boxes so if you don't pay the licence fee you don't get any BBC TV or radio stations which seems fair to me..they would also be blocked to Sky & cable customers unless they pay extra..

Eastenders alone drains tens of millions of pounds a year from the license fee. Surely that alone is reason to ditch the BBC? Any dramas they produce can make their costs out of DVD sales and syndication. Only a small percentage of what they produce is actually worth watching. Far too much of it is utter tripe.

You live in a country with a representative, democratically elected government. Those members of the elected parliament decided that the people wanted to pay for the BBC TV via a tax on the TVs and put in place laws and taxes to do that.

Since I've not heard of a mass uprising from the people of the UK to do away with this system the MPs probably haven't either. You are free to try and start that uprising yourself.

Goog luck

A well put together question an I totally agree with you. It's time the licence fee was abolished along with the BBC. Everything they report is biased. I stopped watching their News a long time ago. The "top brass" at the BBC are living a life of luxury thanks to the people forced to pay the licence fee.

I agree, especially now that the BBC is basically the government's pet poodle. They no longer do 'real' journalism, they just report the official line, and that is NOT the same thing.

Look at the Irag war. The BBC backed the government's lies to the hilt with their completely uncritical broadcasting and, when one BBC journalist asked questions, he was persecuted for it.

@ Cephalopod. Oh really come on, "It was the BBC who found out about jimmy saville it anyone else!! ". Really? I don't think so. It was the BBC who helped covered up Saville's disgusting activities for decades, many of which took place on its premises.

I do know about Andrew Gilligan, and David Kelly. My point is that the BBC had previously supported the Iraq war by supporting Blair and Campbell's lies, uncritically, long enough to get the country into an illegal war. When Gilligan turned up what happened, he had massive problems as a result.

Also, what is the BBC doing now? I for one do not see any dissent or strong questioning of the official government line on anything. Do you?

What people are paying for is a BBC License (it is not a TV license this is Orwellian propaganda) The British public are probably the most cowardly people in the world and they are terrified of the government. They have the same fear of government as the people of North Korea perhaps even more so. Britain is not a free country nor a democracy (democracies would ask the public for their views on things like the BBC license) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/...

There is no such thing as a court of law in Britain, they are all corrupt to the core and controlled by the EU. British common law was replaced by EU corpus Juris making the Government (and BBC) above the law.

The BBC is a criminal Orwellian propaganda outlet which is also controlled by the communist European Union. Marxist fake charity Common Purpose has 400 staff inside the BBC censoring out anti-EU news and current affairs.

The BBC have been caught using fake war footage and deceitful reporting in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and Iran and they have been using other propaganda methods to promote war to their gormless viewers. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/...

The BBC has been protecting paedophiles within their own organization and in Westminster for decades. Esther Rantzen knew that Jimmy Saville was a paedophile but kept it a secret for 30-40 years making her an accomplice. She now has the cheek to claim to be protecting children and is head of Childline.

http://www.tpuc.org/blair-covering-up-paedophile-s...

The government taxes you to watch TV programmes, any TV wherever they come from, be it UK, French or Australian programmes - the choice is yours . Similary the government taxes your car, whether you drive ten miles or a thousand miles a week - you pay the same no matter what you watch or how far you drive. This is how the government gets money to pay for other things - they do not necessarily spend it on the BBC or on the repair and construction of roads, it's one method of taxation.