[jambutty]

Here we go again – another fruitless debate about TV Licences based on an inaccuracy.

Way back in the mists of time the government of the day passed an act of parliament to launch a national radio station named 2LO, which later evolved into the British Broadcasting Corporation, known as the BBC or just plain Beeb. At the same time the government decided that anyone owning a wireless so that they could listen to this new fangled ‘wireless’ would need a licence to operate it. The government funded the operating costs of 2LO and recouped the cost from the general public by way of the wireless licence. In the early days the cost of running 2LO far outstripped the receipts from the licence.

That’s the way it is today except that the licence has changed to a TV licence. If you want to watch TV programmes from any source and by any means you need a licence to do so. Much in the same way that you need a licence to operate a HAM radio or a CB radio or to drive a motor vehicle on the public highway – that being the Road Fund Licence. Even the RNLI needs a licence to operate its radio equipment, as do taxis, ambulances, the police and fire service.

The DVLA collects the Road Fund Licence on behalf of the government but the running of the DVLA is funded from government funds. The BBC collects the TV licence fee on behalf of the government but the running of the BBC is funded from government funds. The funding of either is not directly related to the amount of the licence fees collected.

The BBC is awarded an annual fund from the government coffers – better known as our taxes. The BBC supplements the funding by selling many of its excellent programmes world wide and of course buys trash from the US and Oz to show on our screens.

If the BBC suddenly ceased to exist you, me and everyone else in the UK would still need a licence to watch TV unless there is an act of parliament to scrap the licence.

If you want to whinge about the TV licence then target the government not the BBC. If you want to whinge about the way the BBC is run then target the BBC or Ofcom.

What really amuses me is that millions of people will happily subscribe to cable or Sky with an annual/monthly fee to watch programmes that are funded by the adverts shown during them where those same people have bought the products being advertised. You are paying TWICE. Once to the company making the product as a part of their advertising budget and then again to the TV station which charges you to watch programmes and adverts that you have already paid for.

So 31 people out of the 46 that voted were in favour of the licence being scrapped, garinda.

That can hardly be called representative of the country as a whole. In fact it cannot even be said to be representative of this forum members seeing as the total stands at 14,668.