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I think it's outrageous that we have no choice, we have a tv, therefore we need to pay for a service we may not even use.
We pay over a hundred pounds, yet what they consider to be their best programmes air first on the digital channels, only available at extra cost.
The government has just decided the Beeb will be funded this way for the next ten years, but warned them to improve the quality of their programmes. This is just after they paid 3 million pounds to poach Graham Norton from Channel 4. After spending our money, and not knowing what to do with him, they're getting him to front a spin off of Come Dancing.
There must be loads of talent out there who'd love to work, and bring something new to our screens for a fraction of the cost.
I like Graham Norton by the way, as he let me shoot my ping pong ball on his show!

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P.s. sorry about thread not reading BBC, second time l've done that, & you can't re-edit title.
Less diet coke, more speed!

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Ahh yes but did you read the rest of what the minister had to say? Not only is the licence fee protected for the next ten years but the BBC is encouraged to experiment with internet broadcasting so that the Government can insist on a tax on Personal Computers and hand held devices.

I agree with her about the ridiculous and pointless ratings war with the independent stations. The Beeb also makes a great show of being accountable to the public, but you try and persuade them to change their minds on anything, and all you end up with is a stream of statistics and quotes from "Lifestyle" surveys to prove whatever position they choose to adopt.

I did hope that things would change for the better when Michael Grade took over, but there is precious little evidence of an improvement so far. And I still cant get my head around the idea that it is necessary for them to schedule sporting events on the two main terrestrial channels at the same time. Where is the choice in that?

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It'll be interesting to see what they come up with, in line with the new guidelines.
All the good documentaries they used to do such as 40 minutes, which brought groundbreaking stories to air, they decommissioned. Play for Today, was sometimes brilliant, we're lucky to get one or two good dramas a year, usually adaptations of 'classics.'

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I quite agree. However the Mrs Gaskel thing they did over christmas on BBC 1 was spectacularly well done. The Beeb have always been good at period drama. It is astonishing that they have internationally recognised strengths in certain areas and yet choose to do hardly anything with them.

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l read your comments before how you loved Mrs. Gaskel's 'Our Friends in the North- the early years!'
l'm afraid l disagree.l watched the first one, the costumes were so wrong for the date, l got so grumpy l switched off. Usually, it's spot on with breeches and bodice rippers though.
Where's the next Dennis Potter though? Support new talent, not poach other channels with vast ammounts of our money.

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Why don't you write something? There are plenty of guidlines and examples for new writers on the Beeb's "Get Writing" site. I will happily copy edit for for you.

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l will. l wrote and entered a competition when l was in Scotland, but most of the schemes offer you work placements instead of production.

Sadly l was too late with my idea, for 'Pets Win Prizes!'

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i dont understan how in a demoracy we dont have a choice to have the product or not its a bit like going to asda and been charged for a chicken regardless if you have one in your trolly or not

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That is preposterous! Most people use PCs for a million and one other things. Are they suggesting that something we have used for years is suddenly going to require a licence because something we have no interest in whatsoever is going to become available?

What about PC users overseas tuning in to the BBC sites? How are they going to get their licence fees for that?

This minister wasn't trained by Hyndborg BC was he?

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Apparently they tax PC's in Germany, so presumably that's where the idea comes from.

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As much as l'm not a consevative, l thought we lived in a free market economy- a legacy of Thatcher's. l agree with Chav,[hang out the flags-lol,] we have no choice if we want to pay or not. Put on adverts if they must, and rely on that.
As for a tax on computers, they'll try and sqeeze every last penny out of us. They brought in a window tax in days of old. Brick up your pc's like they did with their windows, when they introduced that!

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No, but it will probably make Gordon Brown feel a lot better at loosing the revenue he used to get when I was a smoker!:D

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I don't see how they would police a tax on computers, unless it was done at point of sale.

We have four computers in our house, one of which is a 486 and is in the loft at the moment, gathering dust (do people still use them?!), another one is for the kids to use, and is not able to connect to the net as the modem cable is knackered.

The other desktop would probably qualify, and I use the laptop for work.

But I have four, does that mean I would have to pay for four, or would it work like a TV licence - one covers everything?

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But chav, we do have a choice.

If you do not want to pay a tv licence, get rid of the tv. Simple, really!

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No wonder blair wants every home to have a pc he must have planned the pc tax years ago and by getting a pc into every home he creates lots of tax revenue

as for policing who has a pc or not the only way they could do that is like vorlon said at the point of sale

simple solution is to build your own custom pcs which besides been beter and cheaper than anything you can purchase at pc world or time etc will make it impossible to know if you own one or not although internet service providers may be told to tell when you sighn up for internet

however they could put extra tax on pc parts but that wouldnt effect me as i can buy my parts cheaper from the usa and get my friends over there to mail them to me :D

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I like Graham Norton by the way, as he let me shoot my ping pong ball on his show![/QUOTE]
pmsl i watched that one . I think he went a bit downhill after going to america

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Didn't think of that one...

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theres ways around that as well but thats a different story for another time ;)

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Graham Norton has lost it a bit, mid-Atlantic.
P.S. Can l have my ball back please?

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i once watched graham norton and he had a woman on fireing ping pong balls out of her vagina

was that you ..?

sorry to ask but you did say he allowed you to fire a ping pong ball :idunno:

it was on his millenium show

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Find my ball, & l'll tell you!
l'm also missing 4 feathers!

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i think he had another act that had feathers up their a**

you could try looking there :)


ok this thread is degrading real fast lol

sorry folks :o

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The TV licence money only goes to the BBC. It shouldn't be a case of having to do without a TV altogether. As in the case of the chicken. We may still wish to shop at Asda but simply not buy chicken and wouldn't be expected to pay for the thing we haven't got. So why can't we have an "opt-out" version of TV where if you don't pay a licence fee you don't get BBC. After all you have to subscribe to Sky in order to get sky channels so if they want the money let them work out a way of doing it.

And when it comes to the PC we could have an annual password (changed each anniversary) which we purchase in order to be able to access the BBC sites, thus leaving all other internet access and PC usage tax-free.

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anyone else remember when tony blair prommised no new taxes ....?

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Apart from moving out of the state, is there no way to avoid this?

Is seems very unfair, I have to say

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if you have a friend in another state get them to purchase it for you then mail it to you

if they dont know whats in the parcel they cant tax it and if you have to put contens on the parcel just say it is a video cassette of family or somthing

of course this would only work for small things like hard drives , graphic cards etc

my friends in usa who send me stuff occasionaly buy my item and i pay them through paypal then they mail my stuff

american companies sometimes have realy good offers icluding a rebate ststem where some of the money you spend is refunded after purchase

wish we had a rebate sytem here lol

newegg.com is realy good

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Not that I am aware of. I agree completely with you about the unfair bit. One would think she could be satisfied with the state income tax (not all states are cursed with that abomination but we are) in addition to the property taxes, sales taxes, vehicle registration fees, driving license fees and everything else the state takes in.

I'm afraid that the first time I was made aware of this notion my reaction was somewhat boisterous. The poor dog wouldn't come out from under the bed for the rest of the afternoon. ;)

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every country has its unfair taxes i suppose

ime just waiting for the day they put a tax on air

i will return mine as faulty due to the ploution in it lol

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Whilst I agree that the Beeb does waste lots of money on what is now being termed as Chav TV, they also produce some very informative and interesting documentaries. I also refer to the BBCi website on most days; I think it is one of the best sites on the internet.
What the BBC needs to do is stop trying to compete with commercial tv in the reality show stakes and all these home makeover programmes. The tv schedules appear to have reached saturation point with all these variations on a theme.

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correct me if i am wrong but arnt the bbc bound by the govenment to produce educational programs for schools like them we used to sit and watch at school where we counted the 60 lines down until the start of the program and thats what entitles them to charge a tv license as the govenment says we all benefit from it so we all got to pay

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If we are going to have to pay for the Beeb, for at least the next 10 years, l agree it should concentrate on what it does well, and not try to compete with commercial tv. The powers that be who commission such dross, should be fired.
More quality, less an eye on the ratings.

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A case in point.. Last night the BBC screened a dramatisation of a court case. Nothing unusual or remarkable in that you might think, until you realise that the court case took place over 2000 years ago in ancient Rome and is one of the most celebrated murder trials in history. Fascinating viewing! And exactly the sort of thing the BBC does well. Would you see this screened on ITV? I doubt it.