Ulimately getting rid of the BBC license fee...

[carolinech]

why do we pay money for a broadcast media (inc bbc license fee) in this day and age which could surely harness the power of new non-linear technology...

surely internet connected set-top boxes where we could watch the whole bbc (and other tv stations) archive will be technically possible soon...

the online retailer amazon, apple itunes and the hmv chain could run radio stations instead of the old bbc...

with streamed adverts like you already got on youtube and by offering the archive of bbc material to foreign viewers with ads, maybe we couls very soon be in a position where we no longer have to pay out for a license fee..

[prettypleasewithsugarontop]

i cant wait for the day that i can get sky one from someone else other than sky...£30 a month and we watch about 10% of the paid for channels but cant downgrade since they did the new bundles

[Katisha]

THis is the third identical thread you've started now. How many more can we expect?

[specialsubject]

advertising doesn't pay that much.

if you don't want to pay for a TV licence, just watch everything delayed - that is legal. Of course if everyone does that, no BBC.

[nannynick]

We don't want American TV.
We don't want adverts
We don't want product placement

Need I go on?

You can choose not to pay for a tv license and not watch Live TV. You could also not listen to Live Radio though a tv license is not required to listen to radio.
Up to you, though if everyone does it, then what do we get left with - PBS? Do we want that, the fundraising, the several messages of sponsorship prior to a 4 minute long children's cartoon (and yes, if you search YouTube you can find an episode of Adventures of Spot the dog, aired on PBS, along with the sponsorship ads).

HMV - are they still trading? Last I heard they closed 103 stores.

[Bluestocking]

I don't understand what you're getting at, OP. Do you know what the license fee pays for? I'm guessing you probably haven't bothered to find out. If you don't want to pay it, get rid of your telly.

[ohforfoxsake]

Umm, dont want to state the obvious what would there be to watch if there was no money to make programmes?

[nars]

does seem weird that we pay for a tv licence in this day and age

i certainly don't want to pay for CBeebies, call the midwife, antiques roadshow etc. public paid for tv does seem a little communist to me.

i guess i think if you want the bbc you can pay for it through subs and let other viewers watch the other four thousand channels available free

the bbc sell throughout the world, a good product will be able to sustain itself without public funding imo

[Bejeena]

Compared to every other country I have experienced and lived in the quality of programmes you get from the BBC is cracking. Yes ok there might be some rubbish too but there is an awful lot that is very well made.

I don't think the £12 a month or whatever it costs is actually that much when you look at the quality of what you get. In Germany we pay about the same for a pile of rubbish!