Brits refuse to pull plug on B&W TVs!

[OvenMaster]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...and-white.html

[Keefla]

they have to pay a fee to own a tv? or am i reading that wrong?

[Phil Nelson]

Originally Posted by Keefla

they have to pay a fee to own a tv?

The license fees fund the BBC, and a b/w license is almost £100 cheaper than color. I believe the license entitles you to receive television broadcasts. No fee is owed for merely owning an inoperative TV or using a TV only to watch recorded content.

Phil Nelson

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by Phil Nelson

The license fees fund the BBC

And it's the government that collects this fee, and then funds the broadcaster? Sounds like that broadcaster better not say nothin' bad about the government or else the government cuts off the funding. We in the USA would never tolerate that situation. We have laws that specifically forbid the government from broadcasting domestically (Voice of America is for foreign listeners, but we still can hear it spilling inside the USA, but almost nobody in the USA ever listens to shortwave anyway). We take our first amendment seriously.
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I'm pretty sure this doesn't violate the "no politics" rule, as everyone agrees that the first amendment is a good thing, conservatives, liberals, democrats, republicans.

[andy]

...

[marty59]

I recall something along the lines that an area/house can be surveyed by an equipped vehicle that detects the local oscillator running inside your set. I imagine there's fines involved for operating illegally.

[Sam Cogley]

Originally Posted by wa2ise

And it's the government that collects this fee, and then funds the broadcaster? Sounds like that broadcaster better not say nothin' bad about the government or else the government cuts off the funding. We in the USA would never tolerate that situation. We have laws that specifically forbid the government from broadcasting domestically (Voice of America is for foreign listeners, but we still can hear it spilling inside the USA, but almost nobody in the USA ever listens to shortwave anyway). We take our first amendment seriously.

From what I've seen (and heard), the BBC is one of the most honest, straighforward and no-BS broadcasters on Earth.

[batterymaker]

The host of "Connections", James Burke, had a great line concerning the license.

"We didn't see anything wrong with taxation without representation. The BBC wouldn't exist without it!"

[Tom Albrecht]

Originally Posted by wa2ise

And it's the government that collects this fee, and then funds the broadcaster? Sounds like that broadcaster better not say nothin' bad about the government or else the government cuts off the funding. We in the USA would never tolerate that situation. We have laws that specifically forbid the government from broadcasting domestically (Voice of America is for foreign listeners, but we still can hear it spilling inside the USA, but almost nobody in the USA ever listens to shortwave anyway). We take our first amendment seriously.

As a few others have pointed out, the BBC is recognized worldwide as one of the most impartial news organizations around.

When I lived in Switzerland, I paid the TV license fee to an outfit called Billag. Seemed to be a private agency contracted to handle the collection of licensing fees. You can read a little about how it works here at the bottom of this page: http://switzerland.angloinfo.com/cou...zerland/tv.asp

These fees are nothing new, and go back to the earliest days of radio broadcasting in Europe. Although some folks here find this a peculiar system, Europeans strongly prefer it, often making fun of how our TV shows are continually interrupted by commercials. They will even go so far as to say the American football is a game entirely built around the concept of continual interruption of the TV coverage. All the natural breaks in it work well for U.S.-style commercial TV.

I've got a number of old radios from Europe that have the PTT (post office - telephone - telegraph) license stickers on the back of them. In those days, you'd pay your fee and get a little stamp or sticker to put on the back of the radio itself. These days, with a fee per household instead of per unit, that system is no longer used.

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by wa2ise

And it's the government that collects this fee, and then funds the broadcaster? Sounds like that broadcaster better not say nothin' bad about the government or else the government cuts off the funding. We in the USA would never tolerate that situation. We have laws that specifically forbid the government from broadcasting domestically (Voice of America is for foreign listeners, but we still can hear it spilling inside the USA, but almost nobody in the USA ever listens to shortwave anyway). We take our first amendment seriously.
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I'm pretty sure this doesn't violate the "no politics" rule, as everyone agrees that the first amendment is a good thing, conservatives, liberals, democrats, republicans.

I posted this once before when somebody mentioned "rules"...
I must be missing something... A while back, I noticed that many posters on this forum will not use the term "eBay" or will use a disclaimer such as "I am not associated with this auction" when posting a link to an eBay auction... I went looking for a videokarma rule section, to find out what is permitted with respect to eBay links. I could not find any rules. I have always tried to use common sense in posting, and hope that I have not offended anyone, but if there are specific rules posted somewhere, please direct me to their location.
Thanks!
jr

[jeyurkon]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

I posted this once before when somebody mentioned "rules"...
I must be missing something... A while back, I noticed that many posters on this forum will not use the term "eBay" or will use a disclaimer such as "I am not associated with this auction" when posting a link to an eBay auction... I went looking for a videokarma rule section, to find out what is permitted with respect to eBay links. I could not find any rules. I have always tried to use common sense in posting, and hope that I have not offended anyone, but if there are specific rules posted somewhere, please direct me to their location.
Thanks!
jr

I've looked in the past and haven't found any rules either. A few of the forums like the classifieds have a sticky with rules, but they seem to be the exception.

John

[Phil Nelson]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

I have always tried to use common sense in posting

That's the best rule of all !

Here are the Audiokarma rules, for what they're worth: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=301366 .

I don't know whether they officially apply here, but as long as you try to be a good neighbor and keep your sense of humor intact, I doubt you'll run into any trouble, in this forum or others.

Phil

[electroking]

Originally Posted by wa2ise

And it's the government that collects this fee, and then funds the broadcaster? Sounds like that broadcaster better not say nothin' bad about the government or else the government cuts off the funding. We in the USA would never tolerate that situation. We have laws that specifically forbid the government from broadcasting domestically (Voice of America is for foreign listeners, but we still can hear it spilling inside the USA, but almost nobody in the USA ever listens to shortwave anyway). We take our first amendment seriously.
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I'm pretty sure this doesn't violate the "no politics" rule, as everyone agrees that the first amendment is a good thing, conservatives, liberals, democrats, republicans.

As long as the Government has no power to change the fee, or divert
the funds to uses other than BBC funding, I think the BBC can be said
to be independent from the government, and this fact is generally
agreed on. Regards.

[Robert Grant]

Originally Posted by Keefla

they have to pay a fee to own a tv? or am i reading that wrong?

No, that is correct, the UK has had a licence (British English spelling) fee for television since the beginning of television service, and used to have a licence fee just for radio.

It was established to fund the BBC.

It is interesting that only the UK is well known for its licensing program, when, in fact, the vast majority of countries in Europe and Africa have them


@pugs5061: You're showing your age (I, too, remember when a Pound was USD $2.40, which made a penny (then, 1/12th of a shilling) the same as America's "penny".

Today (30 May 2010), £100 less is only $144.71 less then colour.

[electroking]

Originally Posted by Keefla

they have to pay a fee to own a tv? or am i reading that wrong?

Yes, and the fee for a B/W set is cheaper. Nothing wrong with that, you
have to pay a fee for owning a car, right?