Brits refuse to pull plug on B&W TVs!

[David Roper]

That.

[ppppenguin]

The BBC exists in an unusual and subtle relationship with the UK government. It operates under a Royal Charter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Charter at one remove from government. It is funded primarily by the licence fee, payable by every household that uses a TV to watch off-air broadcasts. http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/ In the age of multichannel TV the licence has become increasingly controversial but nobody has yet devised a better method. The B&W licence is an anachronism and I suspect it will be abolished when digital switchover is complete in 2012.

The BBC frequently criticises the government and in turn the government criticicises the BBC about bias. Governments of all political hues usually want to bash the BBC but the British people usually trust the BBC rather more than their government.

BBC World and other non-UK services are funded either by advertising or by a direct grant from the government. The government specifies the extent of services (eg it can say "we want a service in Arabic") but the BBC has editorial independence. I suspect there is sometimes considerable tension between the BBC and government when there is news that the government doesn't like. The BBC won its reputation during WW2 by broadcasting bad news as well as good (this is a gross simplification) and has no wish to lose it, along with its global audience, by becoming a simple mouthpiece for the government.

[jhalphen]

Good day Gentlemen,

Here's the situation in France. We have several licence-funded government TV channels (France 2, France 3, France 4, France 5 + ARTE, the Franco-German common channel). Advertising is only between programs (no cuts) and recently has been totally banned in the evening hours, i.e. after 8PM.

Interestingly, the TV licence collection used to employ 3500 + IRS employees. The government changed the law 5 years ago decreeing that all households would receive the TV tax along with the residency tax which you weither you own or rent the house you live in. If you do not own a TV, you can write and ask for exemption, but checks can be done.
The 3500 IRS employees now made redundant wre re-assigned elsewhere.

The annual fee is 116 Euros and is one of the lowest in Europe, this is why our public channels still have some advertising, as the licence allocation is not enough by itself to ensure full funding. Compare this with UK £220.00/year in England (ppppenguin please correct the figure if i'm wrong).

Best Regards

jhalphen
Paris/France

[Indian Head]

Imagine, I learned about the UK television license fees on "The Young Ones:"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn1Y7nhB16U

More recently, I saw a segment on "Trigger Happy TV" where Dom Joly had some child's toy and used it as a detector to confront people he accused of having unlicensed tv sets. Funny stuff, IMO. Just wish I could find the Trigger Happy clip.

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by Indian Head

Imagine, I learned about the UK television license fees on "The Young Ones:"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn1Y7nhB16U

More recently, I saw a segment on "Trigger Happy TV" where Dom Joly had some child's toy and used it as a detector to confront people he accused of having unlicensed tv sets. Funny stuff, IMO. Just wish I could find the Trigger Happy clip.

That "Young Ones" episode is the first thing that came to my mind