why should we pay TV licence fee then another £40 a month for SKY?

Question

Surely we should be able to opt out of TV licence then get SKY or Cable tv instead? Not interested in watching soaps that play out the same moral stories eaxh year. rather watch sports, music vids, history, discovery channel etc.

I think it is a con. Surely if I detuned the bbc channels they should not be able to charge me for it?

Answer 1

abolish the tv licence. and sky can jump off the deep end. their repeticous rubbish. and we're expected to pay for that crap too.

Answer 2

What i want to renowned is how come human beings fortunately pay £30 a month for sky (£360+ a 365 days) yet they then moan approximately having to pay merely over £a hundred for the traditional channels? all and sundry watches the BBC, you won't comprehend that information on different channels is produced with the aid of the BBC and that they licence out courses to third events so despite in case you do no longer watch BBC a million etc then you definately nevertheless use the BBC. in addition they administration the distribution community so each and every thing you watch comes with the aid of the BBC.

Answer 3

The annual licence fee is covered by statute. It is illegal to use a TV set without one. Whether you detune the BBC channels or not, the licence fee will still have to be paid or you will risk prosecution.

Personally, I think that the BBC is good value for money!

Answer 4

You are wrong in thinking that you can de-tune the BBC channels.
That is not what the television licence is about.
Simply put, the licence is to enable you to legally receive television transmissions. The fact that the money goes to the BBC is incidental. Even if you could buy a television that could not pick up the BBC you would be breaking the law operating it without a television licence.

Answer 5

Personally, I am happy to pay for the only two tv channels which carry no advertising, because I hate the adverts so much. I guess if people were allowed to opt out, the BBC might not survive the drop in revenue. Long may it thrive say I!

Answer 6

Now you can design your own TV package. See this http://my-TV-my-price.notlong.com

Answer 7

This funding of the BBC, enables it to provide domestic public service broadcasting to educate, inform and entertain, free of commercial advertising. Due to the way it is funded, in theory, the BBC is answerable only to the Government, who represent all licence payers.

The Broadcasting Receiving Licence of 10 shillings was introduced in November 1922 to cover existing BBC radio broadcasts, as well as television when the BBC's 405-line service commenced in November 1936 , although it closed down in September 1939 at the start of World War II. The Television Licence was introduced in June 1946 to coincide with the resumption of the BBC service the same month. The Colour Television Licence (actually a "colour supplementary fee" of £5 on top of the existing Monochrome Licence) was introduced in 1968, following the commencement of BBC2 colour transmissions the previous July.

In the United Kingdom, television licence fees are set annually by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (a Cabinet Minister) and governed by the The Communications (Television Licensing) Regulations Statutory Instruments. The BBC is authorised by the Communications Act 2003 to collect the licence fees and pay them into the Government's Consolidated Fund. The BBC is then paid from the Consolidated Fund via the DCMS's funding allocation from the Appropriation Act annually, with an additional amount from the Department of Work and Pensions to fund subsidised licences for those aged over 75s.

When first introduced on 1 June 1946 the licence covering the monochrome-only single-channel BBC television service cost £2, the equivalent of £57 in 2006. On 1 January 1968 a "colour supplement" of £5 was added to the existing £5 monochrome licence fee; the combined colour licence fee was therefore £10, the equivalent of £120 in 2006. The current (2006) cost is £131.50 (about €195 or US$250) for colour TV and £44 for monochrome TV, per household. For details of the historical changes to the cost in the Licence Fees, and the numbers issued, see Television licensing in the United Kingdom‎ (historical).

Collection is enforced by the criminal law but the revenue is collected privately on behalf of the state, before reaching the BBC, and hence the BBC is sometimes referred to as a "state" broadcaster. Collection and enforcement of the licence fee in the UK has been the responsibility of TV Licensing (an autonomous arm of the BBC) since 1990. However, much of this work is contracted to Capita which specialises in outsourcing for government projects.

The licence fee can be paid annually, monthly or quarterly by Direct Debit, or monthly or weekly with the Monthly Cash Plan or Cash Easy Entry cards, which were introduced in the mid-1990s for those with limited means or no bank account. The Monthly Cash Plan works on the same basis as the Cash Easy Entry scheme and has been designed so as not to discriminate against those that don't receive benefits.

A similar licence, mandated by the 1904 Wireless Telegraphy Act, used to exist for radios, but was abolished in 1971. These licences were originally issued by the General Post Office (GPO), which was then the regulator of public communications within the UK. For a more detailed historical explanation see British Broadcasting Company.

In the case of the elderly (over 75, except Jersey), TV licences are funded by the government. Subsidised TV licences are also available for the blind at 50% of the licence. Plus, the residents of residential care homes (care homes, nursing homes, public sector sheltered housing and alms houses) for people who are retired (over 60) and people with physical/mental disabilities or mental illness, can apply for a special licence called the licence for Accommodation for Residential Care (ARC) which is £5.00 per year.


BSkyB has no veto over the presence of channels on their EPG (Electronic Programme Guide), with open access being an enforced part of their operating licence from Ofcom. Any channel which can get carriage on a suitable beam of a satellite at 28 East is entitled to access to Sky's EPG for a fee, ranging from £15-100,000. Third-party channels which opt for encryption receive discounts ranging from reduced price to free EPG entries, free carriage on a Sky leased transponder, or actual payment for being carried. However, even in this case, Sky does not carry any control over the channels content or carriage issues such as picture quality. Recent years have seen the launch of numerous low-budget channels; including foreign and shopping channels, often with very poor technical quality.

Due to either limited regional availability of certain channels, or conditions relating to their must-carry status, Sky operate four regional variations of their EPG for domestic customers. The four different EPGs transmitted are: Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England/Scotland. The Northern Irish EPG has the most listed channels, with the Republic of Ireland having the least, the difference is major as Five and BBC Radio are missing. Much of the missing content for Irish viewers is available through 'Other Channels' but Sky + viewers cannot record from 'Other Channels'. The missing channels is quite a bone of contention for Irish viewers, who are often forced to seek out Grey market UK Sky cards if they want the missing channels. Each viewing card or smartcard provided by Sky is programmed with the customers postcode location so when inserted into the users set-top box it selects which EPG is used as well as determining which regional variation of is allotted to the BBC One, BBC Two and ITV1 channels for users of the England/Scotland EPG. Following a disagreement with the BBC after the launch of Sky Digital all regional variations of BBC One and BBC Two are available to all UK viewers on channels 971-992.