The government is considering forcing households who only watch streaming services to pay the BBC licence fee.
Yes, the government is going to allow an organisation to charge you for services you aren't using and don't want.
The idea of expanding the licence to cover viewers of services such as Netflix and Disney+, is among the list of options being talked about by ministers, Bloomberg reported. One critic branded the suggestion of extending the licence to include streamers as 'one of the most bonkers ideas ever concocted'.
Well, that's one way of describing it, I suppose, leaving out the phrase 'the cheeky bastards'...
The Government is looking at how to replace or change the current licence fee funding model when the current BBC charter ends in December 2027.
Among the alternative options being considered by ministers are letting the BBC use advertising, hitting streaming services with a particular tax or making those who tune in to BBC radio to pay a charge.
Why not 'letting the BBC set up their own subscription model' as Longrider suggests?
Ministers will also consider calls for a system which sees wealthier households pay more than poorer ones.
Oh, of course. I forgot for a moment what drives this wretched government. Envy.
But my local council charges me for libraries, pools, leisure centres plus many other services which I have neither the intention nor inclination to use. Is that so different from charging streaming users to use a TV set?
ReplyDeleteMaybe not, but then, thouse are community resources, which is not something I'd ever say about the BBC...
DeleteThe licence fee, which only goes to the BBC, is for receiving a television signal, irrespective which tv channel is sending that signal. The numpties in government, especially the current ones, allow this as the BBC is the media mouthpiece for the Labour Party. I imagine the next step is the licence fee included in general taxation, even if you're deaf, blind, or don't have a tv. After all, Keith from HR and Rachel from Accounts have to fill that black hole somehow.
ReplyDeletePenseivat
That black hole that we now know never existed?
DeleteThe fairest option would be to fund terrestrial radio and TV transmission infrastructure from the public purse and then charge companies including the BBC for use of the terrestrial network. A bit like Railtrack for the airwaves. The companies can then recoup those fees from subscription or advertising. Their choice. But widening the net of TV licencing to streaming on top of subscription fees would set the streaming industry in the UK back decades as companies would not have the revenue to invest in programming as customers remove themselves.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure Railtrack's been the unqualified success we'd want to emulate...
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