Thursday 13 August 2009

TV licence fee


TV licence fee


I never liked McCririck

The TV licence fee is a pernicious, regressive tax on those who have least. Once upon a time, in the days when I had loads of money, I had two televisions, one of which was portable. Both broke down within six months of each other during The nineties job quest, at which point I decided that this was one of the luxuries that I could do without. In any case, my main interest in having a television was so that I could watch Horse racing, but I can't stand John McCririck so any pleasure that I got from seeing the Horse racing on Channel 4 television was mitigated by having to put up with him. I liked the BBC coverage better, but there wasn't so much of it. These days, I go into a betting shop when I want to see some Horse racing. I'm not wildly keen on the betting shop coverage with all its interruptions, but I'm not paying for it as I very rarely bet these days, so it'll do. Meanwhile on TV, the BBC doesn't cover it, although Channel 4 television has finally dumped McCrick.

Dumbed down

As for the rest of television generally, so much of it is dumbed down to the lowest common denominator these days that it's hardly worth the effort of looking for suitable programmes to watch. Nevertheless, I'd buy a television if I didn't have to pay an annual TV licence fee. Occasionally, there is something that I'd really love to see, such as Benefit busters, which would be particularly relevant to this blog. As it is, I can get the gist of the story from the internet and I'm interested to read what others write about it on their blogs. However, occasional series such as Benefit busters do not justify the cost of the TV licence fee to me, even when added to the sport and other programmes that I might watch. There are better ways to spend my limited resources. By the time I'm eligible for a free licence in 2026, I'll have been without one for close to 30 years so why bother?

Comedy series

During the seventies, I watched a lot of comedy series. I particularly liked Till death us do part, but I also enjoyed Dad's army, Last of the summer wine, Porridge, Open all hours, On the buses, Steptoe and son, The Goodies, Fawlty Towers, The good life, Father dear Father, Yes Minister, The Liver birds and Are you being served?. Later, I watched Not the nine o'clock news and I particularly enjoyed House of cards, but otherwise I lost interest in comedy series.

The natural world

I also watched various cop shows, quiz shows, nature programmes (especially Life on earth) and other stuff. I particularly remember an episode of Horizon in which scientists predicted that we were heading eventually for another ice age. Sadly, I don't remember any of the detail, but I wish I had in view of subsequent events. Perhaps the real lesson is that scientists are always looking for funds to conduct research. Climatologists have to say that things are going to change radically to justify their funding claims. In the seventies, they opted for global cooling. Now they've decided to go for global warming. Whatever.

Other programmes

Getting back to TV, I also watched a lot of political and consumer affairs programmes including Panorama, Man alive, Watchdog and That's life. I never bothered as much with music shows as much as you might expect, partly because there wasn't much on TV of what I really wanted to see. Yes, I learned quickly that if I wanted to choose the music, I had to buy it.

Black and white

Towards the end of The nineties job quest, somebody (who obviously regards television as one of life's essentials) took pity on me and gave me an old black and white television. I bought the necessary TV licence (much cheaper than the standard colour licence) but once I moved to Leicester, I got rid of the television and didn't renew the licence.

Treated like a criminal

Of course, you can't buy new black and white televisions these days and haven't been able to for many years, so anybody who has a black and white licence is treated with extreme suspicion by the TV licensing authority. They also find it hard to accept that there are people who don't have - or want - a television. Some of these people would, like me, buy a television if there were no TV licence fee, but there are others who just aren't interested at all and, given what I said earlier about dumbing down, it doesn't surprise me. I've had several nasty exchanges with the TV licensing authority down the years although they seem to leave me alone now except for the automatic letter that they send me once a year. I guess they've had their TV detector vans checking up on me and realise that I really don't have a television. But I still object to being treated like a criminal just for not having a television. Yes, I'm a criminal on two counts - being unemployed and not having a television. They haven't put me in Leicester prison or any other jail yet although, via New Deal, they have sentenced me to two periods of hard labour.

Watching TV on a computer

Incidentally, this is a good place to remind everybody that if you watch television programmes via a computer rather than an actual television, you are still liable to pay the TV licence fee, if you watch it live. There are claused that say it's OK to watch some stuff originally shown on TV, but I haven't checked exactly what the conditions are. Be sure to check those conditions if you hope to take advantage of the option. You won't get away with watching live programmes anyway, because your internet service provider has the URLs. Somebody claimed that they won't automatically tell the TV licensing authority if you watch television this way, but (a) they are likely to tell if asked and (b) rules and policies are always subject to change. If there is co-operation between the authorities, it's easier for them to catch you this way than with traditional TV detector vans.

BBC independence

Supporters of the TV licence fee claim that it protects the BBC's independence. I don't see how it makes a difference. The government, who would also be responsible for setting the budget if the BBC were funded by general taxation, sets the actual cost of the TV licence fee. Supporters of the TV licence fee suggest that if the BBC were funded out of general taxation, funds could be withdrawn at any time if there is a crisis in public funding. Of course, this is true of all public services, but for as long as the public want the BBC to thrive, any government who cuts funding too far is likely to feel the backlash from voters, just as with other public services.

No, the TV licence fee is a pernicious, regressive tax on those who have least. The attitude of the TV licensing authority makes those who do without television look like criminals. The TV licence fee must be abolished.

Chauffeurs

Some top BBC executives have chauffeur-driven cars to take them to and from work, which costs a fortune. Other businesses apparently do the same sort of thing. In both cases, the argument is that these people actually start work as soon as they leave home and they don't finish until they return at the end of the day. It all seems to be part of the culture that I discuss in Long hours for employees. I can at least see the argument for top executives being on call while going to or from work, which would be difficult if they went by train and impossible (unless they broke the law) if they drove themselves. For as long as the long-hours culture exists, they have a legitimate case for a chauffeur-driven car, but the long-hours culture is a problem in itself. No wonder so many bad decisions are made by people in all walks of life. People cannot think or act with a clear head if they are continually under pressure. Hey, I can cope with pressure too, but not if it is relentless. There have to be times in between when the pressure is off, just to re-charge minds and bodies.

Downing Street petition

A Downing Street petition to scrap the TV licence and force the BBC to fund itself caused the government to give a predictable response.

A debate on the license fee

I found a fascinating exchange on an internet forum, which I reproduce with my own comments on the next page.


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