[HPFGU-OTChatter] Yearly TV Licence? ...Really?

[Olly]

I think your figures might be a bit off.  It is the property with a telly 
that requires a licence, so it doesn't matter if the property has one or 
five people you only need one licence.

There are approximately 25 million homes in the UK so assuming they all 
have a licence that equates to 3,475,000,000 per annum.

The idea behind TV licensing is to fund an independent media network, and 
therefore not affected by the requirements of any corporate owners.  The 
other main advantage is that while watching the BBC you can enjoy ad free 
telly, as the licence pays for their running costs completely.

You are also can buy more telly services on top of the "free" channels 
available via terrestrial or freeview services.

Olly

Steve wrote:
 > [SNIP]
 >
 > It seems you are required to pay a 139 ($279) annual fee for the
 > privilege of watching Television in the UK. And, all that money goes
 > to non-profit 'public' television.
 >
 > Sound more like a tax scam than any actual legitimate need.
 >
 > If we assume a population of 60million and further assume that
 > represents $15million households, we have substantially over 2
 > billion in revenue collected.
 >
 > Sorry, but does public television in the UK really need TWO
 > BILLION POUNDS a year? (over US$4 Billion)
 >
 > I think if I were a citizen, I would want to know where that $4
 > billion was going. How much was administrative cost, and how much was
 > dedicated to actual programming.
 >
 > I mean this is $279 for a few public channels when I can get a few
 > hundred cable channels for $480/yr. Maybe I'm wrong, but that amount,
 > the TV license, seem completely out of balance.
 >
 > Further the idea that if you have a TV, you pay whether you watch or not.
 >
 > Can someone enlighten me?
 >
 > Steve/bboyminn