Usefully Useless

Click here. It’s a video clip which you’re not allowed to view due to a copyright claim from BBC Worldwide. The clip is Top Gear related stuff, as far as I’m aware it was never shown on the show.

Since as a UK resident and licence fee payer, I have automatic right to view BBC content, I’m wondering what the hell they’re playing at.

Most people would like to see a smaller TV licence fee from the “no shit, Sherlock” department.

Originally the TV Licence was a fair means to pay for the BBC, back when the BBC was state owned (though the BBC has never been state controlled) because private broadcasting was very slow off the mark. If you had a TV, you watched BBC, it really was that simple. The BBC isn’t the Americans’ PBS, a bottom of the barrel generic crapshoot with no quality intended to be uncompetitive, the BBC makes some of the greatest television in the world, it really is that simple. What’s the best ever nature documentary? Living Planet or Planet Earth? Either way, they’re both BBC.

Nowadays, however, the license fee is not fair. I can get all the quality programming I want without ever touching a BBC channel using satellite (Sky) or cable (Virgin Media). Does that mean I wouldn’t touch a BBC channel? No. I certainly would. Does it mean I should be forced to pay for BBC channels? No, it doesn’t. I’m not forced to pay for Sky One or Sky Sports, why should I be forced to pay for BBC One or BBC News 24?

The solution becomes painfully obvious. BBC becomes a commercial paid broadcaster – which it already is – relying on viewing cards and subscriptions. Digital TV makes the use of viewing cards trivial and every digital compatible TV or set-top box I’ve ever seen has a card slot. I then get the choice, if I want the BBC, then I get it. It’s a no-brainer, the BBC’s programming is around £10 per month currently, much cheaper than Sky. If I don’t want BBC, I still get ITV, 4 and 5 as well as the many free-to-air Freeview channels.

Revenue collection then works much like mobile phones or satellite TV. I can get a contract and my card’s valid for 12 months. I can pay monthly, perhaps via direct debit, or I can buy pre-paid cards. If I don’t want BBC programming, I then do not get it and I’m not hit with a stealth-tax.

Stealth tax? What the hell am I talking about? Yes, it is a tax. £5.50 of the licence fee goes to the digital TV switchover, not to the BBC. Not only that, but the fee is legally mandated and controlled by the government, it’s not a willing purchase of service, it’s much closer to a tax. If I don’t pay that tax, I may not own a television, regardless of whether that television is used to view BBC or not.

The solution’s clear. The question is whether the government has the balls to do something right for a change.