To answer the above questions :-
(1) In the UK the licence fee of just over £100 is paid annually
(2) the payment covers all receiving sets in a household. ( if you only have radios and no TV’s you do not have to pay anything )
(3) you still have to pay if you only have cable or satellite installation . This is because the money goes towards funding the BBC which does not carry any commercials on any of its broadcasts (all the BBC services are carried on cable and satellite as well as terrestrial broadcasts)
I think it’s well worth paying to avoid those commercials, especially in the middle of films.
We have a few ad-funded channels too, and it’s insidious to see how you get used to the endless interruptions.
When we pick up your Superbowl, even though it’s on an ad-funded channel, there have to be extra commentators because the US has so many more commercial breaks. :eek:
Yes it’s a tax, but you only pay it if you use the product - and the alternative is less TV program time.
This sounds like a good system. Somebody has to pay to run the broadcasting system, and if advertisers pay, they collect it back from you in increased prices and in unnecessary products they convince the gullible, especially the children, to pay anyway.
It’s funny. In the US, private enterprise can screw people till their buttholes are sore and that’s ok, but try to do something through the government and people scream bloody murder!