The biggest difference is the way they are funded. PBS through voluntary donations - BBC through TV licensing.
Beyond that, the programming is quite a bit different. First off, the Brittish TV programs that make it on to PBS tend to be less current than on the BBC. Also, the BBC looks a lot like a cross between PBS, ESPN, CNN, HBO, and TLC/Discovery.
The store do not apply for a license for you, but they do inform the authorities that you have bought a TV, and records will be checked to see if you already have a license.
If you buy a TV privately, then there is no duty on the person selling it to inform anyone of the identity of the buyer. If the seller does not have another TV (unlikely) then they can inform the license fee collectors that they no longer have a TV, but that’s is all they need do.
BTW, the license fee is a fee to operate a TV, to operate a machine that receives signals - it is not a fee to watch the BBC (although the money does go to the BBC) so you need a license even if your TV cannot receive BBC channels. Also, although the maximum fine for not having a license is pretty steep (a fact which the “Get a license” TV ‘adverts’ stress heavily) the actual fines imposed are pretty minimal.
If anyone is that bothered, the relevant legislation is ** The Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 ** as amended.
Not true!! Australia does not have a licensing system for TV usage. That was ditched almost 30 years ago by a progressive and enlightened government of the day.
Given the majority of the shit dished out to the mindless masses by our networks, you wouldn’t want to pay for it!
Two questions about the TV secret service.
If they can triangulate your signal using one van, does that imply that every TV has a different signature to whatever it is they’re detecting? Given the number of TV’s in say, a block of flats, it’s sounds like a bit of a tall story to me.
Whether or not they can reliably locate a TV, can’t you just tell them to bugger off if they come round, then either pay the 100 quid or put your TV in storage before they can get any authority to enter your house?
As others have said, they use hand-held detectors for blocks of flats, etc.
Yes, but the object of the exercise is to get people to pay the licence fee, not to fine them, so the former outcome would count as a “victory” for the licensing people.
Most laws of are this variety, but this isn’t that fair of a comparison because the US has found that they don’t have to have a specific TV tax when they can rely simply on donations and sponsors. To an American it’s pretty silly, to an Brit its the status quo. If I moved to England I’d be pretty pissed about it.
As to the guy who wants to bring his TV to England, you’ll probably need a PAL to NTSC converter. I think they use PAL encoding there, at least its the standard in Europe.
In answer to SUSPICIOUS MIND’S question #1 go to http://www.motron.com/TransmitterID.html . This is a product available to the public for fingerprinting and identifying oscillators/transmitters. Works real well too. It was designed by an engineer at Boeing up in Seattle and is used by the F.C.C.
DVous Means said:
So that’s what happened to Skippy the Bush Kangaroo!!