# Why I hate the BBC **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 3, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145 "2004-08-03T15:30:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/21 "2004-08-04T11:44:38Z")
Well, **lemon** , you could pay rather _more_ than £100 per year for Sky. Which shows Malcolm in the Middle, some repeats, and an unrelenting _tsunami_ of cultural sewerage pouring from the screen in nauseating torrents of utterly inane ignorance. With 8 minute ad breaks. And still beats ITV. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/22 "2004-08-04T11:52:21Z")
**sinical brit** , who pays for the set-top box? (Perhaps a license fee arrangement would fund them? 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/23 "2004-08-04T11:56:26Z")
> [@sinical brit](#): > > And a prison sentance for not paying - fucking appalling. It’s a fine for not paying. You only run a risk of prison for not paying the fine - and that’s true of any fine. ---
**Author:** ![lemon\_martini2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@lemon\_martini2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lemon_martini2)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/24 "2004-08-04T12:04:18Z")
> [@SentientMeat](#): > > Well, **lemon** , you could pay rather _more_ than £100 per year for Sky. You’d still have to pay the licence fee even if you never watch BBC. It’s like having to pay the ABC Car Company for having a car even if you only ever use their rivals’services and goods… ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/25 "2004-08-04T12:07:02Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > … > Then you’ve got Radio 1,2,3,4,5 and the rest > > Or a incredibly complete web presence [www.bbc.co.uk](http://www.bbc.co.uk) Plus the full network of local radio stations…plus five symphony orchestras, a concert orchestra, a big band, a choir,… ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/26 "2004-08-04T12:20:19Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s like having to pay the ABC Car Company for having a car even if you only ever use their rivals’services and goods… Well, actually it’s like living in a social democracy in which the electorate decides to fund a broadcasting network on a mandatory rather than voluntary basis since it could not otherwise compete and we would be left wth airwaves full of crap, but I get your point. Perhaps you could start your own party? ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/27 "2004-08-04T12:20:29Z")
> [@sinical brit](#): > > (hijack) > We could shift the thread towards why we ALL have to pay the licence fee regardless of weather we watch the bbc channels or not. I refuse to believe that there is no way of blocking bbc broadcasts. So why not a simple box which sits between your aerial and tv blocking bbc. Its got a barcode on it and links to the database which TV licencing keeps on us all. When the changeover to digital is completed this will be very possible. The supplier can turn off whatever channel they like from ehat I can see. I have digital and I can get channels (movies, sports etc. ) turned on and off instantly by just a phone call. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/28 "2004-08-04T12:21:54Z")
> [@lemon\_martini2](#): > > You’d still have to pay the licence fee even if you never watch BBC. > It’s like having to pay the ABC Car Company for having a car even if you only ever use their rivals’services and goods… Ate you saying that you don’t use any of the BBC services? Why are you bitching about repeats if you don’t 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/29 "2004-08-04T12:24:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Plus the full network of local radio stations…plus five symphony orchestras, a concert orchestra, a big band, a choir,… And the goodwill and trust of most of the Anglophone world receiving the IMO utterly unique World Service. Which is priceless. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/30 "2004-08-04T12:34:18Z")
> [@SentientMeat](#): > > And the goodwill and trust of most of the Anglophone world receiving the IMO utterly unique World Service. Actually the exception- it’s separately funded by the Foreign Office. ---
**Author:** ![sinical\_brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@sinical\_brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinical_brit)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/31 "2004-08-04T12:37:03Z")
jJimmm - if a (relativly) complicated freeview box can cost as little at £60 - i would have thought it is not beyond the realms of possibity that a small “BBC Filter” could be made cheaply enough. Gorillaman - if you are on the bread line, £120 a year is a lot of money. If you cant pay it then, what makes you think that the sum and the fine will be possible to pay ( it normally doubles the total - £120 for the licence and fine of £150 ). Also - and i have no data to prove this - but after you have been to prison you still have to pay the fine. Does this happen with other fines? I thought if you went to prison for non payment of a speeding fine - the fine was written off when you came out. Perhaps someone from the legal profession can help here? Aside: Gov advice booklet on terror - “stay in and tune in ( after you have payed your £120 of course ! )” sin ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/32 "2004-08-04T12:41:21Z")
> [@sinical brit](#): > > Gorillaman - if you are on the bread line, £120 a year is a lot of money. If you cant pay it then, what makes you think that the sum and the fine will be possible to pay ( it normally doubles the total - £120 for the licence and fine of £150 ). Also - and i have no data to prove this - but after you have been to prison you still have to pay the fine. Does this happen with other fines? I thought if you went to prison for non payment of a speeding fine - the fine was written off when you came out. Perhaps someone from the legal profession can help here? £2.50 a week isn’t really much. I’m on benefits at the moment, and I manage. And in any case, nobody’s being forced to own a television - if you can’t afford the licence, you can’t afford to own a TV. It’s no more an excuse than if I claimed I should be able to drive without insurance because I can’t afford it. As for the exact system of non-payment, I’ve no idea… > [@](#): > > Aside: > Gov advice booklet on terror - “stay in and tune in ( after you have payed your £120 of course ! )” Ummmm…tune in the _radio_, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/33 "2004-08-04T13:07:18Z")
> [@](#): > > Actually the exception- it’s separately funded by the Foreign Office. Really? I didn’t know that. I love those soap operas they do in local languages all over the world tackling relevant local issues. “Brought to you by the UK Foreign Office”, heh heh. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/34 "2004-08-04T13:33:49Z")
> [@sinical brit](#): > > jJimmm - if a (relativly) complicated freeview box can cost as little at £60 - i would have thought it is not beyond the realms of possibity that a small “BBC Filter” could be made cheaply enough. And who makes sure you’re using it, rather than it sitting in the back of your cupboard? All UK TV viewers benefit from the BBC, whether they watch it or not. Their very presence raises the acceptable standards of broadcasting across the board. Without it the commercial channels could suck as much as they like, packing in as much adverts as possible, because the viewer would have no alternative, ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145/35 "2004-08-04T13:37:55Z")
> [@SentientMeat](#): > > Well, actually it’s like living in a social democracy in which the electorate decides to fund a broadcasting network on a mandatory rather than voluntary basis since it could not otherwise compete and we would be left wth airwaves full of crap, but I get your point. > > Perhaps you could start your own party? Quite - I don’t have any kids or drive yet my taxes help subsidise others driving and education, without me throwing an infantile libertarian strop at the injustice of it all. I don’t believe for one split second that any household with a TV, radio or internet access in the UK does not at some point make use of a BBC product or service. The license fee is a bargain for what we get for it. It’s worth it just not to have advertising cutting everything into tiny chunks or having programmes forced to chase ad revenue rather than quality. There’s a lot of crap about, sure, but who else would make great stuff like the Blue Planet etc etc? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-hate-the-bbc/258145.md?page=1)