Scrapping licence fee would kill off many BBC radio stations, analysis suggests
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/04/18/radio-4-would-face-50pc-funding-cut-if-bbc-ditches-licence/
by particlegun
Scrapping licence fee would kill off many BBC radio stations, analysis suggests
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/04/18/radio-4-would-face-50pc-funding-cut-if-bbc-ditches-licence/
by particlegun
26 comments
Who would notice. No one listens to them anyway. That’s the point.
The wrong headline. It should read: ‘Scrapping the licence fee, will reduce celebrity wages’.
Would it kill off Mrs Brown’s Boys? If so, every cloud has a silver lining.
The license fee is £169.50 a year. Spotify Premium is £143.88 a year and Apple Music is £131.88 a year. Alternatively if you have a lot of data on your phone, you could use free Spotify and deal with the adverts.
With both Spotify Premium and Apple Music, I can listen to what I want when I want. I can also create playlists and listen to those. My car doesn’t have support for either of those at the moment, all I have is either the radio or no radio. I was listening to one of the BBC radio stations because that’s what my car decided to play. I think it was Radio 1? Regardless, the DJs were talking about shitting yourself while on holiday. That’s exactly what people want to hear while they’re driving home stuck in traffic. Great work BBC. I would definitely rather pay £37.62 more per year to listen to that.
Honestly, fuck the BBC in general at this point. I stopped paying my license more than a decade ago. £13 a month I think it is now, similar price to streaming services which actually offer good on-demand media. BBC journalism is a fucking joke, saying it’s unbiased is a fucking joke.
They will never ever dissolve the licence fee while the bootlicking, subservient plebs keep paying it. When they send one of their hired goons to your door, just tell them to fuck off. It’s extremely easy, they can’t come into your home unless you invite them.
How anyone can reconcile giving them a single penny after they enabled and facilitated mega-nonces like Jimmy Saville, Rolf Harris and Stuart Hall is beyond me. Give your head a shake. Bin them off.
Just make it a tax and be done with it.
BBC websites, BBC news and BBC radio are legitimately good value.
The rest is meh.
The BBC is one of the best things about the UK. I absolutely love it. The licence fee needs to stay or be broadened and turned into a household levy.
From my experience, older generations like having the local radio on as companionship. Had a neighbour who thought watching television before 6pm was the sign of a shallow mind and would listen to the radio.
Personally, my big complaint about radio stations, whether commercial or BBC, is that none have subtitles. They are not really accessible to me.
I think the fee is worth it for the radio alone. I never watch tv.
The best justification for the licence fee is that it enables content that commercial stations would not provide. In an ideal world, there would be a good case for local radio being among these, especially given the decline of local newspapers. However in practice much local radio involves playing generic music rather than adding genuine local news and content.
I appreciate that a genuinely local radio station would cost more to produce, however it would still be a better justification of the licence fee than the BBC producing light entertainment or showing popular sports.
Probably just 1extra and the like. Nothing of value will be lost because the ones people actually listen to will stay.
Not really much of a threat when they’re already killing off the stations.
They should make it like every other streaming service. If you want it pay for it.
This thing needs to die. Either make it part of the tax system or kill it off.
It’s a shame because I think the greatest strength of the BBC radio is its more niche stuff.
I’ve been a regular visitor to the US in my career, now retired, happily. I’ve stayed in enough hotel rooms and watched enough TV there to worry about the loss of the BBC. But I accept it’s going to happen.
We’re on a race to the bottom and it will never be the same again.
People say the BBC is biased, but which way? I sure haven’t enjoyed Laura K cosying up to tory ministers, which would be my main criticism. The radio (local and national), the website, recipes, consumer reports. I’m not sure streaming would even be like it is now without innovation from the BBC, they piloted one of the first tests of it way before Netflix (I was on the pilot test). Also stereo sound (NICAM), 3d TV (yeah, I know) and lots of other technology advancements were done by the BBC.
For £12 a month it’s an absolute bargain.
I’m not sure we need research to figure out no licence fee would = less.
I don’t think the issue is how many listen. Its that they listen without paying for the huge costs of the service. A subscription service over the Internet is perfectly viable. Then pay to listen. Or not
The BBC is such a beautiful thing. It offers so much that other services will never do – from Cbeebies to balanced news, to covering sports. I don’t trust any organisation out there not to bend to whatever business buys it out and for all it’s faults the BBC is for the whole of the UK and can’t be bought
The clearly astroturfed right wing groups saying to defund the BBC are obviously paid off by people masquerading as being on the side of the working man (tax payers alliance, etc).
Can anyone explain- why does it have to be a licence fee and not just a budgetary line item? Why do we need pseudo- enforcement officers from the post office, carve-outs for the elderly, stress and sofa-hiding for poor people?
Why can’t we just believe in this and fund it directly via the budget?
The amount of shit getting rid of this would get rid of, makes it worth it on its own.
Who cares?
You want local radio? Then pay for it and stop expecting everyone else to bankroll some cringe morning show you sometimes listen to.
Happy to lose BBC Three and most of the radio stations. Just leave me 6 Music, 5 Live & the BBC Sounds app please.
I’d love Radio 1 to burn. I can’t speak for the rest.
Oh well, worlds different now and nobody wants to pay the fee…..
Good. If they cant stand on their own two feet then its time for them to go. Extorting pensioners to keep them on air is morally reprehensible.
If they don’t have enough listeners that even with ads they are unviable, is it really a big loss?