It seems I'm the Voice of Radio 3 around here! (Thanks, Snoopy!
)
Actually, have just being 'reminded' that I owe for my license fee, and having been fined once for non-payment, will dig deep again.
There's a big for, and a big against:
The big 'for' is that a TV company that is independent of advertisers means quality programming, and the BBC are, I am informed, world leaders in quality TV.
Commercial channels and the dependency on advertising has led to the proliferation of the Big Brother (absolute rubbish) and the 'reality TV' format ... not reality at all — one critic watched a 'fly on the wall' TV documentary about a couple having an argument: 14 camera cuts, and he estimated a number of separate set-ups and takes to achive the end result ... so not 'reality TV' at all, unless by reality we mean cheap production values.
I am sick of my kids watching endless reruns of Friends, or TV channels that's just wall-to-wall US commedy programmes ... apart from the BBC, most 'freeview' TV is bargainbin television.
The big against:
The method of monitoring and collecting the license fee seems to work more on fear of fine than any knowledgeable basis — I have been told the old TV detector vans were a con, and it does seem as if the method is to treat everyone as guilty ... what if you don' want to watch BBC but do want to watch Sky? No provision ...
But scrap the license altogether? No. 'Fraid not — not unless someone can show a viable alternative that would maintain standards, and if commercial pressures are the rule, standards are the first thing to go.
Thomas