Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris
That is exactly what will happen, not at the next charter review, but probably at the one after.
The theory is that TV has an important social function above and beyond the provision of entertainment. That is the justification for funding a large chunk of it via what is, effectively, a tax.
Throughout this thread you have argued that the Internet will result in the end of linear broadcast TV. I maintain that you are wrong; linear broadcast is simple for the provider and the consumer and remains the best means of attracting a mass audience.
What the Internet will do, however, is make it increasingly difficult for the BBC to continue to collect sufficient licence fees on the basis of charging people who watch TV as broadcast, not because too few people are watching linear broadcast, but because it is becoming too easy to evade detection. The only viable alternative, if the public service broadcast model is to be preserved, is for a precept on local tax. This is how police and fire authorities collect their funds.
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But Chris, we all rely on the police and fire authorities. We don't all watch or listen to BBC output, and so the licence fee or any kind of universal tax is manifestly unfair.
I do appreciate your doubts about my theory that linear channels are ultimately doomed. However, the industry itself is moving to VOD and streaming and there will come a tipping point where not enough people are watching the linear channels to support the existing model based on advertising.
While advertising will continue to play a part without the linear channels, it will be a much smaller part of a channel's income, and so there will be less duplication with a bigger focus on subscriptions.
You have mentioned the dreamy way in which some people watch TV now, by turning it on and just watching whatever is thrown at them. Convenient that may be, but it will not be sustainable financially to carry on broadcasting the same way if the advertisers are no longer willing to stump up. Just look at what is happening. The drift to alternative methods of watching programmes will continue, and at a faster pace, over the coming years.