Quote:
Originally Posted by OLD BOY
Yes! Well it is simple, just tack the charge on to the council tax!
Common sense points to a subscription based model that people can choose to sign up to but common sense does not always win the day, regrettably!
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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.