MyDavis

[Flit]

WTG ! First post got locked !:aok Thats gotta be a record of some kind !

 Just so y'all know, He is not a troll or a shades account.
 I was telling him about some of the discussions here on the AH bbs and told him to check it out.
 So lets not be too harsh on the guy, he 's brand new here

[beet1e]

He knows nothing about England, which is what his post was about. Press controlled by the government? What bollocks.

As for getting his first post locked, I saw one guy who went one better and whose first post got him banned. Look for Cliff.

[Jackal1]

Originally posted by beet1e
Press controlled by the government? What bollocks.
 

Yes, completely unheard of and unbelievable.

[lazs2]

doesn't england like control the only TV station?

lazs

[storch]

why everyone knows british subjects are the freest people on earth. next thing they'll be accused of is governmental confiscation and destruction of all personally owned weapons.  you watch, some troll will do it soon.

[beet1e]

The only Press controlled by the government is Tony Blair's trouser press.

[lazs2]

so the bbc doesn't get funding from the government?

oh... and I never troll and I have never been on here with any other handle.

lazs

[beet1e]

Originally posted by lazs2
so the bbc doesn't get funding from the government?

Correct.

[lazs2]

who pays for it?   Where does the money come from?

lazs

[beet1e]

wait, the BBC world service gets a government grant. For details of the licence fee and how the money is spent, go to the BBC website page on licensing - http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/licencefee/#spent

The BBC is paid for directly through each household TV licence. This allows it to run a wide range of popular public services for everyone, free of adverts and independent of advertisers, shareholders or political interests. 95.6% of the UK population used the BBC every month in 2004/5.

[DipStick]

Originally posted by beet1e
He knows nothing about England

Pot meet Kettle.

Like you know anything about America.

[beet1e]

Originally posted by DipStick

Like you know anything about America.

Lived there 3 years and been to 41 states, which is more than you.

[Toad]

Let's see. When you buy a TV in England you have to have a License.

"Using a television without an appropriate licence is a criminal offence. Every day we catch an average of 1,200 people using a TV without a licence. There is no valid excuse for using a television and not having a TV Licence, but some people still try - sometimes with the most ridiculous stories ever heard. Our detection equipment will track down your TV. The fact that our enquiry officers are now so well equipped with the latest technology means that there is virtually no way to avoid detection."

-- from the official website of the British Television Licensing Authority, May 2003

It would seem to be a government agency:

In the United Kingdom, citizens must pay a licence if they own a television set. That's right, a TV tax. For Americans, the whole idea of an annual tax to own a television borders on the absurd. However, in the UK, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a government agency that has the power to tax and enforce laws. In order to obtain funding, the BBC requires that anyone using its services must pay for them. So, if you own a TV set and live in the UK, you could conceivably turn on the BBC broadcasts, so therefore you better pay.

A colour television licence is £116 a year (around $192 US) and a black and white TV licence costs £38.50 a year (around $64 US). The cost goes up each year and this has lead some lawmakers to question the way the BBC is funded. However, until the law is changed, the TV licence remains -- leading to harassment of those who proclaim not to own a TV set and jail time for those that own TV sets and don't pay the tax.

And, of course, the Enforcers:

the fact that our enquiry officers are now so well equipped with the latest technology means that there is virtually no way to avoid detection... We can detect a TV in use, in any area. That's because every TV contains a component called the 'local oscillator', which emits a signal when the television is switched on. It's this signal that the equipment on our vans picks up." The websight also contains anecdotes that are presumably meant to humanize the inspectors, but which come across as rather chilling. Witness, for example, the one about the husband and wife who refuse the inspector entry, hurriedly shut their curtains, attempt to sneak the TV into the trunk of their car, and drive off.

So, which branch of the government has such terrifying powers as to send grown men and women scurrying into the night like common criminals? Is such mighty authority vested in the hands of Scotland Yard, or MI5? Nope: the men hunting through the mean streets of London for rogue local oscillators are employees of the BBC, which may be the only pay network in the world with the authority to forcibly acquire customers. And you thought HBO had a brilliant business model.

[lazs2]

I see.... so the government collects the money as a "licence" that everyone is entitled to pay.... or go to a government run prison?

In that respect your healthcare is also a provate concern?  Isn't most of your "fees" for it spent on the healthcare?

I liked that bit aout how popular the bbc was.... why, 97% of the population has it!   the other 3% are hiding from the government I suppose pretending to not have a TV at all or in prison.

lazs

[beet1e]

That's right, a TV tax. For Americans, the whole idea of an annual tax to own a television borders on the absurd.

For Britons, the whole idea of being bombarded with adverts for 5 minutes out of every 13 borders on the absurd.

But - America has the answer - channels WGBH Boston, known as Channel 11 in Chicago. And guess what? They cost... money! For this reason, every few months they will have "pledge weeks"... where the audience is invited to donate.

When I lived in CA I got ONE TV channel, so had to pay a cable company $28/mo for service - considerably more than the BBC licence.

You pays your money and takes your choice!