TV is awful and not worth the license fee. screw you BBC.

 Whenever i turn the telly on, there never reaslly is anything good to watch. It is either A) the 4th repeat of a programme you don't really care about that week, B) a shitty documetary/programme about a subject of interest to about 3 people or C) the 5th repeat of top gear in a row on dave. With loads of bits cut out to make room for ads. DESPITE THE BBC OWNING IT AND ALREADY GETTING VAST SUMS FROM YOUR MANDATORY TV LICENSE.
 
i mean WTF what happened to the days when you had to make ROOM in your schedule so you didn't miss great programmes? Sky, like 500+ channels and it's all a load of wank. I mean seriously you'd think with more people unemployed and having nothing to do TV channels would make MORE money and would produce better shows. 
 
Instead though you can watch that same episode of family guy you saw a few days ago on BBC three. If you're lucky. If you're unlucky, the best thing on will be BBC news, watching the same headlines... the most trivial news... again, and again until you fall asleep or commit suicide.
 
Or you could have a rubbish film which will kill you a little inside. I did find a truly great film on TV once, it was called "enemy at the gates". I suggest you watch it. 

It's just saddening how even mediocre TV is hard to come by these days. Perhaps the ONLY decent thing to come out of paying for TV has been top gear. And you will see that about 14 times a year. Unless of course, you're counting the repeats on dave. In which case it's closer to 4000 times a year.
  
Top gear is brilliant though, a new episode is one of the best hours of the week.  and on that bombshell, goodnight!

 Whenever i turn the telly on, there never reaslly is anything good to watch. It is either A) the 4th repeat of a programme you don't really care about that week, B) a shitty documetary/programme about a subject of interest to about 3 people or C) the 5th repeat of top gear in a row on dave. With loads of bits cut out to make room for ads. DESPITE THE BBC OWNING IT AND ALREADY GETTING VAST SUMS FROM YOUR MANDATORY TV LICENSE.
 
i mean WTF what happened to the days when you had to make ROOM in your schedule so you didn't miss great programmes? Sky, like 500+ channels and it's all a load of wank. I mean seriously you'd think with more people unemployed and having nothing to do TV channels would make MORE money and would produce better shows. 
 
Instead though you can watch that same episode of family guy you saw a few days ago on BBC three. If you're lucky. If you're unlucky, the best thing on will be BBC news, watching the same headlines... the most trivial news... again, and again until you fall asleep or commit suicide.
 
Or you could have a rubbish film which will kill you a little inside. I did find a truly great film on TV once, it was called "enemy at the gates". I suggest you watch it. 

It's just saddening how even mediocre TV is hard to come by these days. Perhaps the ONLY decent thing to come out of paying for TV has been top gear. And you will see that about 14 times a year. Unless of course, you're counting the repeats on dave. In which case it's closer to 4000 times a year.
  
Top gear is brilliant though, a new episode is one of the best hours of the week.  and on that bombshell, goodnight!

I hate how there are over 200 episodes of COPS but every single day it's on it's a repeat of an episode you saw the previous day.

• Hulu
• Between all channels Scrubs is on atleast 5 hours a day

There isn't much on TV I admit but there's a good handful of shows on the BBC which are great. On the top of my head there's Q.I., Top Gear, Have I Got News For You, Nevermind the Buzzcocks, Would I Lie To You and anything presented by David Attonborough. If you don't like a single one of those shows then don't really bother with license fees.
 
Not arguing with you, just stating something of course.

yes, i hate tv. all the time it's the same shows all the time. all the time u will see the same episode the other day. i watch family guy all the time on fox and cartoon network. it seems that they both have the same episodes. a couple of times i will watch it on fox then later that it would be the same one.

" I like how you have to pay a license fee to own a television in the UK. It's like paying a microwave fee. "

" @SJSchmidt93 Hulu does not work in many places "

• Between all channels Scrubs is on atleast 5 hours a day.

" @Br3adfan said:

" @SJSchmidt93 Hulu does not work in many places "

• Between all channels Scrubs is on atleast 5 hours a day.

"

" @SJSchmidt93 Maybe some people don't like Scrubs enough to watch it five hours a day "

I've only watch a few shows, so I just go on tv.com and find out when the next new episode is, and I never turn the TV on until that time.  I never channel surf, I hate commercials, so I just set the PVR to record some things here and there, and other then that I don't watch anything.

Yeah, the whole mandatory license fee thing seems weird. The government shouldn't own the airwaves.

" I like how you have to pay a license fee to own a television in the UK. It's like paying a microwave fee. "

We have BBC in America with no commercials. I think its ridiculus that British citizens have to pay so that I can watch BBC News without commercials.

How about that airline food... 
 
Seriously though, I completely agree. The only things I watch on TV are:
 
Sky Sports - Formula One when the season is going. 
ESPN - Friday Night Fights and Classic Fights. 
Discovery Channel - Mythbusters, Junkyard Wars and occasionally Dirty Jobs.
 
and... that's about it really. I was channel surfing the other day when I came across a show called Parental Control. WHAT. THE. FUCK. Reality TV shows are all fake as shit and I hate them all, but the acting on Parental Control is worse than any soap opera I've ever seen.

I hate how theirs over 200 episodes of a show and all you ever see aired are like 5 repeats over and over and over every single day.

TV is indeed horrible. :x

" Yeah, the whole mandatory license fee thing seems weird. The government shouldn't own the airwaves. "

I hate TV and when I have my own place there's no way I'm going to pay for that shit.

" @Suicrat said:

" Yeah, the whole mandatory license fee thing seems weird. The government shouldn't own the airwaves. "

Whilst I can't for the life of me understand paying a licence fee to watch television, I can't agree with the second part.  In Australia we do not pay a licence fee and we have an equivalent to the BBC in the ABC.  It is simply paid through our taxes.  Everyone pays whether you watch it not and the saying is "8 cents a day", but I think it is more per person.  Anyway, it is much simpler to have it paid by the government from your taxes.  As for the second part, aside from occasional attempts to stack the board of the ABC, government ownership is brilliant - no commercials, yay.  The ABC is not bound by ratings (as such) and can show whatever they want.  There is essentially no censorship and complaints (usually by right wing politicians) are handled by an independent authority.  Most of what I watch is on the ABC and my only complaint is that they don't get enough money.  The usual complaints is that the ABC has a left wing bias, and whilst that is slightly true, it barely goes anywhere near the complete right wing bias of the commercial networks.  It brings a little balance to the airwaves.  So, yes, the government should own television stations, but it should be hands free of it and it should broadcast for the benefit of society and its culture. "

" I hate TV and when I have my own place there's no way I'm going to pay for that shit. "

1. Get my own place
2. Save money by not getting cable
   
3. Spend the saved money on fastest possible internet connection
   
4. Use Hulu and Netflix streaming
5. ???
6. Profit!
   

The tv in my room isnt even connected to my cable box anymore. Not that it can't be, I just don't watch tv enough to give a damn. Although I do like recording Conan (AKA The Tonight Show) and watching that on my big tv in my living room. Kinda sucks though because I have to make a conscious effort to keeps up on sports news now, cant just leave my tv on Sportscenter all day.

well bbc is barly staying a float from the tv liciense and but yeah over wat 500 channels the 2 things i watch all the time   
1 the bill  and the second i watch very little but tna  oh yeah bak to bbc rant  
the only things thats worth watching are top gear (but you get about 14 episodes a year) the other is ashes to ashes and you get like 8 of those  
so yeah lets just give up on tv all togither in uk and watch uploads of tv from the states

I am a real supporter of the TV license. I really really really really hate TV adverts. They are the bane of my existence. The BBC provide advert free TV for a very reasonable price. And while a lot of the content they produce is not to my tastes, they have a lot of people to please. Because they charge the license fee, they can't just decide to target one segment of the audience, they have to try and please a lot of people. 
 
I do dislike how much some things are repeated (like family guy, as you said), but I can understand it. When they purchase the rights to show a TV show, they purchase them for a period of time (usually a week). They are permitted to show it as many times as they like for that time period. So they want to get their money's worth. They don't want to waste peoples license fee's by buying double the number of episodes of Family Guy every week.

Whilst the licence fee badly needs a rethink (lower fee for black and white tv, higher fee for colour), I agree with MattyFTM that the cost is worth it. The BBC is the UK's best TV service by a long way and factor in the exceptional internet service and iPlayer into the equation and you've got a fairly entertaining package. 
 
Plus is has Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe on BBC 4, which is worth the licence fee alone!
 

I largely agree with you, crunchy boy. I seldom watch TV, and when I do it's usually comedy panel shows and cricket highlights. There just isn't enough good TV to justify the licence fee, in my opinion. Thankfully, our landlord has paid for our TV licence for this year. Also, Enemy At The Gates is an awesome film. I respect you for thinking so.
 
Oh, and just to emphasise how unreasonable the licence fee system is, you have to pay it just for owning a TV. Even if you don't watch it. I discovered this last year when I took my TV and games consoles to University. I didn't watch a second of TV (student accommodation didn't have a TV aerial), but still had to pay £139.50 for a licence.

FREE healthcare sorta balances it out :)

I almost watch everything on the iPlayer these days (it's like the British version of Hulu but it only shows BBC programmes) because it's much more convenient and I spend more time on my computer then I do on my TV.

" @oldschool said:

" @Suicrat said:

" Yeah, the whole mandatory license fee thing seems weird. The government shouldn't own the airwaves. "

Whilst I can't for the life of me understand paying a licence fee to watch television, I can't agree with the second part.  In Australia we do not pay a licence fee and we have an equivalent to the BBC in the ABC.  It is simply paid through our taxes.  Everyone pays whether you watch it not and the saying is "8 cents a day", but I think it is more per person.  Anyway, it is much simpler to have it paid by the government from your taxes.  As for the second part, aside from occasional attempts to stack the board of the ABC, government ownership is brilliant - no commercials, yay.  The ABC is not bound by ratings (as such) and can show whatever they want.  There is essentially no censorship and complaints (usually by right wing politicians) are handled by an independent authority.  Most of what I watch is on the ABC and my only complaint is that they don't get enough money.  The usual complaints is that the ABC has a left wing bias, and whilst that is slightly true, it barely goes anywhere near the complete right wing bias of the commercial networks.  It brings a little balance to the airwaves.  So, yes, the government should own television stations, but it should be hands free of it and it should broadcast for the benefit of society and its culture. "

Explain to me why a person who does not watch ABC should be forced to pay for it.    Explain to me why anyone should be forced to support something they would not otherwise.     You've only brought up its value relative to the right wing oligopol y that exists in Australian media. Might that have something to do with the way the government licenses parts of the spectrum, instead of full-on selling each usable segment?  Also, even if ABC doesn't have commercial advertising spots, that does not mean it doesn't have advertising. It promotes certain ideas by presenting them. The only reason it can afford to go without commercial advertising is if it charges a subscription fee, is supported by voluntary donation, or claims a portion of the national tax pot. In the latter case, its lack of advertising is evidence of its injustice (people who do not use the service are forced to pay), in the former two cases, there's no problem.  Also, if its content is more liberated than that of other networks, then the government has overreached by censoring the other networks and leaving ABC unfettered, this is a classic case of the injustice of being forced to compete with government entities. If you perceive and receive benefits from services, and there are many people who agree that the service is valuable, chances are it could survive without stolen property anyways. "

Whilst I think that the license fee could do with a decrease of maybe £10, you do get what you pay for. Heck, I get hundreds of hours of entertainment a year by watching bbc, comedy central, sky sports and sky movies.

"pay £139.50 for a licence. "

" @Suicrat: That's my point, but to be honest (and this may seem like a point in favour) the BBC get away with way more than the other channels in terms of what they show because they don't have any advertisers to jump through hoops for, just the public, and who the fuck listens to them.   All I trying to say is if I can see a lingering shot of that nude Hudgens photo uncut on BBC3 at 9.30pm, the government can keep it.  Oh and Top Gear owns all, how they get away with what they say and do is beyond me. "

I get free TV here in the US. I don't pay for cable or sattelite, but I am content with my nightly Simpsons and King of the Hill re-runs.

" I like how you have to pay a license fee to own a television in the UK. It's like paying a microwave fee. "

I only watch the History Channel and crime shows.

" Watching TV on your computer is for bad people.  "

The problem I find with the License Fee is that it's compulsary meaning the BBC have no incentive to try and produce good quality programming as their income will always be there. Compare this to something like HBO which is based pretty much entirely on subscriptions and consider that they have produced several of the greatest dramas of all time as well as being involved in a few notable comedies too. I'm not going to say they try to hit every demographic but at least they try new things. Meanwhile, i'm struggling to think of any good programming from the BBC besides their documentaries and news coverage. Without Eastenders, which is just a bland soap, and Dr. Who, which is for children, their primetime line up consists of reruns or light entertainment on par with The ONE Show which is just middle class pandering.

Dude, just dont pay the licence fee. I don't. They cant prove that you have a TV unless they come to you house and check up on you and even then they cant come inside to confirme it.
A dude came to my house and asked if i have payed the fee and I said no, I dont have a TV eventhough you could see it from the front door. But I just told him that it was a computer monitor since my PC is connected to it and thats what was on screen at the time so he just left and I havent seen them since.

If enough people want to watch ad-free television then the BBC should be able to survive on a subscription model.  It can't and so half of us are forced to pay for the other half's entertainment.  The reason the content on all the other stations is largely terrible is because it has to unfairly compete with the BBC.
 
The news side of it has some merit in theory, but in practice they are just biased towards the establishment instead of being commercially biased.  I put BBC News 24 on the other day just before going to work, to see what was going on in the world, and I had to watch some silly cunt playing conkers.  Great, worth every penny.
 
With few exceptions, the only decent television in recent years has been made by HBO.  The only decent shows to come out of the UK in recent years that I can think of are Planet Earth (BBC) and The Inbetweeners (Channel 4).

If it makes you feel any better things are just as bad in the States.  An endless barrage of reality programming and commercial advertising.  Most of it is bland inoffensive pablum, and the bit that claims to be edgy is really pretentious claptrap masked as absurdity.  99% of what's on TV is a waste, but that doesn't mean that what is shallow and crude can't be entertaining in small quantities.  In the future, I envision each of us will have the ability to program our own station for entertainment.  We'll select from a list and position a show into that night's time slot.  The whole week will be scheduled to our personal tastes and then we'll always have something worthwhile to watch.  Of course, this doesn't mean that Hollywood or the BBC will make a greater number of good shows.  Then again, maybe it will.  If program developers have to compete for our attention without the comfort of guaranteed airtime, maybe they will accept that a TV show about a woman of questionable character spun off from a show about three shared women is not worth anyone's time.
 
@Kajaah117:  when do we get the underpants?

The license is only for the BBC guys, other channels don't benefit from the license so are ad supported. I agree that most TV is drivel, I've gone a year without a TV only watching what I want on iPlayer or catch-up (which, if your interested, is perfectly legal to watch without a license).

Sell your TV, watch iPlayer, and don't pay your TV licence.