Comments on: iPlayer tip jar?

By: Pete Ashton

Pete Ashton — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:24:08 +0000

Thank you Simon! I’ve banged on about the invisible tax for commercial television before and no-one ever seems to get it. If I could get a discount on my shopping for not having a television then I’d have some sympathy with the BBC haters but I can’t so I don’t.

(Having moved around a lot I think the belligerence of the licensing agency depends on the local contractor. Some are very lax, some are very aggressive.)

By: simon gray

simon gray — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 09:25:21 +0000

The thing which is always overlooked in arguments against the licence which go along the lines of “I only watch commercial / subscription television, why should I pay for the BBC which I don’t watch”, is that ultimately we all do have a choice on whether or not to fund the BBC – we have a choice on whether or not to have a television & thus a licence. We as individuals have no such choice on whether or not to fund commercial television, since unless we’re hermits living off berries & mushrooms in the forest, we all have to buy the products from the shops which advertise on commercial television – the cost of which is passed on to us. & in the case of Sky, the purpose of the basic subscription is not to generate income, but to ensure that only people in Britain & Ireland become subscribers so they don’t have to negotiate international broadcast rights.

(I’ve always been intrigued by the reports I hear from non-licence-holders about the belligerence of the licencing agency; whenever I’ve not had a licence due to not having a telly they’ve always accepted my explanation without argument, never even visiting let alone demanding entry)

By: Peter Lewis

Peter Lewis — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:01:26 +0000

It really is an interesting point. I suspect that the move towards IP delivered television and radio will be the driving force behind any kind of licence fee review, rather than any political motives. But for now, I wouldn't worry about it too much, they seem to have enough money.

By: Dom Barnes

Dom Barnes — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:41:29 +0000

Its a good idea Pete but I seriously doubt the mass populations inclination to “return to the scene of the crime” and pay for a programme.
I think the idea of a low cost, short term rental service would be better. I often just wanna watch a film, or watch a TV show once, not pay to own it, and I am more than happy to pay a small fee for that.
I do agree that the current BBC model, the idea of a license fee is outdated and out of place. Originally it was to pay for our TV programmes. What I don’t understand is why we have to pay for it for commercial channels, of which there are so many now thanks to digital transmissions. Basically the license is paying for the BBC, and nothing else, and why do they continue to pretend that there is any other reason for it. I can’t own a TV unless i pay the BBC £140 a year for programming I may not actually watch.

Regarding iTunes purchases, if more shows were on there, that I like and want to watch, like Lost, then I would be happy to pay and keep those programmes,(yes I know Lost is on there). If they did a pay per season format as well, like the US, then it would be a better deal than paying £1.89 for each episode in a season.

Perhaps some sort of cost per programme system, that associates your watching to an account, and then charges you each month for what you watch, They could have an upper limit perhaps, so if you accrued more than £12 per month, then you don’t pay any more, i.e. the monthly cost of a TV license, so you’ll never pay more than a standard license cost. This could be done through digital receivers, or over the internet for programmes watched online/downloaded.
Just an idea

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:27:30 +0000

I’d pay for a sort of all you can eat TV/Movie thing on iTunes, stream what you want, download and keep for a week.

iTunes currently does £1.99 download and own forever, but I’d say that most of us just want to watch it for a bit, which is where a nice subscriber model would work nicely.

By: focalplane

focalplane — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:49:33 +0000

My situation is different but then again it probably represents the variety of exceptions that fall under the license fee umbrella. Although I spend most of my time working abroad I do own a TV and do pay the license fee (at least my wife does and she is the main benefactor of the BBC’s programming). But what galls me is that on a Saturday (or Sunday as it was yesterday) afternoon I would like to listen to the latest internet commentary from St. Andrews (or Villa Park as it was yesterday) on Live 5. Guess what, no transmission outside the UK. Yet as Jenni says above, I have paid for something I cannot receive.

As to buying TV programs, I do that with my US iTunes account. Not a lot but one series that cost me about $25 was the first season of The Riches with Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver. Mine to watch as many times as I like for as long as I like. Given where I work and what little there is to do, such programs are a life line. I did read somewhere that the BBC was considering putting content on iTunes. PBS already does just that in the States.

By: Jenni

Jenni — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:43:23 +0000

I too have been thinking about this quite a bit recently, though my experiments with the iPlayer haven’t been totally smooth anyway (I find on various trials that it’s been very prone to big pauses and buffering – and of course on a Mac I can’t just download it and watch it all in one go).

* I am a license fee payer and expect to continue to be so – it’s a real shame therefore that I can’t somehow validate my status and then watch a show I’ve essentially already paid for when I happen to be in the US or Europe.
* Maybe the license fee should / could move to some sort of subscription fee? The Beeb would lose out on quite a few UK subs I should think, but a) they might be able to get rid of all the detector van / chasing malarky, and b) they might get a lot of overseas subs. Hmm, would need careful modelling financially.

By: Marc Reeves

Marc Reeves — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 07:31:45 +0000

Pete, understand your point – and the swipes at the newspaper industry’s lamentable under-investment in online development are well made. However, transpose the licence fee argument to any other area of industry, and it simply doesn’t stand up. It’s called the ‘distortion of the market’ effect. For instance, if the government decided it wanted to create a chain of city centre pubs funded by the taxpayer, where all the food and beer was free, no business – whether an independent or a chain – would contemplate competing in the same area. It simply wouldn’t risk its money where someone else could ‘buy the market’ with public subsidy.
In this way (while not defending the typical incumbent behavious of the newspaper trade), the BBC’s claim to be blazing a trail in digital media – particularly its local endeavours – has had the effect of dissuading others to enter the market.
Having said all that, if someone held a gun to the head of Radio Four, I would willingly cough up a hundred quid a year to preserve it.

By: Dave C

Dave C — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:49:38 +0000

I stopped paying the license fee a few years back (I disconnected the aerial from my TV) and eventually they stopped sending me threatening letters (having finally realised that I was complying with the rules).

And now the BBC put all their own content online via the iPlayer and I can watch as much as I like for free, which at the moment is ‘Moto GP’ every other weekend and ‘Adventures in Architecture’ each week.

How much would I be willing to pay for iPlayer content? I’m really not sure. It would have to be quite low because, having got rid of my TV some years back, I don’t place a very high value on TV content.

By: Dubber

Dubber — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:42:14 +0000

I was having just that same internal conversation while watching just that same programme last night. And I’m someone who held onto paying the licence for quite a few months after I stopped owning a telly. I felt I was paying for programmes, but then decided that paying for owning a TV when I didn’t own a TV was a bit silly.

So we’re off the books, and the telly inspector man has been around to make sure we’re legit.

But I do think of it almost as a privelege to support something as great as this was. I’d happily throw 50p in the tip jar for that one.

But my next thought was ‘my Dad would love that programme’. He’s a Scottish-born typesetter and he used to make and set type – the sort that you fashion out of hot metal – before going through all of the changes to the typesetting business in the past 50 years (and there have been a few), finally becoming a bit of a Quark expert – until the trade became pretty much obsolete in time for his retirement.

And he lives in New Zealand where the iPlayer don’t go.

Anyone got a torrent link?

By: Pete Ashton

Pete Ashton — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:16:21 +0000

Heh, this "BBC using public money to compete with my business" thing you newspaper types come out with always amuses me. I went on about it at some length in this typically scrappy Stirrer thread last year but in essence, the BBC is kicking your ass because they've been investing in online journalism for over a decade now. You, to be frank, haven't. See also: The Guardian. The fact that the BBC is investing in something that will make its future uncertain is surely to be applauded and a reason to make sure it continues to be funded in the future by whatever means possible. The TV License was a best fit solution. We just need to find another one.

By: Marc Reeves

Marc Reeves — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:42:48 +0000

How long do we give the BBC to survive, with its ‘unique’ funding model (ie the one that uses my money to compete directly with my business)?
Has the Beeb twigged yet that i-player is bringing forward the day when the licence fee becomes unsustainable? I was talking to a TV ‘high-up’ the other day who cheerfully told me how great it was to get rid of his telly – and therefore the licence fee – because his pc didn’t need a licence.
I’m getting me a broadband connection for my garrett.