kimilseung

no, not a poll tax

scrubbedexpat099

Sounds like it.

kimilseung

It would have to be on the head, rather than the household for it to even remotely sound like it to me.

Steve_

Why oh why don't they simply do it the way we do it in Canada for CBC, i.e. they put commercials on?

I have some sympathy for not having commercials on during educational programmes for example, but in that case those could be funded out of general revenue.

Never understand why there is a licence fee for crappy soap operas you never watch.

Nutek

Lack of commercials is something I would be willing to pay a CONSIDERABLE sum of money for were it offered here.

It's the main reason I have Prime and Netflix, just to get away from the damn things.

Uncle_Bob

I'd happily pay for the BBC not only because of the quality content but because I'm allergic to commercials. I do not recall on any occasion after having my time robbed from me for a commercial, that i have actually thought about purchasing the product, in fact it normally makes me avoid purchasing it.

But i understand people who are frustrated at having to pay for something they choose not to use, do the Chinese have to pay for state run TV? I see the poll on the telegraph website indicates a massive 86% of the voters are against this fee. I wonder how many are still influenced by the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal.

jibsymalone

DVR? Skip through the things, i haven't had to watch a whole one in years! Is it perfect? No, but it better than actually watching them.

Nutek

We do skip them, every damn 8 minutes or whatever it is. Completely ruins whatever is on, either because it breaks immersion or because chunks of the show have been cut out to make room for them.

The fact that we PAY for it makes me extra ranty.

BritishGuy36

No, I get it watching catchup shows too.

Pulaski

This. .... I suspect that "half hour" US sitcoms would com off looking pretty bad when people realise they're only getting about 17-18 minutes of "show" by the time you have stripped out the title sequence and credits. Maybe I just miss the 28-29 minutes of pure entertainment of Porridge, Open All Hours, Fawlty Towers, and OF&H. I don't watch much TV, but I'd sooner buy the DVDs (I haven't got into downloads yet) and watch those. I can watch an "hour long" show in 40 minutes by the time I have skipped the title sequence "chapter".

Yorkieabroad

Why don't they just make i-player a subscription only service....and open it up worldwide. I'd happily pay £150 a year for that...as long as they didn't put commercials on.

SEL_boy

The 'just skip the commercials' brigade are responsible for something far *worse* than commercials, in my opinion -- broadcaster and advertisers are not idiots and now because of the skippers the commercials are inserted *into* the shows, as product placement (annoying but bearable if done cleverly) or as snipes, those super annoying lower third graphics that distract from (or entirely cover up) the action.

I would very happily pay a licence fee not to have commercials if they expand the iPlayer to the States, which I hope they do ASAP.

Cardienscarf

You only need a license if you watch as it is being broadcast. I had to sign a form to say that I don't watch "live" TV but they said they might come to my home. I don't know what that would prove.

rebs

I think this is what the proposals suggested are all about... the iplayer stuff is a bit of a red herring (IMO)...

I think it must be all but impossible to prove or disprove that someone watches 'live' tv over the internet, so that's why the suggestion is some kind of more generic levy for everyone to pay.

Markoncarp

I wouldnt pay it. I already pay for UKTVeverywhere, Netflix, Hulu and HBO Go. I honestly dont think iPlayer would be worth extra money.