SportTalk

Should the TV license be abolished?

In my opinion, yes. It has had its day for sure. In the current climate of TV on demand and online, surely it is time for the BBC to follow suit and change with the times; particularly as the Christmas just gone has to be one of the worst on record for programming on the BBC. Some programmes had been repeated within 24 hours of being shown the first time! With TV Licensing collecting £3.7 billion in revenue in 2010/11* (up £99 million from the previous year*) surely we deserve a better service than this. With the BBC Trust having just completed a year long consultation on 'Delivering quality first', one should hope that TV next Christmas should be considerably better than last years, and if it is not that will surely be the final nail in the license fees metaphorical coffin. One thing that should also be taken in to account is that many people now choose to subscribe to a television supplier. In my case, the primary reason I subscribe to a TV supplier is because of the increasingly lacking amount of sport on the BBC. You would think that the programming from the BBC should reflect the public's interest, and I can't think for one minute that the public interest in sport has declined to such a degree. In recent times we have said goodbye to cricket, most top-level football (except MOTD and major tournaments), half of Formula One and professional boxing to name just a few. To its credit, there has been some good drama, and I do find that the radio output is generally very good, but is this enough to justify the fee anymore?


*figures taken from www.tvlicensing.co.uk