Brits refuse to pull plug on B&W TVs!

[pugs5061]

I am showing my age. OK $144 less then. (I always use to use $2.50). This is all new to me though. Glad things are different here

[yagosaga]

Hello,

yes, it is alright. British people have to pay a fee for owning a tv set and receiving public television.

In Germany, we also have to pay a fee of 5,76 € a month for owning a radio anmd listen to the radio program, and 12,22 € a month for owning a tv set and watching television. As a result, the public television program of the publich broadcast corporations is commercial-free, except the time between 6 and 8 o'clock in the evening. But there are no interuptions by commercials in movies, sports and so on. Since 1984, we also have private tv programs which are funded only by commercials, but the quality of these programs are not as well as the quality of the fee-funded public programs.

In Britain, b/w tv is cheaper than color tv. Here in Germany, there is no difference between color and b/w.

- Eckhard

[andy]

...

[marty59]

I recall something along the lines that an area/house can be surveyed by an equipped vehicle that detects the local oscillator running inside your set. I imagine there's fines involved for operating illegally.

[Sandy G]

Originally Posted by marty59

I recall something along the lines that an area/house can be surveyed by an equipped vehicle that detects the local oscillator running inside your set. I imagine there's fines involved for operating illegally.

Yep. And they used to go around at night & look for the tell-tale bluish glow of a telly operating...

[Sam Cogley]

Originally Posted by wa2ise

And it's the government that collects this fee, and then funds the broadcaster? Sounds like that broadcaster better not say nothin' bad about the government or else the government cuts off the funding. We in the USA would never tolerate that situation. We have laws that specifically forbid the government from broadcasting domestically (Voice of America is for foreign listeners, but we still can hear it spilling inside the USA, but almost nobody in the USA ever listens to shortwave anyway). We take our first amendment seriously.

From what I've seen (and heard), the BBC is one of the most honest, straighforward and no-BS broadcasters on Earth.

[Rodzilla]

once upon a time in pre TV days Canada had similar license scheme for radios...you'll see them pop up on Ebay every now and then,old radios with the last yearly govt license still stapled inside the cabinet

i was talking to an older friend just the other day who remembers this from the 30/40's.seems to me he said it was 11 bucks a year...not a fortune but not an insignificant sum in those days,apparently the local radio repair guy collected it[and likely got a small cut for his trouble]

[batterymaker]

The host of "Connections", James Burke, had a great line concerning the license.

"We didn't see anything wrong with taxation without representation. The BBC wouldn't exist without it!"

[Adam]

At least it's not one per set, that would make it nearly impossible to collect tvs.

So are they broadcasting analog or digital now? I know they needed a converter to 405-lines to operate the old sets already, now another one for digital to analog too? I used to think how much better off we were here needing no converters, but now with the digital converter boxes and all my modulators I suppose I'm not really any better off. I know the Canadians still have it good, because I'm still getting their ch9 (but I don't think that will last for long either)

[Tom Albrecht]

Originally Posted by wa2ise

And it's the government that collects this fee, and then funds the broadcaster? Sounds like that broadcaster better not say nothin' bad about the government or else the government cuts off the funding. We in the USA would never tolerate that situation. We have laws that specifically forbid the government from broadcasting domestically (Voice of America is for foreign listeners, but we still can hear it spilling inside the USA, but almost nobody in the USA ever listens to shortwave anyway). We take our first amendment seriously.

As a few others have pointed out, the BBC is recognized worldwide as one of the most impartial news organizations around.

When I lived in Switzerland, I paid the TV license fee to an outfit called Billag. Seemed to be a private agency contracted to handle the collection of licensing fees. You can read a little about how it works here at the bottom of this page: http://switzerland.angloinfo.com/cou...zerland/tv.asp

These fees are nothing new, and go back to the earliest days of radio broadcasting in Europe. Although some folks here find this a peculiar system, Europeans strongly prefer it, often making fun of how our TV shows are continually interrupted by commercials. They will even go so far as to say the American football is a game entirely built around the concept of continual interruption of the TV coverage. All the natural breaks in it work well for U.S.-style commercial TV.

I've got a number of old radios from Europe that have the PTT (post office - telephone - telegraph) license stickers on the back of them. In those days, you'd pay your fee and get a little stamp or sticker to put on the back of the radio itself. These days, with a fee per household instead of per unit, that system is no longer used.

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by wa2ise

And it's the government that collects this fee, and then funds the broadcaster? Sounds like that broadcaster better not say nothin' bad about the government or else the government cuts off the funding. We in the USA would never tolerate that situation. We have laws that specifically forbid the government from broadcasting domestically (Voice of America is for foreign listeners, but we still can hear it spilling inside the USA, but almost nobody in the USA ever listens to shortwave anyway). We take our first amendment seriously.
---------------------------------------------
I'm pretty sure this doesn't violate the "no politics" rule, as everyone agrees that the first amendment is a good thing, conservatives, liberals, democrats, republicans.

I posted this once before when somebody mentioned "rules"...
I must be missing something... A while back, I noticed that many posters on this forum will not use the term "eBay" or will use a disclaimer such as "I am not associated with this auction" when posting a link to an eBay auction... I went looking for a videokarma rule section, to find out what is permitted with respect to eBay links. I could not find any rules. I have always tried to use common sense in posting, and hope that I have not offended anyone, but if there are specific rules posted somewhere, please direct me to their location.
Thanks!
jr

[jeyurkon]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

I posted this once before when somebody mentioned "rules"...
I must be missing something... A while back, I noticed that many posters on this forum will not use the term "eBay" or will use a disclaimer such as "I am not associated with this auction" when posting a link to an eBay auction... I went looking for a videokarma rule section, to find out what is permitted with respect to eBay links. I could not find any rules. I have always tried to use common sense in posting, and hope that I have not offended anyone, but if there are specific rules posted somewhere, please direct me to their location.
Thanks!
jr

I've looked in the past and haven't found any rules either. A few of the forums like the classifieds have a sticky with rules, but they seem to be the exception.

John

[marty59]

I believe that the "Rules" are basically carried over from the Audiokarma side, as they would apply here.

You newbies to this site may not realize that Videokarma had split from the Audiokarma site to be more stand alone from the audio folks, but we are still under the same "umbrella".

Please correct me on this if I'm missing something here..

[Phil Nelson]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

I have always tried to use common sense in posting

That's the best rule of all !

Here are the Audiokarma rules, for what they're worth: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=301366 .

I don't know whether they officially apply here, but as long as you try to be a good neighbor and keep your sense of humor intact, I doubt you'll run into any trouble, in this forum or others.

Phil

[Sam Cogley]

I've continued to follow the AK conventions (though there is no rule against using the term "eBay," and I personally find it a bit silly to dance around it). It seemed the simplest way to keep on the right side of the staff.