TV License

thebaz · 31-05-2006 05:08PM #1

Now that RTE has lost the rights to another populart event , Premiership Football, why should we the Irish TV population be forced to pay a license fee to RTE , even though some of us , myself included have no desire or want to watch RTE. If i want to watch RTE fair eneogh , i'll pay my license , but if i choose to watch BBC , Setanta , TV3 , C4 etc . surely that my right - and i should not have to pay a fee that goes directly to RTE .

Noelie · 31-05-2006 05:10PM

Does TV3 get any of the TV licence?

WhiteWashMan · 31-05-2006 05:11PM

becuase its the law.

abelard · 31-05-2006 05:13PM

Noelie wrote:

Does TV3 get any of the TV licence?

Nope, they're fully financed by advertising.

I'm fully against the tv license too, expecially since it has to be paid even if the television is used solely for cctv, gaming, whatever, but as was mentioned, it's the law.

Hagar · 31-05-2006 05:18PM

Think of it as just another tax.
Bend forward, touch toes.

thebaz · 31-05-2006 05:20PM

Got keep Gerry Ryan and especially Pat Kenny well paid

abelard · 31-05-2006 05:24PM

Could be wrong, but aren't RTE making a loss as it is? They would probably collapse without our licence fee

Pigman II · 31-05-2006 05:31PM

Is there any country that actually is happy to pay their licence fee and reckon their national broadcaster IS doing a bang-up job?

I guess RTE are in the same unfortunate position as domestic soccer in this country in that their product is constantly being compared to what is on offer in the UK. When it doesn't measure up (an impossibility in itself) it is rubbished.

Ruu_Old · 31-05-2006 05:36PM

My friend in America was shocked when I told them the price of the TV license in Ireland, isnt it €156 a year?

Hitchhiker's Guide to... · 31-05-2006 05:39PM

its more in the UK

Hitchhiker's Guide to... · 31-05-2006 05:42PM

Noelie wrote:

Does TV3 get any of the TV licence?

TV3 can get some of the licence fee through the cultural fund part of the licence fee (although they have never been sucessful in applying for it). the licence fee also pays for the national opera. It also supports some other things such as transmission, archiving of national records (televised and radio) etc.

€12-13 euro a month is not a huge amount of money

Noelie · 31-05-2006 05:43PM

Don't get me wrong, they are wasting the TV licence money in many areas but we get a lot of american TV shows over here before the UK channels, look at Lost and Sopranos.
They just seem to be wasting the cash on home grown stuff, how much do messers Ryan and Kenny get?

Hitchhiker's Guide to... · 31-05-2006 05:44PM

Ruu wrote:

My friend in America was shocked when I told them the price of the TV license in Ireland, isnt it €156 a year?

would much prefer to pay the irish licence fee, than have to watch 30 minutes of tv that only contains about 18 minutes of actual program and the rest in ads. also like the irish situations lack of political ads and product placement within tv shows.

it is a personal choice though. they don't seem to mind it in the US

Hitchhiker's Guide to... · 31-05-2006 05:48PM

Noelie wrote:

They just seem to be wasting the cash on home grown stuff, how much do messers Ryan and Kenny get?

i'd saw in those two situations, their pay is supported (in abundance) by the advertising their programs draw in. It would actually look like a good deal if their pay was compared to their 'advertising earned'

it is the programs on at 1am in the morning that cost all the money...

sure the home grown stuff can be a bit of a waste, and i'm sure the admin/bureaucracy loses a fortune for them. still, a lot of programs 'need' to be produced even if only a few people will watch them.

nesf · 31-05-2006 05:51PM

Noelie wrote:

They just seem to be wasting the cash on home grown stuff, how much do messers Ryan and Kenny get?

Would you prefer if we imported almost all of our television programs, like TV3 do? There are some decent current affairs shows on RTE, along with GAA, which are definitely lacking in the TV3 set-up. I know not everyone wants to watch them but if we lost them we'd be much poorer for it tbh.

monkeyfudge · 31-05-2006 05:54PM

5% of the license fee is now allocated to the Sound & Vision fund that is allocated by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland and which anyone can apply for to make programming.

The radio station I work with has already had several series commissioned under this fund. And I'm also involved in setting up a Community Access Television Station for Dublin which will rely heavily on the Sound & Vision fund.

Ruu_Old · 31-05-2006 05:57PM

Roundtower2 wrote:

would much prefer to pay the irish licence fee, than have to watch 30 minutes of tv that only contains about 18 minutes of actual program and the rest in ads. also like the irish situations lack of political ads and product placement within tv shows.

it is a personal choice though. they don't seem to mind it in the US

Its hateful but you are probably right, it annoys me but Im not used to it like the others I guess. You're watching something like Simpsons, cut to the ads and in the middle of the ads "We'll be right back with the Simpsons" and then more ads!

Noelie · 31-05-2006 05:59PM

I'm not saying that all home grown stuff is a waste, but for example Who wants to Be a Millionaire, why get Gay, they could have gotten someone with a little less draw, they still would have gotten the same ratings and a lot less cost.

I would guess there is a lot of Admin spend that could be reduced, espically if they were told the fee wasn't being increased for a few years.

trillianv · 31-05-2006 06:00PM

Roundtower2 wrote:

would much prefer to pay the irish licence fee, than have to watch 30 minutes of tv that only contains about 18 minutes of actual program and the rest in ads. also like the irish situations lack of political ads and product placement within tv shows.

it is a personal choice though. they don't seem to mind it in the US

I am American and we don't pay a license at all. I was appalled at the price of the license here as I rarely watch the local channels. If you are paying for satellite television you should not have to pay a license fee, it should be paid by the satellite provider, IMHO.

And as for it being a personal choice, it's not, we don't have a choice of how long our ad breaks are for. Besides, really are we having all that longer of total ads in the entire hour. If say, CSI, plays from 10 pm to 11 pm here it is being shown during the same hour it would be played in America. Therefore, obviously you are being shown the same total amount of ads, only maybe they are being played between programs.

Munya · 31-05-2006 06:20PM

Roundtower2 wrote:

would much prefer to pay the irish licence fee, than have to watch 30 minutes of tv that only contains about 18 minutes of actual program and the rest in ads. also like the irish situations lack of political ads and product placement within tv shows.

it is a personal choice though. they don't seem to mind it in the US

Thats true that did annoy me whilst I was there. I dont believe Rte should have any ads at all though.

robinph · 31-05-2006 06:59PM

Roundtower2 wrote:

its more in the UK

But you get a lot more for that as well, and no adds either.

nesf · 31-05-2006 07:08PM

trillianv wrote:

If you are paying for satellite television you should not have to pay a license fee, it should be paid by the satellite provider, IMHO.

This I defintely agree with. If I'm paying for Sky Digital (for example), I'm essentially paying for RTE twice. But I cannot see anything changing tbh.

DublinWriter · 31-05-2006 07:30PM

Privatise RTE. Privatise RTE. Privatise RTE.

RTE currently generate 70% of their income through advertising and 30% through the Licence fee.

Ask yourself how much worse would a 30% less funded RTE be? Not much.

As recepiants of the licence fee, don't expect any very edgy or politically critical programming to come out of Montrose. Remember how Scrap Saturday and Bull Island were axed at the hight of their popularity?

As recepiants of commerical funding, don't expect any very edgy or critical consumer programming. Could you imagine RTE ever having a programme like Top Gear where they dared to be critical of a Renault product? (their chief sponsors atm).

As we come into the summer months, watch as RTE has a bit of a snooze and suspends most of it's normal home-grown programming until late September.

Dudess · 31-05-2006 07:38PM

The fact that RTE is a public service broadcaster, yet still gets tons of advertising revenue, doesn't make sense to me. Surely it's effectively a commercial broadcaster because of this and a public service one in name only? That's what makes me mad about the licence fee. Am I right in saying that a licence fee has to be paid to keep a public service broadcaster going? (Although that's not the case in the States with PBS, but PBS isn't the state broadcaster, unlike RTE). Fair enough if that is the case. I wouldn't have a problem paying the licence fee then, but the fact that there's so much advertising - that riles me. At least the BBC doesn't get any advertising revenue.
And another important and significant point - RTE's ****e.:D

chamlis · 31-05-2006 07:46PM

Guys, RTE is probably the second-best network in the world. Seriously, I wouldn't change a thing. We get the best of what's out there, minus all the sh1te way before anyone else. They are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but if you compare RTE to ANY OTHER NETWORK you'll see difference in all round quality. I mean, RTE are a general station. They need to appeal to a wide range of people, and in that regard, they do the best job they can.

I'm gonna get flamed the fark out of it now.

Cormic · 31-05-2006 07:56PM

chamlis wrote:

RTE is probably the second-best network in the world.

Who is the best network then? FOX?

dermo88 · 31-05-2006 07:57PM

This tax in the 21st century is oudated, obsolete and outmoded. It should be abolished, but the idiots who make the laws, conveniently forget the taxes that they have already imposed, and cannot wait to impose a few more additional ones.

Gough Whitlams Government in Australia saw fit to do that, and axe this odious, outmoded, regressive tax in the 1970's. The Americans, in their wisdom, despite having terrible TV, never had it. Nor do the Canadians.

And for some wierd, and unknown reason, its hardly RTE programmes that sell worldwide. Its hardly anything from French, Belgian, Swedish, or norwegian TV, all of which have higher Telly taxes than we do. They don't sell abroad either.

I could accept if it had some objective such as preserving the Irish language, but that, since Independence has failed, and cost the economy in todays cash terms, 80 BILLION EURO. Imagine that.

I could accept if it had preserved elements of Irish culture. Hardly. Certainly not, when compared with the likes of the BBC who earn every last cent of their licence fee with a quality product.

YOU, the individual, the householder, the person who bought your TV, bought your DVD player, bought your DVD's, rent movies, continue to pay VAT at 21% on those items. You've already paid.

Burn their threatening letters. When their inspectors come around, make their lives hell. Delay them. Get the local thugs on them. Cause "minor" accidents.

Sooner or later the message will be heard at Montrose and Dail Eireann. This is an unpopular tax, and it has to go. Replace it with a General Communications tax, an extra levy on Cablelink bills, and the purchase of TV's and DVD equipment.

My hatred of this tax goes back to the 1980's, when I saw a next door neighbour who had three kids being arrested for not having the licence, and her TV taken away. As a 10 year old, I saw something was wrong with society if it treated someone, a mother, who lived at home, who watched TV, as a criminal. As a 10 year old, I regarded it as disgusting, sick, and morally wrong, and morally bankrupt of the establishment to behave in such a manner. Criminal offence....get real.

In Britain, you see drug dealers in the streets selling weed, coke and heroin. Meanwhile, you see the bus Shelters advertising "You could get a 1,000 Pound fine, blah blah, blah, not having one is a criminal offence". Seriously, its a waste of court time when a summons for this is sent out, and a fine issued.

I know she was wrong. I know everyone else paid. Maybe because we could afford to. I saw the stamps going into the booklet, and the pound notes and fivers being squirelled away to pay for it.

What a joke. What a farce. The TV licence is a threat to decent people in society who fear being labeled as criminals. The people in charge know that. They will continue to make laws, and taxes called licences that target ordinary law abiding working class people like you and me, and never ever forget that.

You'll probably remember when you have 5 Euro left to your name after paying all that you should by law.

newbie2 · 31-05-2006 08:21PM

Licence fee revenue is used to fund RTÉ's public service activities. The cost of providing these services is however substantially in excess of the amount of public funding received in the form of licence fee revenue and for this reason RTÉ also engages in a number of commercial activities. Currently, approximately 50% of RTÉ's revenue is derived from licence fees and approximately 50% from commercial income. Some of RTÉ's public service activities receive complete public funding, some receive limited public funding and some receive no public funding.

RTÉ 1 gets 45% of this funding
RTÉ 2 gets 24%
RTÉ radio 1 gets 8%
RTÉ lyric FM gets 4%
RTÉ Radio na Gaeltachta gets 6%
RTÉ Performing Groups get 8%
Support for TG4 = 5%

RTÉ 2fm and RTÉ Publishing (RTÉ Aertel, RTÉ.ie, RTÉ Guide) do not receive any public funding. Source: RTÉ Annual Report 2004

99% of housholds have a tv. And are obliged to pay a TV licence Fee under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1972.

If you feel you cannot afford this then I suggest you go here: http://www.welfare.ie/foi/hbp.html

We pay the lowest TV Licence Fee per capita in the EU.

In announcing the Government approval of an increased TV Licence Fee, December 2002, Minister Dermot Ahern stated: "RTÉ will be able to seek annual increases up to the level of the Consumer Price Index (CPI). All future licence fee changes will be subject to the strict monitoring of performance against financial, management and programming targets." RTÉ made its first application for an increase linked to CPI in November 2003 and received an increase of €2, with effect from January 2004.

Between now and 00.35 tonight there is only one non home produced programme on RTÉ one (Silent Witness).

In my opinion it's worth every cent of the €155 per year (42 cent per houshold per day )

PS. I work for RTÉ and I also have to pay the fee. It sucks but thats life.

Lump · 31-05-2006 08:25PM

If I don't pay the license fee in my job, it's a sackable offence.

John

newbie2 · 31-05-2006 08:28PM

Lump wrote:

If I don't pay the license fee in my job, it's a sackable offence.

John

me too:(

dermo88 · 31-05-2006 08:38PM

Yes comrade, I am sure it is worth every kopeck comrade. Now get your hands out of my wallet comrade and stop financially raping me.

Or do I have a choice between KY Jelly or Vaseline. Condom or not?

"99% of housholds have a tv. And are obliged to pay a TV licence Fee under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1972"

A law that was made 34 years ago. A law that is outdated. A law made when a colour Television cost between 2,000 and 3,000 Euro in TODAYS money.

I am all for fairness, equality, and meeting ones obligations to society as a good citizen, but there comes a point in time where this has to be questioned, and challenged.

And I am now asking questions, very serious questions.

In 1972, when the WTA was passed, how many channels were there in Ireland?
How many are there now?

How much did a TV cost then?
How much does it cost now?

How come Irish broadcasters are surviving and thriving in the private sector?

I have no doubt that RTE do a stellar job. Thank you, you've done 45 years of excellent work, excellent programming, many memorable and exciting moments.

I have no desire to go to the social welfare website, and hope I never need it. I am a law abiding citizen, who resents ads desciribing people as spongers. I resent ads who describe people as criminals for using their eyes, and turning on a box. I resent the apparatus of the state being used to check people on a database. That goes for Britain and Ireland. In Britain, the most common convictions are amongst single mothers.

Lump - How come its a sackable offence in your job?

TV License

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