TV Licenses Replaced With "Media Fee".. Eveybody MUST Pay..

[Jukka Aho]

BBC is funded by... tv licence: http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/licencefee/

Wikipedia has an overview of the situation in various countries, and a handy map as well:

• Television licence (Wikipedia)

As for myself, I think YLE’s biggest role is promoting Finnish (and to some extent Nordic / Pan-European) culture and facilitating the production of domestic TV shows with a decidedly Finnish viewpoint: things like “serious” politics and current affairs talk shows (as opposed to comedy talk shows), domestic fiction, live recordings of various domestic festivals / concerts, televising the big sports events etc.), including domestically produced shows for the minorities and the children. The ad-funded channels primarily offer mere fiction and entertainment crap targeted at teenagers or 30-somethings and almost exclusively bought from abroad, mainly from English-speaking countries, and as for the radio – well don’t even get me started; there’s no commercial talk radio in Finland so what little we get on YLE’s stations (primarily on YLE Radio 1, Radio Suomi and YLE’s regional services in each province) is really all we got.

That is not to say there wouldn’t be room for improvement. I don’t get why YLE should buy rights to the entire HBO catalog when the ad-funded channels have been airing these big-name shows (such as The Sopranos) just fine, and I’m not sure why YleX should do the exactly the same bland format radio / playlist thing as all the commercial stations – the old Radiomafia model of having a lot more hours for specialized shows in the weekly schedule was much better.
 

[mrjimsfc]

I'm trying to imagine Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Laura on YLE Radio 1.

[Roxlintu]

Since I have just found the joys of the Finland Forum I thought I would add my 2pence.
I'm pretty disappointed to be honest, I came here from the UK 6 months ago with my Finnish husband so he could go to university. I left a good job knowing job prospects were not great but it made my husband happy And before I get berated for coming here and leaching from the state (I notice this is a recurring theme) I would like to point out that I paid National Insurance for 10 years in the UK and do not see the problem with EU citizens using benefits in other countries just as I am happy to pay taxes to Finland, after all we are one big happy EU family

So after coming here and deliberately not buying a TV or digibox and not having a radio I was happy to have one less bill to pay. Maybe if I or my husband was working it wouldnt feel like so much money but it is a lot especially compared with the UK license fee of around 120 pounds from which you get the BBC. I'd like to point out that I paid the license in the UK because I happily USED the services provided by the BBC. Why should I pay for something I do not use. Students have a hard enough time here especially since the study benefit has not seen an increase in quite some time. Television is a luxury, some would say a necessity but it is not needed, so if people choose not to have that luxury why charge them? I may not use the healthcare centre, trains or roads very much but I will use them at some point, and they are essential services not luxuries.

If people want to watch TV then they should pay, but don't penalise those that have better things to do than keep the sofa warm. Others may complain that a large portion of the current fee goes to paying for the inspectors, but you don't need them. The people register makes it easy to see who lives where, if they have a license leave them alone, if not send them a fine. Its up to the individual to prove they dont need a license, why waste money on inspectors who have no right of access anyway. THe system works in the UK, one of the few sysems that does work, and thats for 65m people. No sysem will ever be perfect but I don't think a blanket charge is the answer.

And I am sure I will get some reply telling me to go back to where i came from if i don't like the rules...

Nice to have a place to vent huh?

[Desundial]

Why should they bottom feed off the industrious of these other media companies who have made the effort to build interesting websites without fat, annual guarenteed cash (I'll say nothing about bbc, don't know how that's funded).

BBC is funded by... tv licence: http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/licencefee/

Cool, then since we're all one big EU family, if I must pay a media fee, I'd happily send it to BBC instead, since I actually use their programming!

[Desundial]

Why should they bottom feed off the industrious of these other media companies who have made the effort to build interesting websites without fat, annual guarenteed cash (I'll say nothing about bbc, don't know how that's funded).

BBC is funded by... tv licence: http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/licencefee/

Cool, then since we're all one big EU family, if I must pay a media fee, I'd happily send it to BBC instead, since I actually use their programming!

Wait, I take it back since what I listen to/read web pages of is the BBC World Service- "BBC World Service is funded by government grant and not the TV licence fee. Profits from separate BBC commercial services help to keep the licence fee low."

[dampa]

Last time I checked, CNN's & BBC's website (International Edition) are both Ad supported so visiting the named websites and clicking few links here and there generates enough money for them both. YLE shouldnt be any exception...

Katselukortti is the only fair option to go...

[DMC]

The people register makes it easy to see who lives where, if they have a license leave them alone, if not send them a fine. Its up to the individual to prove they dont need a license.

Guilty until proven innocent doesn't really sit well with me, and anyway, how can you prove you don't need a license? It is possible to prove you do have a TV but impossible to prove that you don't.

THe system works in the UK

Has it changed recently then? You never used to get an automatic fine for not having a TV license, they just sent letters.

[Roxlintu]

Yeah they send a couple of polite letters first, especially if you have bought a TV/DVD player/digibox etc... you have to give your name and address to the store, who then share that info with TV licensing. When they send a letter there is a little form attached where you can enter your existing license number (they dont seem to have the brains to check the address first to see if there is already a license) or you tick the box to say you don't use a TV etc... if you do the latter they will normally send someone round, check your previous license history etc. A friend of mine took this option and they sent an engineer round to check the TV was tunerless.

I dont particularly like the guilty until proven innocent either but its only the ones who havent paid the license because they dont want to spend the money that have trouble. You cant just ignore them anymore, they send auto fines. My housemate got one because he bought a tv and ignored the letter, it would have been very simple for him to have entered the license number that was in my name (as a license covers a whole household not person or single TV), but he was lazy and thought nothing would happen, but it did. It was easy enough to sort out but he had to pay an admin fee because he had wasted the license payers money with the issuing of the fine. Although the fee was a hell of a lot less than the fine

In my student days when i decided i wouldnt pay for a license i wasnt concerned because i knew the insspectors had no right of entry, but then i grew up and figured 120 a year was better than 1000 fine since i was using the service. I wouldnt consider not buying my train ticket, its only fair to pay if you use something.

[DMC]

When did the system change? In 2003 and 2004 they just sent a letter every couple of months, which I ignored. There was never any follow up.

[Roxlintu]

Well i don't know when it changed because I was never naughty once I stopped being a student but the incident that i mentioned happenned last June or July i think and i moved to Finland in September. So i guess it might be a recent change.

[Jukka Aho]

Katselukortti is the only fair option to go...

So in that scenario, how many viewing cards do you get per a single household / media fee? Many – especially families with children – have several TV sets/digiboxes and at least one PVR, sometimes also USB stick or PCI card receivers for the PCs, and would like to keep using them as they currently do: freely and without restrictions.

[nerakrose]

that's going to suck big time. i don't own a tv or a radio and all i have is a computer that i use for writing assignments, forums, livejournal and porn. i even bought a pc monitor and fancy adapter so i could use my playstation without having a tv (and thus pay for a licence i wouldn't need).

so, if yle starts producing my porn, i'll happily pay.

[Sulka]

Transportation is supported to provide you with cheaper transportation, to protect environment and so on. Not because it can't compete with rivals.

So you're saying it's understandable that transportation gets support because it does good for the country as a whole? Has it occured to you that that is precisely what YLE is there for, too? The commercial channels provide what they're good at: entertainment. YLE tries to provide education, support, quality and opportunities. It's an effort that's worth supporting, even if it means that some people have to pay more than they want to get out of it. I feel for people who will really economically struggle with the fee, but I have little sympathy for those who feel the idea of a public service like YLE is useless. I wouldn't want to live in your kind of world .

[r32]

so, if yle starts producing my porn, i'll happily pay.

Maybe they will

[nerakrose]

so, if yle starts producing my porn, i'll happily pay.

Maybe they will

I doubt they will

although - the fee as such isn't that high... 170-something euro for a year isn't really something to complain about.
i'll just complain about paying for things i don't use. (but as far as i know they haven't changed things yet, they may never do, so no reason to really complain until it happens, i suppose)