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Sat, 1 May 1999 00:15:40 -0700 |
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Eric Kisch wrote:
>How many of our U.S. list members would be willing to pay $100 a year to
>support a national radio and/or TV network that is along the lines of a
>BBC3? Whether or not they agreed with all the contents!
Actually, if you live in Britain and own a radio and _no TV_ then you get
all the BBC radio services (five national networks including Radio 3 and
their five symphony orchestras) free, gratis and for no charge. These are
paid for out of the TV Licence which is around $165.00 per year and will
stay like that for the next three years.
The problem is that Eric's question doesn't take into account the fact that
you don't have any choice in the matter if you own a TV. If you live here
in Britain and own a TV set you HAVE to pay the money for the licence every
year or you get fined anything up to the quivalent of over $1500. If you
don't pay that you get a stay in the slammer of up to six months. The BBC
only works because everyone is made to pay whether they want to or not.
I'm sure lots of Americans would be happy to pay by choice but can you see
Congress passing a law to say that everyone with a TV has to pay it _on
pain of going to prison whether they watch the service that is being paid
for or not?_ There is the rub. I doubt it would be passed here if it were
to be introduced for the first time.
And before anyone asks "How do they know whether you are watching TV
without a licence or not?" take it from me, after all these decades of
operating the system, THEY KNOW, and those who don't pay are caught and are
dealt with to the extent that, to all intents and purposes, everyone pays.
How long the system will last with all the multi-channel choices that are
now becoming available on cable and satellite remains to be seen.
Tony Duggan
Staffordshire,
United Kingdom.
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