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Comment by wkat4242 | Hacker News Reader

Why not just pay them out of the general taxes. We did this in Holland decades ago, and with that saved s lot of money on the administration and checking of TV licenses. Just for those 2 homes in the city that didn't have a TV. It's not worth the hassle.

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That's sort of the thing we've recently switched to in Sweden too.

Everyone who pays tax in Sweden also pays the fee for public service. 1% of the income (with a 1347 SEK roof) goes to SVT, SR and UR.

There's historically been a reluctance to making it a tax because public service wants to claim independence from the state. Now it has gone from a mandatory (but escapable) fee to an inescapable mandatory fee. Which is, basically, a tax...

I haven't watched TV in 19 years. Why should I have to fund the BBC via taxes?

I left school in 2003, but at least with things like education I'd be funding the young minds of tomorrow, or making sure people have adequate healthcare (NHS), or that we don't have a repeat of the Great Fire of London (fire service).

The BBC doesn't even provide a service that comes evenly remotely close to that.

Hmm yeah but I also pay taxes for things I don't use. And most people do have a telly.

But yes I agree it's not so important especially in this day and age. I don't even have a TV connection anymore. And haven't had for 7 years. I just watch streaming.

Because no parliament can bind a future one - and there is a general right wing movement that the BBC is "biased" (despite them stacking the news leadership with their own appointees since 2010), and so the tax would be rife for cutting.

Makes sense but the same sentiment is present in Holland (that currently has an extreme-right government) and it didn't actually get cut.

And of course traditional media aren't really an important source of news anymore anyway.

Any kind of funding for public television necessarily depends on political approval, regardless of whether it is formally a tax. No ordinary private media organization can go collect license fees from people who haven't subscribed to anything.

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