Proponents argue that one of the main advantages of television, which is funded entirely by a licence fee, is that the program can be enjoyed without interruption for advertising. Ad-supported television is not really free to the viewer because advertising is mainly used to sell mass items, and the cost of mass goods includes the cost of television advertising, so viewers actually pay for television when they buy these products. Viewers also pay for the time they waste watching commercials. In Hungary, licence fees exist nominally, but since 2002 the government has decided to pay them from the state budget. [101] In fact, this means that funding for Magyar Televízió and Duna TV now comes from the government through taxes. Monaco has never had a listener or viewer license fee. Since the creation of Radio Monte-Carlo in 1943 and Télévision Monte-Carlo in 1954, there has never been a fee for the reception of the stations, both being fully financed on a commercial basis. Ministers officially suspended plans to decriminalise non-payment of the annual television fee. Finally, you can add a blacklist to your router or your computer`s hosts file to prevent access to the content of the selected BBC web addresses. It published a list in June 2018. However, you don`t need a TV license to use BBC websites or listen to BBC radio. In the past, the fee in Romania for a household was RON 48 (EUR 10 857) per year.
[124] Small companies paid about €45 and large companies about €150. The broadcasting fee was collected as part of the electricity bill. The licence fee represents part of Televiziunea Română`s funding, the rest coming from advertising and government subsidies. However, some people claim that it is paid twice (both to the electricity bill and to the cable or satellite operator indirectly, although cable and satellite providers claim that this is not the case). In Romania, people have to prove that they do not own a TV receiver to avoid paying the fee, but if they own a computer, they have to pay because they can watch TVR content online. Some people have criticized this because TVR has lost many of its superiors in recent years, and also because it is still not widely used with the analog shutdown on June 17, 2015 and is encrypted on satellite TV (a decryption card and a satellite receiver with card reader must be purchased). In addition, TVR will switch to DVB-T2, and as many devices will only be sold with DVB-T, TVR will no longer be available to some users without digital terrestrial receivers. However, the fee could not be avoided as it was supposed to be part of the electricity bill.
On 1 January 2018, the fee was abolished in the Walloon Region. All licences still in force at that time will remain valid and payable until the end of the period, but will not be renewed after that period (for example, as of April 1, 2017, a licence must still be paid for before May 31, 2018). After this time, you no longer have to pay for a license). [5] In 2004, the BBC reported that « almost 70% of Britons want changes to be made to the way the BBC is funded » after an ICM survey for its current Panorama programme found that 31% were in favour of the existing fee system, 36% said the BBC should be paid on a subscription basis and 31% wanted advertising for programmes to be paid. [198] The license fee in Mauritius is 1,200 rupees per year (about €29). [47] They are collected as part of the electricity bill. The proceeds of the licence fee will be used to finance the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). The licence fee accounts for 60% of MBC`s funding, with the remainder coming largely from television and radio advertising. [48] However, the introduction of private broadcasting in 2002 put pressure on MBC`s advertising revenues and this figure is declining. In addition, MBC affects the profitability of private broadcasters who want the government to make MBC commercially free.[47] Bulgaria[154] and Serbia[155] have attempted to legislate to introduce a television license.
In Bulgaria, a fee is provided for in the Broadcasting Act, but it has never been put into practice. Lithuania[156] and Latvia have also long discussed the introduction of a fee, but have made little progress on legislation on such a fee. In the case of Latvia, some analysts believe this is partly due to the government`s reluctance to relinquish control of Latvijas Televīzija, which gives it general fiscal funding. [Who?] [157] On 1 April 1991, the BBC took over the management of television licences in the United Kingdom and assumed responsibility for the collection and enforcement of licence fees. [5] Since that date, the BBC has been the legal authority for television licensing (prior to April 1991, the statutory authority was the UK Home Office), although the UK Government retains some powers and responsibilities with respect to television licences. [58] Currently, licence fees cost £157.50. Some customers who are struggling financially can spread their payments over a longer period of time and make bi-weekly or monthly payments through a program called a Simple Payment Plan. Critics of beneficiaries` licenses point out that a license is a regressive form of taxation because the poor pay more for the service relative to income.
[149] In contrast, the advertising model implies that costs are covered in proportion to the consumption of bulk goods, particularly luxury goods, so that the poorer the viewer, the higher the subsidy. The experience of broadcasting deregulation in Europe suggests that the demand for ad-free content is not as high as previously thought. [ref. needed] In Japan, the annual fee (Japanese: 受信料, jushin-ryō, « reception fee ») for terrestrial television broadcasts is 14,205 yen (slightly less if paid by direct debit) and 24,740 yen for terrestrial television broadcasts. [44] There is a separate licence for monochrome television, and the fees are slightly lower in Okinawa. The Japanese fee is paid to the national broadcaster Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK). On 1 September 2016, the conditions under which a television licence is required were amended to include the reception of BBC video-on-demand services[67] via the iPlayer catch-up service. [68] A British man was persecuted by the BBC with a « threatening » television license letter after paying only 3 pence too much. Technically, this should also be true if you plug in your device to watch TV in a coffee shop or on a train, etc., or watch BBC iPlayer, although this is a bit difficult to control.
However, companies that do not have TV licenses should be aware that they may be breaking the law if one of their employees watches or records live TV or uses BBC iPlayer in the office. This is only legal if they are using a device that is not connected to the mains and they are covered by their home license. During a debate in the UK Parliament in October 2013, the levy was described as a « flat tax » and « probably the UK`s most regressive tax ». [211] Luxembourg has never had a television licence requirement; Until 1993, the country never had its own national public service broadcaster. The country`s first and largest broadcaster, RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg, is an advertising-funded commercial network, and the only other national broadcaster is the public radio station Radio 100.7, a small radio station funded by the country`s Ministry of Culture and Sponsorship. The majority of Luxembourg-based TV channels are owned by RTL Group and include channels that serve Luxembourg itself and channels that serve neighbouring countries such as Belgium, France and the Netherlands, but operate nominally and are available from Luxembourg. If a TV license for an address is no longer required, it is possible to cancel a license and request a partial refund. [32] The amount of the refund depends on the time remaining until the expiry date. According to the Law on Broadcasting (December 2002), every household and legal entity in Montenegro under which the technical requirements for receiving at least one radio or television programme are met is obliged to pay a monthly broadcasting fee. The monthly fee is €3.50. To finance a national cable network between 1978 and 1998 under the Radio and Television Act, Liechtenstein required an annual family broadcasting licence for households equipped with radio reception equipment.