Sunday 23 January 2011

Ban the License Fee? No way, sirrah!

I seriously dislike most television adverts.

I remember the halcyon days when they were limited to the time slot after one program and before the next, and maybe one in the middle - or two, perhaps three, if it was a long film.
Those days are sadly gone.

Hence the rise of the DVD in my watching schedule. - The local video rental shops are happy about this too! :)

I've just been invited to join a campaign on facebook to destroy the TV License.

At first glance, most of the people who have joined this petition so far, appear to be fans of the SKY viewing experience - and object to having to pay for channels they claim not to watch, on top of the exorbitant cost of the SKY subscription.
Fair play, I understand where they are coming from.
But some of us can't afford the luxury of SKY.

And some of us, namely me, gnash our teeth at any interruption to the programme on offer. GRR! FREEVIEW ADVERTS! GRR!
Yeah, okay I'm a fossil.

So, I'm sorry 'lets get the uk tv licence abolished', I'm afraid I'm not joining your cause at this time, although I totally understand where your supporters are coming from.

(As I've mentioned before, my particular bugbear is adverts on TV, especially if they are in the middle of a story that you are trying to watch.)

Instead of this petition, why not start a petition to get SKY to offer a License Fee Free channel option?
- a) this would have more chance of success,
- b) it would mean those of us who dislike adverts interrupting our viewing could still do that without having to resort to the expense of buying DVDs of the series we want to watch. (Specially since the BBC charge a veritable fortune for them, in my fossilised opinion.)

I spent several years not paying my license, because I was unable to watch terrestrial (or other) TV in my location.
I used the local DVD/Video rental shops instead.

Channels like Sky are too expensive for many of us to consider as an option.

Having a TV doesn't automatically mean you have to pay for the license fee.

I think if Sky and the other subscription providers offered a service like this, I think they'd be surprised by the popularity. :)

Just a thought, 'lets get the uk tv licence abolished', that you might want to consider?

Eleanor

4 comments:

Adaddinsane said...

Agreed.

Though my reason for not buying Sky has more to do with the person at the top. (And probably being a snob.)

I'm fairly relaxed about adverts, I just use the mute button and laugh at the silliness of adverts without sound, occasionally adding my own voice-overs. (Trouble is the mute button has been used so much it now doesn't like working.)

Mind you, I do listen to the Barclays adverts, not because I like that Bank (collective noun for bankers? A wunch), but because it's Steve Merchant. And funny.

Eleanor said...

I just dislike the interruption to story. :) Boo hiss! ;)

Dave's Girl said...

For screenwriting, see Kal's hero's journey work at http://www.clickok.co.uk/index4.html

Eleanor said...

Dave's post is akin to spam ... but I've left it because some writers may find it useful. (?)

There are far better resources than this - i.e. 'the horses mouth' if you follow some of my links to actual writers.