BBC silence over licence loophole: Corporation refuses to say how many households do not need one because they catch-up online
- More than a million households do not pay the £145.50 annual fee
- Corporation fears it could lose out if the figure was known to the public
- Many people legally watch TV through catch-up services such as iPlayer
By Larisa Brown
|
It is thought many of the one million homes which do not pay the charge watch programmes legally on internet catch-up services, such as the BBC iPlayer, which do not need a licence to use.
The loophole is believed to be costing the Corporation millions a year in lost revenue from the £145.50 annual fee.
The BBC turned down a freedom of information request asking for the number of households who had said they didn't need a licence fee
And critics accused the BBC of 'refusing to answer legitimate questions' by concealing how many people were using the online loophole to avoid payment.
John Whittingdale, chairman of the Commons culture, media and sport committee, urged the Corporation to publish the figures so the public could have a 'proper debate' on the future of the licence fee.
THE HISTORY OF AUNTY'S TV LICENCE (WHICH STARTED AT 50p)
The first licence fee was issued in November 1922 for radio users, and cost a princely 10 shillings (50p).
The first combined Radio/TV licence - for £2 - was issued in June 1946.
As television became popular, radio-only licences were abolished in February 1971.
The first supplementary licence fee for colour TV was introduced in January 1968.
The original iPlayer service was launched as a five-month trial in October 2005, with 5,000 broadband users testing it.
It was then gradually rolled out and made available to more people across the UK until in 2011 an international version was launched.
A television licence is not needed to watch iPlayer content after it has been broadcast.
However, the 'Watch Live' option, which broadcasts some channels simultaneously with television demands a valid TV licence.
He said: 'The licence fee was created when television was in a different world, when there was very little choice and everybody watched the BBC.
'Today people have access to hundreds of channels as well as downloads, catch-up services and on demand.
'As more and more choice is available, the arguments for having a licence fee no longer hold.
'It is important that figures for things like how many people are avoiding the licence fee by using catch-up services are released so there can be an informed discussion about what to do about the fee.'
Almost all the BBC's programmes are available on the internet catch-up service and can be viewed just a few minutes after they have finished on television.
Some programmes, such as a forthcoming Peter Kay sitcom, are even being made available on iPlayer first.
The idea looks set to be extended after the BBC approved a 12-month trial which would allow up to 40 hours of programming to be shown on BBC online before transmission on TV.
It means licence fee payers without access to iPlayer are funding programmes they cannot watch, which could be seen first by those who are escaping the charge.
Comedian Peter Kay, left, is to star in a sitcom that will be shown on iPlayer before terrestrial channels, while Commons Culture, Media and Sport committee chair John Whittingdale, right, said the Government and BBC should discuss an alternative to the licence fee
Last year, 2.32billion TV and radio programmes were watched on the BBC iPlayer, a figure boosted by the coverage of the Olympics.
Viewers who use only the internet catch-up services can respond to letters from TV Licensing by making what it calls a 'no licence fee needed claim'.
When a newspaper submitted a freedom of information request, asking how many people were exploiting the 'catch-up' loophole to avoid paying their licence fee, the BBC refused to reveal the figures.
It said the 'disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention or detection of crime [and] the collection of the licence fee'.
The Corporation said this was because the information would be 'of use to those seeking to evade paying the licence fee'.
Some programmes are even being made available on iPlayer before they are broadcast
Matthew Sinclair, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'It is very disappointing that the BBC are refusing to answer legitimate questions.
'It is attempts to enforce the law that are protected in the Freedom of Information Act, not attempts to confuse people into paying more than they should.'
The BBC estimates that £196million of revenue was lost in 2009/10 due to licence fee evasion.
It added: 'The BBC does not anticipate a significant loss of income from the number of people who pay the licence fee due to catch-up viewing.
'The number of people watching only catch-up TV is less than 2 per cent per week.
'The licence fee model has shown itself resilient enjoying greater public support today than it did 20 years ago and at 40p per day it remains good value to audiences.'
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE TV LICENCE AND iPLAYER
WHO NEEDS A TV LICENCE?
Anyone watching or recording TV programmes on any channel as they are being broadcast. Whatever device you use to watch programmes – a TV set, computer, laptop or mobile phone – you must pay the £145.50 licence fee. Over-75s are entitled to a free licence. Anyone without a valid licence risks prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000.
Anyone watching or recording TV programmes on any channel as they are being broadcast. Whatever device you use to watch programmes – a TV set, computer, laptop or mobile phone – you must pay the £145.50 licence fee. Over-75s are entitled to a free licence. Anyone without a valid licence risks prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000.
WHAT CAN YOU WATCH WITHOUT ONE?
Programmes on the iPlayer, the BBC’s catch-up service, provided you view them after they have been broadcast. Those using the iPlayer’s Watch Live function, which broadcasts eight channels at virtually the same time as on TV, will need a licence.
Programmes on the iPlayer, the BBC’s catch-up service, provided you view them after they have been broadcast. Those using the iPlayer’s Watch Live function, which broadcasts eight channels at virtually the same time as on TV, will need a licence.
HOW MANY ARE VIEWING ONLINE TO DOGE LICENCE FEE?
The BBC won’t reveal how much revenue it is losing because people watch online but it is likely to be well into the millions. Three per cent of people don’t pay a licence fee, equal to a million households, but it’s unclear how many of them are using iPlayer.
The BBC won’t reveal how much revenue it is losing because people watch online but it is likely to be well into the millions. Three per cent of people don’t pay a licence fee, equal to a million households, but it’s unclear how many of them are using iPlayer.
HOW CAN BBC TELL WHO WATCHES LIVE OR CATCH-TV?
It can't. It relies on honesty. Anyone not paying a licence fee has to submit a declaration that they are not watching or recording live broadcasts. Licence enforcers can make house visits to check and if your explanation is accepted, they put your account on ‘hold’ for two years, before investigating again.
It can't. It relies on honesty. Anyone not paying a licence fee has to submit a declaration that they are not watching or recording live broadcasts. Licence enforcers can make house visits to check and if your explanation is accepted, they put your account on ‘hold’ for two years, before investigating again.
COULD NON-FEE PAYERS BE CHARGED FOR iPLAYER?
Possibly, but it would be complicated. The BBC could introduce a system similar to Sky, under which customers cannot watch any programmes on TV sets, laptops, or mobile devices without an ID code. However, this would involve an enormous amount of bureaucracy. Equally, the BBC could not charge all viewers to watch iPlayer, because existing licence holders would end up paying twice for the same service.
Possibly, but it would be complicated. The BBC could introduce a system similar to Sky, under which customers cannot watch any programmes on TV sets, laptops, or mobile devices without an ID code. However, this would involve an enormous amount of bureaucracy. Equally, the BBC could not charge all viewers to watch iPlayer, because existing licence holders would end up paying twice for the same service.
HOW MUCH IS LIVE ON iPLAYER
The only ‘live’ programmes on iPlayer are the eight BBC channels screened on the Watch Live section, for which you still need a licence. Most other programmes are available on catch-up.
The only ‘live’ programmes on iPlayer are the eight BBC channels screened on the Watch Live section, for which you still need a licence. Most other programmes are available on catch-up.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2304280/BBC-silence-licence-loophole-Corporation-refuses-say-households-need-catch-online.html#ixzz2SV2pDbu3
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
EXCLUSIVE: BBC bias exposed as newspaper purchases reveals continued Guardian bias
For the second year running the BBC has been shown to disproportionately favour the Left-wing Guardian newspaper
For the second year running, the BBC has been shown to have an inherent Left-leaning bias through its newspaper procurement policy which has again displayed a tilt towards The Guardian newspaper.
Last year, The Commentator revealed that the BBC bought more copies of The Guardian than any other UK newspaper, despite the paper's unpopularity with the British public.
Following a Freedom of Information request, new numbers reveal that Britain's largest news outlet, funded by a mandatory licence fee paid by all UK TV owners, again procured more copies of the Left-wing Guardian newspaper than any of its rivals.
The news comes despite the continuing decline of the Guardian newspaper circulation amongst the general public. The paper, which openly declares its Left-wing editorial line, is one of the least read outlets in the United Kingdom, chalking up around 215,000 sales per day in 2012, compared with the Daily Telegraph's 518,000.
Despite these statistics, the BBC continues to purchase more copies of The Guardian (68,307 copies) than both the Telegraph (57,763) and The Times (59,490) and manages to pick up 50,398 copies of The Independent over the course of a year, a paper which registered an average of just 75,802 sales per day so far this year, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
Concerns are also raised over the BBC's increased procurement of newspapers altogether. In 2010/11, the BBC bought 402,115 papers, while in 2011/12, 471,518 papers were bought - an increase of 17 percent, despite the insistence that the BBC continues to cut costs. Most UK newspapers offer online versions for free.
The BBC's Left-leaning bias has beenobserved on numerous occasions by The Commentator, with various other websites dedicated to displaying the increasingly biased coverage in its Middle East reporting. In 2006, the BBC undertook a review of its Middle East reporting in the form of the Balen Report. To date, it has spent in excess of £330,000 of public money fighting the publication of the report through the British court system.
A review of the BBC's Sunday purchases however paints a different story. The organisation picked up 6169 copies of The Times in 2011/12, with the Sunday Telegraph coming in second at 5017 copies. Rupert Murdoch's new 'Sun on Sunday' paper was purchased just 178 times over the course of 2011/12, though this is due to the paper only being launched one month before the end of the financial year.
The results of The Commentator's Freedom of Information request do not however include all BBC offices, nor the purchase of newspapers for programme-making purposes - information that the BBC refuses to disclose because it is held for the purposes of "journalism, art or literature" - the same defence the corporation makes for failing to release the Balen Report.
The BBC said it could not disclose information pertaining to all BBC offices for the following reason:
"Due to the size of these operations, newspaper and magazine deliveries to the BBC buildings in London and Manchester for the relevant period were, for the most part, made via BBC managed service arrangements. Please note that ‘Manchester’ includes MediaCity from May 2011. Outside of these two locations, newspapers and magazines were delivered to BBC buildings by local newsagents. We do not hold a central record of any deliveries made by local newsagents and we would therefore need to contact all BBC offices and departments to establish whether there were any local arrangements. I estimate that to locate this information would take more than two and a half days; under section 12 of the Act, we are allowed to refuse to handle the request if it would exceed the appropriate limit."
In terms of magazine subscriptions, the BBC oddly procured 8 copies of its own magazines throughout the year, including BBC Focus, BBC Good Food Magazine, BBC History Magazine, BBC Music Magazine and BBC Wildlife.
Telegraph
Auntie is watching you . . . the BBC office where staff fear to tread
Guidelines intended to control the behaviour of BBC staff inside their new glass-plated newsroom have led to claims paramedics were prevented from reaching a patient, forcing him to get to them.
When paramedics arrived at New Broadcasting House in London, it is claimed that security initially refused to allow them into the newsroom Photo: AP
10:00PM BST 07 May 2013
30 Comments
The open plan newsroom, at the heart of the BBC’s £1 billion New Broadcasting House, was intended as a symbol of the corporation’s confidence in its future and its promise to open itself to scrutiny from licence fee payers.
But it seems all is not well inside the facility. Staff are growing increasingly resentful of the guidelines intended to control their behaviour inside the glass-plated newsroom, where their moves are potentially visible to viewers at home.
A strict interpretation of the rules culminated in an incident when a journalist was taken ill while the BBC News channel was on air. Colleagues, who feared he was having a heart attack, called 999.
When paramedics arrived at New Broadcasting House in London, it is claimed that security initially refused to allow them into the newsroom because they were wearing high-visibility jackets that would have been noticed by viewers if they had walked into camera shot.
The ambulance crew were eventually allowed in but were allegedly prevented from walking across the newsroom to reach their patient, who had to walk from his desk to meet them.
Sue Harris, of the NUJ, said: “The member of staff had to struggle out of camera shot to get to the paramedic as the crew weren’t allowed to walk across the newsroom to them because of their high-vis jackets.
"This cannot be allowed to happen again. A more sensible solution has to be found, such as putting screens up. Fortunately on this occasion the person in question was not critically ill, but the BBC cannot let petty rules potentially put lives in danger.”
The story has become representative of claims by some staff that the BBC has a culture of management by dictact.
When it opened in March, the 3,000 journalists who work there were issued with a list of guidelines, including:
* Large gatherings can disrupt colleagues. They also show up on camera particularly close to the TV studio;
* Please use huddle zones, tea points or meeting rooms for debriefs, leaving drinks, team meetings;
* Please encourage your team to use the coat cupboards, cycle storage and clear desks each day.
Staff have been told not to wear bright or garish items of clothing and have been given maps of the newsroom floor, showing them where to walk to avoid being on camera.
Insiders also claim that management has sent staff to monitor what appears on screen and issue instructions to colleagues such as “stop yawning” and “put that sandwich down”.
One BBC member of staff said: ““There are signs everywhere warning staff they could be on camera. Bright clothing, such as hi-visibility cycling jackets, are banned because they show up to much on screen. Some people find it an intrusion, particularly the older hands, but for anyone in their 20s starting out in broadcast journalism its just the reality of life. It’s the way we are all going.”
The newsroom brings together BBC News’s British and global television, radio and online output.
Last week, the BBC released the findings of a review headed by the barrister Dinah Rose QC into bullying and sexual harassment in the organisation. She spoke of staff being cowed by bullying managers within the organisation and of widespread resentment at the power of “untouchable” BBC stars.
A spokesman for the BBC denied that paramedics entering the newsroom had become an issue when the member of staff was taken ill and said that the patient walked to reception.
He added that there was “no ban on medical staff attending to patients in the newsroom”.
The spokesman said guidance “was issued to staff working in the transmission area ahead of the first live broadcast”. Wearing high-visibility “clothing, congregating directly behind the live shot or eating at desks was discouraged but there is no ban”, he added.
Telegraph
BBC may have to pay compensation to Stuart Hall victims
The BBC may have to pay compensation to the victims of veteran presenter Stuart Hall, the chairman of the corporation's trust has admitted.
Hall's victims are considering suing the BBC after saying they were groomed and sexually abused on its premises in the 1960s and 1970s.
Asked whether the BBC be liable to pay compensation to the victims, Lord Patten told the Andrew Marr show: "I imagine so, but that will be a matter for the lawyers and conceivably the courts.
"I think it would be incredible to be able to do that (estimate the cost of compensation) now because first of all what needs to happen is that we need to be able to get a grip on what happened and of course, in the meantime, co-operate with the police.
"It's a different case from the Savile case because the main person who is alleged to have committed these crimes - who has committed these crimes, he has owned up to some of them - is actually alive."
Lord Patten also rejected calls by victims to open a new inquiry into Hall, and instead said investigations will be folded into a review of the Jimmy Savile scandal by Dame Janet Smith.
"If we need to do more, we will. At the end of the day, what we have to do is to provide answers which will satisfy people that we have been prepared to deal with our own dirty washing."
He also rejected criticism from Greg Dyke, the former Director-General, that he is a "lame duck".
Lord Patten said: "If Greg Dyke was doing an interview on flower arranging he would find a way to turn it in to an attack on me.
"It's worth remembering that he presided over the BBC at the last big crisis and as a result we have the present system of governance of the BBC, which has completely changed because of the Greg Dyke business."
Hall was described as an "opportunistic predator" last week after he admitted indecently assaulting 13 girls as young as nine.
Recorder of Preston Judge Anthony Russell QC granted him bail on condition of residence at his home address and no unsupervised contact with children.
He has been accused of trying to stop his child abuse victims from getting compensation by transferring his £1.2million home into his wife’s name.
Two women have come forward to say they were sexually abused by Hall in the Sixties and Seventies after he was hired to give prizes at their schools.
Hall invited the teenagers to the BBC’s Manchester headquarters. One said Hall plied her with champagne and assaulted her in his dressing room. The other said he sexually assaulted her in his car after inviting her to a “mocked up” studio session.
Both said Hall was helped by his friends, amid growing concerns that other staff at the BBC may have turned a blind eye to the abuse. Mr Collins said: “If Stuart Hall abused any of these children on BBC premises it is vicariously liable.”
Posts
