BBC License Fee and the I-Player

In the past I have derided the BBC license fee as being either a con or an unnecessary evil, but in the last few days my opinion has changed, thanks to a technical invention called the BBC i-player.

I have never, ever had any disrespect for the engineers of neither the BBC nor the BBC's ability to lead the field of communications through its technical expertise, and the BBC i-player has just reconfirmed my admiration of the BBC.

Continued use of the BBC i-player has caused me to have pangs of guilt, that such incredible television should be free to watch, uninterrupted by adverts and in superb quality every time, and surely it's a crime for the services of such talented program makers and program participants to be paraded to all and sundry without there being a subscription system in place, or other means of extracting money online from the user before allowing the user access.. After all, on the Internet you usually get what you pay for. Anything 'free' is usually a sales con or quite lacking in features such as usability or quality.

Then I remembered that my Mum pays for the TV license in our house, and that without a license, as the TV advert reminds me, we can't legally view BBC TV programs. Not on the telly, the digiboxes or the computer.

When I did a rough exercise on how much it might cost me at current 'pay per view' rates charged by rival channels, gauging it by the amount of hours and all the TV shows and films I have watched in the last few days using the BBC i-player, I get the feeling that the license fee is cheaper per year than pay per view subscriptions would be.

Given the quality of product and superb talent I have witnessed in the last few days using the BBC i-player, the license fee is probably worth it, especially when the BBC i-player offers access to and info about radio as well. To underpin my remarks about how powerful the i-player effect has been upon me as a user, I haven't purposely watched TV regularly for over 15 years. I certainly don't remember the last time I purposely 'tuned in' to watch something on the telly, but in contrast I can't put the BBC i-player down, and have seen more excellent television in the last few days than I have in a number of years previously. I'm also getting the bug again to look at the schedules and plan out when to access television on my pc. In effect I'm becoming a Telly Addict of sorts, just like I was in the 80's, before I lost the will to watch TV on the box.

What the BBC i-player has done in one fell swoop is re-affirm my faith in the BBC, brought television into the modern age, provided access to new and established talent, programs and ideas and made it available and easy for me to watch in my own time.

My favourite categories of the BBC i-player are Comedy, Drama, Entertainment, Factual, Films and News. So, plenty to watch there then. Take it from someone who had rejected television for years and lost interest, the i-player has achieved much in bringing this particular viewer back to the fold.

Last changed: Dec 14 2009 at 12:55 AM