GUEST BLOG: The Repeats Saga - Is the BBC Mocking Us?
Author, music enthusiast and Birmingham born journalist Melissa Sinclair takes to Urban Development to discuss her rage at the BBC admitting to half of their programmes being repeats! For her first guest blog a good rant on whether we should have to pay our TV Licence was definitely in order…
I doubt it will come as a surprise to most that the BBC (British Broadcasting Company) have admitted over half of the programmes broadcast are repeats. Across their channels an average of 61% of aired programmes are reruns. However upon taking a closer look at the individual channels you’ll become aware of an even more shocking picture. BBC Four alone was made up of 79% reruns with BBC Three hitting a whopping 84.2%. Meaning that evidently the true extent is barely reflected in the recent headline figures.
The figures (which were released to the Daily Mail in response to a Freedom of Information request) have left many of us with the question, what are we paying for?
As most of us know, our TV Licensing Fees are primarily used to fund the BBC's services. Although a privately owned company, the BBC are authorised to collect these fees providing that they adhere to the six public purposes. These are set out by the Royal Charter Agreement (as presented by Parliament) and are the constitutional basis for TV Licensing fees http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/whoweare/publicpurposes/. The inequality reflected in the number of reruns shown on BBC Three and BBC Four are quite disturbing considering these are the very channels implemented to address most of these public purposes. It's safe to say that the viewing public are being grossly let down and aren't getting what we pay for.
Like myself, scores of us reluctantly pay for our TV Licence year on year and don't actually know what we are paying for. Yes, watching television without a valid TV Licence IS a criminal offence and can lead to prosecution, a court appearance and a fine (as all the literature tells us). However, what many of us don't know is that there is a small percentage of the population who legally do not require a TV Licence. Yes, you read that correctly. A TV Licence is required to watch or record LIVE television as it is being broadcast. It is not required to watch catch up television such as BBC iPlayer, 4OD etc. Therefore if you only use your television to watch DVD's, play computer games and occasionally watch something recommended by a friend after it has been originally aired. You DO NOT require a TV Licence.
You can find more information here http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/what-if-a-tv-licence-is-not-needed-top12/, or you can contact TV Licensing directly to clarify (which I did). But if this does apply to your household you can sign an online declaration here https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/nln/index.aspx in order to avoid having to pay for a service that you’re actually not using!
There's just one small thing to note, the language on the TV Licensing website is a little less than misleading and they are in no hurry to clarify when calling and clearly follow on screen prompts. They omit the word ‘live’ and use phrases such as, ‘programmes as they are being shown' or 'broadcast', which one would assume applies to all programmes. The key being that the licence only applies to ‘live broadcasted programmes’. However, please ensure that the information given is completely true and accurate as the same penalties apply if you fail to meet the conditions.
A BBC spokesman said: "Repeats are scheduled to reach different audiences and are rarely shown in the same slot."
"Audiences value having several opportunities to catch something they may have missed."
I personally would like to know which audiences this BBC spokesman is referring to because the opposite is echoed throughout the TV Licence holding community. Given the option, most would happily accept the reruns in return for them scrapping the TV Licence Fee. If not, then we should at least see more new shows and a lot less reruns. This, Mr BBC spokesman, is something that the audience would value.
WORDS: Melissa Sinclair