ooh i heard u guys have to pay a tv licence fee too, which goes to bbc to fund it? awesome idea, pity not enough people would want to support abc and sbs in oz the same way.
Its a good idea if you don't have cable or sky, because you pay a flat £110 a year ( I think it is) and thats all ya TV paid for... but you only get 5 channels (BBC 1. BBC 2. ITV. Channel 4. Channel 5) which are generally shite.
BBC invented the television I think they get all the money, so theres no advertising at all to support it. BBC make thier own programmes, they make thier own documentaries etc.. Ya TV licence goes to the BBC 1 and BBC 2, and the Radio stations. (Maybe BBC 3 and BBC 4 on freeview too) and then ITV and channel 4 use advertising to raise revenue.. so you get better programmes on there like imported friends, etc etc.
If you want freeview, you have to buy the box (£80 ish) and pay the TV licence. Its kinda good, but if you think BBC is shit (most of it is) then its expensive.
If you want more channels, you then have to pay a monthly subscription to any digital pacakge eg sky or telewest. It all starts adding up, and I think 2010 its switching off normal TV and everythings going digital.... so you wont get away with just a TV licence, you will have that and digital box prices ontop.
