"Why do you need a TV license?
A TV Licence is a legal permission to install or use television receiving equipment to watch or record television programmes as they are being shown on TV or live on an online TV service, and to download or watch BBC programmes on demand, including catch up TV, on BBC iPlayer."
"What is the purpose of a TV license?
A TV licence is therefore effectively a hypothecated tax for the purpose of funding public broadcasting, thus allowing public broadcasters to transmit television programmes without, or with only supplemental, funding from radio and television advertisements."
From an early age I was always told that the BBC was an institution free from political leanings, which meant you could have faith that current events and news would simply be reported on rather than framed.
Depending on your political leanings you may or may not currently feel the BBC has shown political bias in recent years. The obvious example that recently stands out for me it QT, where we've observed a huge disparity in the number of pro-leave guests versus pro-remain. We've also seen some very odd things in the audience, with pro-leave campaigners not only being selected to attend on multiple occasions but also being selected to ask questions repeatedly too!
Whilst this is only one example, my own personal faith in the BBC as an independent, unbiased news source has been completely wiped out. As such I question why I, as a UK tax payer, should continue to foot the bill for this service that I no longer feel is fit for purpose.
I am not campaigning or advocating for the dismantling of the BBC, just that it should source it's funding as an company independent of government/national funding. In doing so, it may not end up as the non-partisan group some think it is today but at least it would be seen for what it is and we could also have the choice to fund it or not!
Ultimately I feel the question is this; why should I be forced to pay for a service with no discernible differences from other broadcasters when all other broadcasting services are a personal choice?