The bbc fails to recognise how loathed and despised it is by the majority of the British population.

The BBC doesn't need a Director General; it needs a Liquidator Forever.

They hate the working class but not our money stop paying now

Everyone defund the bbc licence fee now. Bring it to its corrupt knees.

You don’t shop in Tescos and pay a Morrisons tax. How is it right to be forced to pay a company to access a rivals content . That is a scam

It’s ironic the BBC hate the British working class but what there funds 😂

Everybody should stop paying their licience fee now and boycott the b.b.c. bring them to their knees.

John is like a child holding his hands over his ears and yelling la la la.......we don't want to pay for it. It isn't aimed at normal Brits anymore!

I'm not bothered I took matters into my own hands and cancelled my license 8 years ago. I watch GB News, I listen to music on KZfaq and Spotify, documentaries on KZfaq listen to podcasts and Substacks. I don't need MSM I don't miss it in the slightest. Its not 1953 anymore!

Jon is articulate and utterly reasonable. He's also way out of date. The BBC is as Rod describes: so far gone, there's no way back.

The same people that pay for their Guardian subscription will pay for their BBC subscription and very few others. Like the Guardian, the BBC will be pleading cap-in-hand for financial support.

Dear dear John, I definitely gave up on the B.B.C. after its coverage of Brexit and the way it tried to destroy Sir Cliff Richard and the way it seemed to work hand-in-globe with the police on that coverage of the raid on his home and of course all the, let’s say, other mistakes. Seriously though, it’s just a hangover from the days when the B.B.C. was the only broadcaster and had no other income. So far over the last few years I have only come across two people who actually defended your former employers.

Don't pay and won't pay just cancel your direct debits

Rod can read the room - John can't !!!!!!!!

BBC doesn’t want to work harder for ads, I’m so glad I cancelled my tv license.

John Sergeant is a gentleman of the old school ... the trouble is, the old school fell down years ago, and no one told him.

I do not watch tv, I haven't watched tv for years (2 decades at least). I do not pay for a tv license, though it does not stop the powers that be harrasing me to buy one. I see no reason for them adding the license to some sort of alternative tax as I see no reason for me to pay for a service that I do not want nor use. If they think that the BBC is worthy then make it a subscription and advert service and the BBC can either survive if it is good or fall if it is not.

I always thought the fee was just for the bbc but you actually need it to watch it live TV. So essentially it’s a tv tax which is disgusting. I don’t know of any other countries that do that.

Alan Shearer on 500k just for talking for 10mins each week during the football season. Ridiculous.

Radio Four has indeed gone to the dogs with more than just a whiff of wokism.

I haven't paid for a license for 7 years. Not paying for that biased drivel, and wages. No fear!

I stopped paying the BBC tax in 2017 after their unashamedly biased coverage of the entire Brexit debate so I can't comment on current BBC content other than to say that it's apparently even worse now. I occasionally try Radio 4 while driving just to see how long I can listen before being subjected to some SJW 'woke' drivel which is less than 5 minutes on average and that's a shame because I used to quite enjoy 4's line-up. My advice to anybody would be to try opting out of the BBC re-education program and see how you get on, you can always re-subscribe if you can't do without it, as for me, I found that broadening my listening and watching remit allowed new ideas to flourish and I could never go back to relying on BBC information.

why does it take so long to to sort out this evil poll tax

Go woke go broke 😂

netflix and sky offer better programs and we dont have to fund so many BBC employees and bosses in lifetime cushy jobs.

I have been a lifelong viewer and listener of the BBC. I am now in my 60s and they do not make programmes for my age group anymore, therefore I have stopped watching it. I don’t want to pay for a service I don’t use.

John Sergeant sticking up for the BBC because he’s a nice little pension that we are paying for

To watch any other channel unconnected to the BBC (the only channel to receive the fee money) is rather like paying Waitrose to go shopping in Tesco. The answer is simple. Cut the number of TV and radio channels by 1/2, then cut the fee substantially.

If people know that to watch LIVE broadcasts they need to pay for the license but in todays ever increasing Catch-Up services where it is not deemed Live TV , then no license fee is required and I for one will be refusing to pay the fee for a service I do not use and have not used for the past 10 years. Yet have been ripped off by subsequent lies and immoral statements eminating from the BBC Accounts Departments.

The BBC is not worth £160 a year!

Leaving aside BBC content, the most disgusting thing about the TV license is that you are forced by law to have one even if you never watch BBC. If you have a TV or device that can receive live broadcasts from any source (ITV, Channel 4, Sky etc) you MUST have one and its a criminal offence if you don't. Its an absolute disgrace. To those who defend it, how would you like to be forced to pay for say, Netflix or Sky even if you never watch them? Don't worry about cancelling your license. There is actually very little they can do to enforce it. There are plenty of videos on KZfaq explaining this.

The should be made to change now not in in 5 years time,the government should have a backbone and say enough is enough scrap it now.

It's not the amount. Even most poor people can pay 160 a year. It's the principle. It's a TV tax to fund one organisation. Let people decide by subscribing or use adverts or both

BBC bias is why i have stopped watching after over 70years.

If the pretentious sounding Director General is incapable of formulating and publishing a future business plan for his flawed corporation then his principles should either sack him or commission an organisation which can and have them send the invoice for their professional services to him.

Im 70 and dont watch TV anymore. I listern to music and read books .I only have my phone for emergencies because i live miles from anywhere. To be honest I would get rid of my phone only for reasons i said.I find a lot on social media depressing its all politics .And full of conspiracy theorists.

I used to love the BBC, I used to think it was my BBC, now it doesn’t want me.

Who cares, stopped paying the licence years ago

I pay 6 tv licences on various properties and on investigation I have discovered no one watches BBC ever ! Over the next year I will cancel them all !!

Let people decide by choosing to pay for it or not. I care about the BBC not because I watch it but because I pay for it.

A licence fee (tax) is ludicrous in 2023.

What planner is John Sargeant on? Most people don't pay the licence fee because they fell invested in the BBC, but because they are afraid of prosecution if they don't. And as for impartiality? Give me a break

Since you have to buy a tv licence to watch commercial channels, can those channels not claim some of the licence fee?

Oh John, we used to care about the BBC…but not now. They are far too woke, the programming is inferior, the licence fee is too high especially now the free for over 75s was cancelled. There is many more choices for people now, and I do not know anyone under 30 that watches it. They overpay their presenters eg (Gary Linekar) I cancelled my licence 2 years ago, I don’t watch it, it is done with.

not being mysogenistic i hope but isn't it a bit different to the norm to have rod and john, two mature men who let the other one make his point without butting in then replying in a quiet, respectful way. it seems to be that a woman has her LONG say then before her opponent gets a sentence out she cuts in and goes off again

i do not wish to fund an organisation hell bent on lying to its paymaster, the public.

The BBC and the truth? ROFL.

Defund the bbc, cancel your licence. We should never be forced to pay for the bbc when we don't watch it.

Irrespective of your point of view, how refreshing it is to see two grown-ups with diametrically opposing and deeply-held views having an adult and respectful conversation.

Millions of British households no longer pay the bbc poll tax, why not join them?

I was a BBC & Radio4 loyalist for decades. It was rational & informative once, but now I just loathe the woke preaching (with the 24/7 taking of the metaphorical knee.) The Beeb now comes across as despising half the citizens & citizen-democracy because it’s superior & can dispense with democracy & free speech.

I only wish to watch sport on Sky. Why should I be forced into paying for the BBC. I never watch or listen to the BBC and have no desire to do so.

The licence enables the BBC to ignore falling audiences without consequence. Subscription would drive a leaner service able to focus on core values. Which values would it choose??

Once upon a time there was a British Broadcasting Corporation…

Let's get rid of these scammers. They have lost all credibility over the years. I haven't watch terrestrial tv for over a decade.

SCRAP THE LICENSE AND STAND ON ITS OWN MERITS OR BLOODY SHUT DOWN the license fee is nothing more than an entertainment tax the problem is the BBC is no longer entertaining.

It is in the governments power to abolish the law for the licence fee, it was introduced in 1923 under the radios act to help the BBC survive at that time, this is now 100 years on and we are living in a different time and place and this law is not only antiquated and outdated, but it is totally anti democratic, and around 70% of the nation want this law to be abolished and the BBC defunded, and moved to a subscription service. This is the will of the nation and our politicians are being payed to represent the nation, but they appear to love our money but do what they want!!!

At least both sides could put their views civilly and respectfully.

I want the license fee to scrapped and have the option to watch the BBC or not.

rod liddle must have a grudge against himself, listening to radio four, for 4/5 hours

We don't want the TV licence and we have bully coming to Ower homes if we don't pay it wot a joke this is get it gone for good

The sickening greed of the bbc and it's employees is truly nauseating.

The people who work for the BBC are nearly all Guardian readers ... nuff said. Not paid my TV tax for 4 ywars now. Never watch it, never want to.

I thought a the TV Licence was a forced subscription that you had to pay to watch live ITV, UK Independent and Foreign Channels.

Have you ever considered having a couple of members of the public. We always get a couple of Ex bbc employees telling us how we feel about the bbc.

What is so stupid is if you are are a foreigner living in UK cannot speak English and you decide to watch a foreign TV channel you still have to pay the BBC through being forced to buy a TV license now people would argue well what are you doing in the UK if you can't speak English rather than saying it wrong to be forced to pay the BBC to watch Live broadcast from a foreign country. It just so authoritarian to force free thinking people to pay for the BBC when they have no interest in watching the BBC. I do understand that some people want to the BBC to survive because they have fond memories of the way things used to be and not what they are now with such BIAS that its an ongoing joke. Now whatever Gov is in power that decides to force every one to pay for the BBC via the Council Tax or by throwing it onto broadband charges which could also encompass mobile phones since they can access the Internet then I think you would get a massive back lash that no UK Gov would want to face. Subscription model and encryption of BBC services like Sky does with it transmissions so no one can watch unless they pay is the way forward including running ad's. But forcing people to pay when they have no intention of watching the BBC ever Like myself will cause a rift that will destroy any Gov.

Perhaps they could produce something that more people would be prepared to pay to watch. Keep the license fee because it’s the best way to help them murder themselves. Dying in front of our faces is perhaps the most entertaining thing the bbc has made available to the viewers in over a decade. 😂

I pay £6 a month for Netflix

I don’t watch anything the BBC produces so why should I HAVE to pay for it?

I don’t know anyone who ‘cares’ for the bbc. As for calling it impartial that’s a joke.

License must end today

I never watch the BBC and I'm very unhappy that I have to pay them a License fee.

Lots of pensioners don’t live long enough to get a free licence the bbc should stop putting the age limit up if you’re lucky to reach 70 years old you should get a freebi

What about the WORLD SERVICES ???? Would they "go" as well ???

They dont even broadcast anything worth paying for, we litterally pay money for no reason! even eastenders has gone bad was a great show in the 80s-90s everyone was hooked to it now its all about whos sleeping with who its turned into a softcore adult movie i gave up on it when danny dyer joined.

John Sergeant doesn't get it. People care about the BBC. I care about the BBC. For most of my life I loved it. I'm 55. For the last 3 years I've not paid for a TV licence because I have come to detest it and I grieve for the Aunty Beeb I once knew.

Never paid in 59years. Never will.

The only thing I ever watched until I removed BBC from my Freeview was EastEnders,.I got fed up with the constant stabbings,fights , corruptness, woke,and the final straw of a girl of 12 getting pregnant.sick .

I have paid this tax in the past. If the number of repeats does not decrease, can I be deemed to have paid for the content which I have already seen?

Radio 4 still has Any Questions and Any Answers. Nothing new really.

Then **** off and go subscription or advertising as I loathe the BBC and have no wish to support them

Anyone who continues to pay for the license fee is a traitor to their own people.

u can just opt out online and still watch it i have for years not that i do cause it's a propaganda chanel

Withdrew my support for the BBC 15 years ago, couldn’t stand the subliminal lectures.

BBC wont consider anything other than the licence fee, cause they don't have to do much in the way of programming. But anything else, they would have to work harder, something they fin5t want to do. Adverts would be better, that way no fee is needed & the BBC will still have funding. The BBC hate the people who fund it, working class.

I used to work for them, it has lost touch with the British people. I used to love the place.

I can see why advertising leads in a different direction but why should subscription do so? Not everyone pays the licence fee now. Many opt out if they dislike the BBC enough.

If the British people don't pay for public broadcasting, then someone else will. That someone will not have the interests of the British population as a high priority.

You will not get unpartizan news from the BBC.

The sooner they get rid of this farcical, laughable tax the better. The sooner they go in to liquidation the better. Absolute joke! I haven’t payed for a tv license for 8 years & absolutely no intention of paying for it!

Pleased I cancelled mine this year. Sod that.

The BBC should go back to just BBC1 & BBC2 TV channels which close down after 1am until about 6am, plus combine BBC News 24 & BBC Parliament, making both an informtion rather than opinion based service. BBC2 & 4 could be combined too. The BBC does not need Radio 1 (and its offshoots), Radio 2, 3 or 5, which the private sector do already. A reformed Radio 4 could be kept for serious output like debates, documentaries, investigations, drama, comedy old & new etc. A sort of "Home Service" for the 21st century. Then they could drop the Licence fee to about £60.

If only the BBC would cut out the woke stuff that would really help.

lol Jon doesn't seem to grasp the fact people don't WANT to pay money to the BBC. It's not that they need help to pay the BBC. That suggestion is utterly laughable.

The British people of this country are fed up with their biases, seems they do hate and don’t care about what we want to watch. Race gender diversity inclusion!! Sick of it !!

Mr sergeant total drivel

Nobody wanted pay for it before cost of living needs to go

Wait a sec.. Brits pay a fee to watch tv? R u serious? 😮

Licence free 10 years now thanks

I got Netflix and only pay £ 6,99 a month, TV Licence costs £159 the BBC is finish,