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My 21 year old son does not watch TV..

weltweit said:
Reno I had no idea that was the system in Germany. So it's funded by general taxation is it? Or is that a separate TV tax?
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It's not part of income tax, it's a separate tv and radio tax, like the licence fee. There just is no option not to pay, if you refuse you can go to prison in a worst case scenario. Because in Germany it's the law to register your address, there us no way of dodging it.
 
Reno said:
It's not part of income tax, it's a separate tv and radio tax, like the licence fee. There just is no option not to pay, if you refuse you can go to prison in a worst case scenario. Because in Germany it's the law to register your address, there us no way of dodging it.
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So... 37m households in Germany. Isn't that a revenue stream of around £7.4bn from taxation alone? Seems... a lot.
 
Reno said:
It's not part of income tax, it's a separate tv and radio tax, like the licence fee. There just is no option not to pay, if you refuse you can go to prison in a worst case scenario. Because in Germany it's the law to register your address, there us no way of dodging it.
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Sounds like funding from general taxation which is what I am recommending for the UK :)
 
Not that daytime TV in UK sets a high bench mark, but last time I was in Germany I watched a bit of telly in the afternoon and it was truly atrocious.
 
littleseb said:
Not that daytime TV in UK sets a high bench mark, but last time I was in Germany I watched a bit of telly in the afternoon and it was truly atrocious.
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I can remember Friday night TV in Germany back 25 years ago being pretty awful also.
 
weltweit said:
Sounds like funding from general taxation which is what I am recommending for the UK :)
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Under "general taxation" I understand whatever gets funded by my income tax. This is a separate bill which I am forced to pay twice a year, for what I regard a poor value service. It's nothing but a licence fee you have to pay, even if you don't own a telly. Considering many more people pay than in the UK, without more of a service on offer, it should at least be cheaper. :(
 
Reno said:
It's not part of income tax, it's a separate tv and radio tax, like the licence fee. There just is no option not to pay, if you refuse you can go to prison in a worst case scenario. Because in Germany it's the law to register your address, there us no way of dodging it.
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For myself and a lot of friends of mine BR (bavarian tv) has been an important part of our professional development as it is relatively easy for aspiring artists to get coverage and it provides freelance opportunities for musicians, actors, screen writers etc. They also pay relatively well.
Not that any of us really watch the various series they broadcast, but BR does provide exposure and cash.
 
littleseb said:
For myself and a lot of friends of mine BR (bavarian tv) has been an important part of our professional development as it is relatively easy for aspiring artists to get coverage and it provides freelance opportunities for musicians, actors, screen writers etc. They also pay relatively well.
Not that any of us really watch the various series they broadcast, but BR does provide exposure and cash.
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Yup, my dad worked much of his life for BR and he was grateful for the pay, but he has not much good to say about the way it operates. It would be great if all that talent these fees subsidise would result in a great product. But it doesn't, much if German television is awful, with soap operas that make Emmerdale look like Ibsen, endless talent shows and a film industry which is an embarrassment. That's not the fault of the talent but the state funding of tv and film, where funding bodies meddle endlessly with the development process till the you get the blandest result imaginable.
 
Reno said:
Yup, my dad worked much of his life for BR and he was grateful for the pay, but he has not much good to say about the way it operates. It would be great if all that talent these fees subsidise would result in a great product. But it doesn't, much if German television is awful, with soap operas that make Emmerdale look like Ibsen, endless talent shows and a film industry which is an embarrassment. That's not the fault of the talent but the state funding of tv and film, where funding bodies meddle endlessly with the development process till the you get the blandest result imaginable.
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Yes totally.
FWIW I did the music for Muenchen 7 for a few years. It's such a naff series, but also quite humerous in places and I had lots of fun doing it. Bogner is cool.
 
My dad worked for the BBC incidentally. Generous pensions. At least there were when he died (1989).
 
We were given a huge fuck off TV by a mate who was upgrading his system and it’s brilliant for a home cinematic experience (esp. when wired through the stereo with a bass woofer under the couch). After getting used to that the notion of watching a film on a phone or tablet a bit of an anticlimax. Apart from that I don’t watch much live TV at all - but the radio is on all day.
 
Reno said:
Yup, my dad worked much of his life for BR and he was grateful for the pay, but he has not much good to say about the way it operates. It would be great if all that talent these fees subsidise would result in a great product. But it doesn't, much if German television is awful, with soap operas that make Emmerdale look like Ibsen, endless talent shows and a film industry which is an embarrassment. That's not the fault of the talent but the state funding of tv and film, where funding bodies meddle endlessly with the development process till the you get the blandest result imaginable.
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My cousin Sybille has possibly contributed to your pain as a scriptwriter on “Gute Seite, Schwere Seite” 😉
 
eoin_k said:
It's nuts that the BBC hasn't released a load of old archive over lockdown. Everybody has been stuck at home, and T.V. schedules have been severely disrupted. You might think it was the ideal opportunity to showcase the value of "public service broadcasting" by making the best material from the archives available online. Instead, there were crap panel shows over Zoom.
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For anything over a year old, that they actually own the rights too, I think they are under contract to make it available only on BritBox in the UK.
 
T & P said:
I am aware of Freeview of course, but since there’s no longer analogue TV, how can you watch TV out of a Freeview box? Do they sell you an aerial as well?
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The old analogue TV aerials work for Freeview, you just need a modern TV or a Freeview box/recorder.

Just like a Sky dish will work for Freesat, if you have no wish to subscribe to Sky.

Most properties have an aerial or dish ready to go.
 
I mostly watch streamed tv at my convenience. Don't ever watch the news unless something massive happens. Never watch sport. The only live tv shows I watch are quiz shows such as University Challenge and Mastermind.
I listen to a lot of podcasts on my commute - really enjoy the variety of them - it's like niche radio.
What I don't like about streaming services is way they encourage you to binge, like filthy crack dealers - I find that very unhealthy and not a good way to consume tv series, dramas especially. One a week is fine by me - makes it more of an event.
 
skyscraper101 said:
I think people forget amidst the fact you can stream stuff, that there are still a load of live things people want to have a telly to watch.

e.g. Glastonbury, Wimbledon, The Oscars, Eurovision, Olympics, World Cup, Euros, Brit Awards, Sport Personality of the Year, big boxing matches.... etc
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Not interested in any of that, and if I really needed to watch something, I'd IPTV it.
skyscraper101 said:
Then you've got stuff like Breakfast telly. I bet the vast majority of people watch that live while doing other stuff.
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Definitely not interested in Richard and Judy, or whoever has replaced them. Neither do I watch Love Island or Coronation Street or any of that absolute mind numbing muck that 's spewed into the screen.
 
xenon said:
Think of it more like a library. You wouldn’t wander in the library without knowing roughly what you’re looking for. That’s how I and I think most people use YouTube and podcasts. well and get recommendations from other people of course.
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Which is fine if you know what your looking for and I might use it if I'm looking for something specific but for every day use it's as much use to me as an ice cube fire guard.
 
WouldBe said:
What is relevant is by the time you've looked through what's available on YouTube/podcast I could be at least half way through watching something on TV.
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It's easy and especially good if your interests aren't covered by TV. I put in "history" to acast and I now follow around 2-3 history podcasts I listen to weekly and another 5 that I dip into from time to time. There is a much bigger range of history stuff out there on YouTube and Podcast compared to what you find on TV.

Once you follow a series it is there and you know when something new is available.
 
BristolEcho said:
It's easy and especially good if your interests aren't covered by TV. I put in "history" to acast and I now follow around 2-3 history podcasts I listen to weekly and another 5 that I dip into from time to time. There is a much bigger range of history stuff out there on YouTube and Podcast compared to what you find on TV.
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I watch TV for visual stimulation. You can't do that for podcasts if they are audio only. :(

Once you follow a series it is there and you know when something new is available.
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You can series link on a PVR so you record all the episodes. :)
 
YouTube is shit for drama and comedy (well, unless you find mainstream stuff that is probably in violation of copyright). But I think we’re talking about a totality of digital media, so Netflix, amazon etc fill that gap.
 
YouTube is only good for tunes and when you need to fix your washing machine but can't afford a plumber. Videos of ASMR/conspiracy theory/hate speech/film nerds explaining the meanings of movies incorrectly to thick people - they can go fuck themselves.
 
Orang Utan said:
YouTube is only good for tunes and when you need to fix your washing machine but can't afford a plumber. Videos of ASMR/conspiracy theory/hate speech/film nerds explaining the meanings of movies incorrectly to thick people - they can go fuck themselves.
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You must be using a different YouTube to me. The one I'm using is full of useful and interesting stuff.
 
Cid said:
My dad worked for the BBC incidentally. Generous pensions. At least there were when he died (1989).
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Like everywhere else, it's gone now, just another DC scheme. At least for anyone who joined in recent years.
 
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I'm in my 30s watch TV all the time. We record a lot too so can watch stuff we miss or if it's on at the same time as something else. We watch Netflix sometimes, but much the same with TV there's some good stuff and a lot of crap. Our watching habits seem normal compared to everyone else we know of a similar age.

The difference to me is the kids now, compared to us as kids. We'd know the tv schedule after school by heart. My nephews just want to go on their tablets, i don't think they watch tv at all. They know what paw patrol is, but apart from that presents are based around computer games (fortnite, minecraft, roblox) rather than tv shows or films.
 
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