Media License

08-04-2011

Just reading my morning papers this sunny Spring morning and came across two articles that once again show how backward this country can be sometimes.

I'd heard a couple of years ago that there was talk of extending the TV License to take into account devices that can get a TV signal, such as a PC with a tuner card in it, but are no a TV. Why do this? Well because the good folk at RTE have super high wages that have to be paid somehow, so why not widen the net (puntastic?).

This was shot down when a sizeable portion of the country got in contact with the then Minister for Communications saying that his wording of this new license was very ambiguous. The way it was worded meant a device that could display a TV show, so if you had an iPhone and watched the RTE Player on it (I know you can't because it doesn't support flash but bear with me) then it would be falling into this new little bracket.

Plans were scrapped and logic returned to the world.

Except more and more articles are cropping up online and in print about a new Media License that is forming part of the current Governments plan.

See they seemingly just heard about this Internet lark, that you can be entertained without even watching a TV at all. That you can be sneaky and use a PC monitor to play dvds from a games console. That the world had moved on while they still argued like the Civil War was still in progress. So their solution is simple: charge every house in the land a Media License.

As in regardless of whether you have super fast broadband and stream content around your house or live on one of the islands in an old monk beehive reading from tomes by candlelight. If you live in a building of any sort you pay for this media license, regardless.

Absolutely fucking brilliant. Sheer genius in fact.

I am one of the not so few people in Ireland that loath paying a TV License. To the point that I would glad just hand an inspector my TV set and tell him to be-gone before I lodge it in his ass. This mainly stems from the fact that our national broadcaster spews out endless wads of shite year on year for an ever increasing fee.

Surely if the price of something increases the quality should as well? Yet all that seems to happen is the price increases and Ryan Tubridy's ego and house get bigger. I mean the "Late Late" might be considered a national institution at this stage but is just dreadful. Yet they have not only one chat show, but five others on during the week.

Compare that to what the BBC produces for its funding and you see a huge difference in value for money.

All that RTE seem to spend their money on is paying overpaid "stars", creating yet another "political" talk show and importing American shows like they are the only channel that shows them. If you could get a TV License at a discount that meant you didn't get RTE 1 or 2 I'd be all over that like chickenpox.

But alas the brown envelope/boys club culture in this country is never going to change. Never going to fade away and be replaced with proper thinking. RTE will continue to churn out drivel and overcharge us for the privilege and the Government will try its best to scrounge as much money from you as they can.

Next they will start claiming that books are a source of heat and have to have an energy tax put on them.

Blue_jester

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