Television licence
[[Image:Carte de les Redevances audiovisuelle Europénnes.PNG|thumb|right|175px|
European countries that have television licencesEuropean countries that do not have television licences]] A
television licence (or more correctly
broadcast receiver licence, as it usually also pays for public radio) is an official
licence required in many countries for all owners of
television and
radio receivers. It is a form of
hypothecation tax to fund
public broadcasting, thus allowing public broadcasters to transmit programmes without, or with only supplemental, funding from
radio and
television commercials.
The television licence was originally known as a
radio licence, and was used to fund public
radio broadcasting. With the arrival of television some countries created a separate additional television licence, while some just increased the radio licence fee to cover the additional cost of TV broadcasting, changing the licence's name from "radio licence" to "TV licence" or "receiver licence". Today most countries fund public radio broadcasting from the same licence fee that is used for television, although a few still have separate radio licences, or apply a lower or no fee at all for consumers who only have a radio. Some also have different fees for users with colour or monochrome TV. Many also give discounts for elderly and/or disabled consumers.
Many countries have television licences. It is common in
Europe, as well as in some countries of
Africa and
Asia. However, TV Licencing is rare in the
Americas, largely being confined to
French overseas departments. The
Museum of Broadcast Communications in
Chicago [
1] notes that two-thirds of the countries in Europe and half of the countries in Asia and Africa use television licences to fund public television.
The actual cost and implmentation of the television licence varies greatly from country to country. The rest of this section looks at the licence fee in a number of countries around the world.
Europe
Albania
The
Albanian licence fee is 800
Lek (around
€6.30) per year [
2]. However, the licence fee makes up only a small part of public broadcaster
RTSh's funding. RTSh is mainly funded directly from the government through taxes (58%), the remaining 42% comes from commercials and the licence fee.
Austria
In
Austria, the licence pays for
ORF. The annual television &
radio licence varies in price depending on which
state one lives in.
Belgium (Walloon Region)
The licence fee in
Belgium's
Walloon Region (encompassing the
French and
German speaking communities) is
€149.67 for a TV and €26.72 for a car radio [
3]. Only one licence is needed for each household regardless of how many television sets there are. However, each car with a radio must have a separate car radio licence. Household radios do not require a licence. The money raised by the fee is used to fund Belgium's French and German public broadcasters (
RTBF and
BRF respectively).
Bosnia and Herzegovina
The licence fee in
Bosnia and Herzegovina is around
€ 36 per year[
4]. The
civil war and the associated collapse of infrastructure caused very high
evasion rates. This has in part been resolved by collecting the licence fee as part of a household's
telephone bill. The licence is used to fund
PBSBiH (Public Broadcasting Service of Bosnia and Herzegovina) which is a umbrella organisation of three separate broadcasters. These are
BHRT (Radio Television of Bosnia Herzegovina), which serves the whole country;
RTFBiH (Radio-Television of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina) that serves Bosnian-Croat and
Bosniak population; and
RTRS (Radio-Television of the Republika
Srpska), which serves the Bosnian Serb people.
Croatia
The licence fee in
Croatia is about €100 per year per household with at least one radio or TV receiver. The amount is adjusted yearly, as it is indexed to average salary. The fee is the main source of revenue for national broadcaster
Hrvatska Radiotelevizija (HRT). However, HRT's programmes are still not free of advertisements (although the percentage of air time which may be devoted to advertising is limited by law and is lower than the one that applies to commercial broadcasters).
Cyprus
The licence fee in
Cyprus is indirect but obligatory and paid through electricity bills. The amount to be paid varies according to the total floor area of the property. Its beneficiary is the state broadcaster
Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC).
Northern Cyprus (TRNC) does not pay the Cypriot licence fee as Cypriot jurisdiction is not applicable in the North.
Bayrak Radio and Television Corporation, the North's public broadcaster gets it funds through the North Cypriot government.
Czech Republic
The licence fee in the
Czech Republic, is currently 1200
Kč [
5] (around
€42.15) annually. This will increase to 1440 Kč (€50.58) on
January 1 2007, and 1620 Kč (€56.90) on January 1
2008. Each household pays for one TV Licence regardless of how many televisions they own. Corporations and the self-employed must pay for a licence for each television. The licence currently forms 68% of, public broadcaster,
Česká televize's income, with the rest coming from advertising, sponsorship, and commercial ventures. However, advertising and sponsorship are being phased out as a form of funding for Česká televize. From
2008 no commercials or teleshopping will be allowed except for adverts related to sports and cultural transmissions[
6].
Denmark
The licence fee in
Denmark is 2 090 [
7](around
€280) per annum for colour TV, 1 310 kr for black and white TV and 320 kr for radio. The majority of the licence fee is used to fund the national radio and TV broadcaster
DR. However, a proportion is used to fund
TV 2's regional services
Finland
The licence fee in
Finland is
€200.70 [
8] per annum for a household with TV (as of 2006). It is the primary source of funding for
Yleisradio (YLE). The amount is being adjusted yearly for reasons including transition to
digital television.
France
In
2004, the television licence fee in
France (mainland &
Corsica) is
€116.50 and in the
overseas departments it is €74.31. The licence funds services provided by
France Télévisions. Overseas departments receive the
Reseau France d'Outre Mer (RFO), whilst the mainland receives
France 2,
France 3,
France 5, and
Arte) .
Source: Service-public.frGermany
The licence fee in
Germany is
€204.36 per annum for TV and radio, and
€66.24 for just radio. It is billed by the month, but typically paid quarterly (yearly payments are possible). Unemployed, disabled and generally people (nearly) solely dependent on governmental support for living do not need to pay the licence fee. From 2007, the German government will establish a licence fee for every working Internet access, if it is the only source for radio and television.
The licence fee is used to fund the public broadcasters
ZDF,
ARD, and
Deutschlandradio,
ARTE and the public "Third Programs" tv channels and all public radio stations as well.
Greece
The licence fee in
Greece is indirect but obligatory and paid through electricity bills. The amount to be paid varies according to the total floor area of the property. Its beneficiary is the state broadcaster
Elliniki Radiophonia Tileorassi (ERT). There has been some discussion about imposing a direct licence fee after complaints from people who do not own a television set and yet are still forced to fund ERT.
Iceland
In
Iceland the TV Licence is 32 460 [
9] (around
€346.59) (2006). Discounts are available for black and white TVs and those who only have radios. The TV Licence is used to fund
RÚV [
10]. However, this income is supplemented by broadcasting commercials.
Ireland
In
2006, the television licence in
Ireland is
€158, up from €155 in 2005. It is free to anyone over the age of 70 and to some over 66. The licence fee is the primary source of revenue for
RTÉ, the state broadcaster; however, its radio and TV stations also broadcast
advertising to supplement this income, and operates some services, such as
RTÉ 2fm,
RTÉ Aertel and
rte.ie, as well as their
transmission network on an entirely commercial basis.
The licence fee does not entirely go to RTÉ. After collection costs, 5% is used for the
Broadcasting Commission of Irelands "Sound and Vision Scheme", which provides a fund for programme production and restoration of archive material which is open to applications from any quarters. 5% of what RTÉ then receive is granted to
TG4, as well as a requirement to provide them with programming.
Italy
In
2005, the licence fee in
Italy was
€99.60 per household with a TV set. It is the primary source of income for
RAI, which does, however, also broadcast
advertising. [
11]
Viewers in the (German speaking) province of
South Tyrol,
Italy can also receive Austrian and German public TV and radio channels via terrestrial transmissions. However, they do not have to pay the German or Austrian licence fees.
Macedonia
The licence fee in
FYR Macedonia is around
€57 per year [
12]. It is collected monthly as part of the electricity bill. In addition to licence fee funding,
Macedonian Radio-Television (MRT) also takes advertising and sponsorship.
Malta
The licence fee in
Malta is €34.40 [
13]. It is used to fund the television (
TVM) and radio channels (Radio Malta and Radju Parlament) run by
Public Broadcasting Services. Approximately two-thirds of TVM's funding comes from the licence fee, with the much of the remainder coming from commercials [
14].
Norway
The licence fee in
Norway is 2039 [
15] (about
€260) per annum (2006). The fee is mandatory for any owner of a TV set, and is the primary source of income for
Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK).
Poland
The current licence fee in
Poland is 200.40
zł (about
€47) per annum [
16]. 60% of the fee goes to
Telewizja Polska with the rest going to public radio. The TV Licence is waived for the over 75s.
Romania
The licence fee in
Romania for a household is
RON 48 (about
€ 12) per annum [
17]. Small businesses pay about
€45 and large businesses about
€ 150. The licence fee is collected as part of the electricity bill. The licence fee makes up part of
Televiziunea Română's funding. The rest coming from advertising and government grants.
Slovakia
The total licence in
Slovakia comes to approximately
€ 42 per annum[
18]. In addition to the licence fee
STV also receives state subsidies and money from advertising.
Slovenia
In 2004, the licence fee in
Slovenia stood at 31 644
SIT (about
€132) [
19]. The licence fee is used to fund
RTV Slovenija, which supplements its licence fee income by broadcasting commercials
Sweden
The current licence fee in
Sweden is 1968
kr [
20](about
€210), per annum. It is collected on behalf of the three public broadcasters (
Sveriges Television,
Sveriges Radio and
Sveriges Utbildningsradio by
Radiotjänst, which is jointly owned by them. The fee pays for five TV channels and 16 radio channels. In Sweden, the term "television licence" was replaced a few years ago by "television fee", which was regarded as less ambiguous.
Switzerland
The licence fee in
Switzerland is
CHF 450.35 (about
€ 292) per annum for TV and radio. The Swiss licence fee pays for the national public broadcaster
SRG SSR idée suisseViewers in the German-speaking region of
South Tyrol,
Italy can also receive the Swiss German-language channels via terrestrial digital transmissions, but do not have pay a licence fee.
United Kingdom
In the
United Kingdom, the 2006 television licence was
£131.50 (about
€187) for colour TV and £44 (about €63) for monochrome TV. The licence fee is charged on a per household basis, therefore addresses with more than one television receiver only require a single licence. A similar licence, mandated by the
1904 Wireless Telegraphy Act, used to exist for radios, but was abolished in
1971. Therefore, those who only listen to radio and have no television receiving equipment no longer have to pay a licence fee.
There are concessions for the elderly (free for over 75s, except
Jersey [
21]), the licence fee here being paid for by the government.
Blind people get a 50% discount on their licence. Residents of residential care homes for the elderly and people with physical/mental disablities, can apply for a special licence called the licence for
Accommodation for Residential Care (ARC) which is £5 per year.
The licence fee can be paid annually, monthly or quarterly by Direct Debit, or monthly or weekly with the Monthly Cash Plan or Cash Easy Entry cards, which were introduced in the mid 1990s for those with limited means or no bank account. The Monthly Cash Plan works on the same basis as the Cash Easy Entry scheme and has been designed so as not to discriminate against those that don't receive benefits.
The licence fee currently goes solely to the
BBC, and forms approximately 75% of its income [
22]. However, the UK's second public broadcaster,
Channel 4 has claimed that it may need licence fee income if it is to continue with public broadcasting after digital switch-over. To this end, on
April 25 2006, it was announced that Channel 4's digital switch-over bill would be paid for from the licence fee [
23].
Collection is enforced by
criminal law. However, since 1991, the revenue is collected privately by the BBC and does not pass through the state before reaching the BBC, and hence it is inaccurate to refer to the BBC as a "state broadcaster". The BBC in turn have contracted out the work to three companies,
Capita, Revenue Management Services and AMV Consortium, working together under the trading name TV Licensing. Prior to 1991, the collection and administration of the UK licence fee was the responsibility of the
Home Office.
Asia
Israel
The television licence for
2006 in
Israel is 400
₪ (about
€70 or
$90). The licence fee is the primary source of revenue for the
Israel Broadcasting Authority, the state broadcaster; however, its radio stations carry full
advertising and its TV programmes sometime receive "sponsorship" from commercial entities to supplement this income.
Japan
In
Japan, the annual licence fee for
terrestrial television broadcasts is
¥15,490 (about €110) (slightly less if paid by
direct debit) and ¥25,520 (about €178) if you receive
satellite broadcasts. There is separate licence for monochrome TV, and fees are different in
Okinawa. The Japanese licence fee pays for the national broadcaster
NHK.
While every household in Japan with a television set is required to have a licence, there is no penalty for non-payment, and people are legally entitled to stop licensing inspectors from entering their houses.
Korea, Republic of
In South Korea, the television licence fee is collected for
KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) and it has been about
₩30000 per year [
24] (about €25) for 21 years. Its purpose is to maintain public broadcasting in South Korea, and to give public broadcasters the resources to do their best to produce and broadcast public interest programs. The fee is collected by the national electrical company (Korean Electric Power Company).
Singapore
The cost of the TV licence for a household in
Singapore is
S$110 (about €57) [
25]. Additional licences are required for radios and TVs in vehicles (S$27 and S$110 respectively).
Africa
Ghana
The licence fee in
Ghana is 3,000
GHC [
26] (about €0.29) (2006). The fee is used to fund the
Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC). There has recently been controversy in the Ghanian Parliament over the number of people who do not pay the licence [
27]
Namibia
The licence fee in
Namibia was
N$204 (about €23) in 2001 [
28]. The fee is used to fund the
Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) [
29].
South Africa
The licence fee in
South Africa is
R225 (about €31) per annum (R276 per year if paid on amonthly basis) for TV. A concessionary rate of R65 is available for those over 70, and disabled persons or war veterans who are on social welfare. The licence fee funds
SABCThe following countries have had television licences, but subsequently abolished them:
Australia
Radio licence fees were introduced in
Australia in the
1920s to fund the first privately owned broadcasters which were not permitted to sell advertising. With the formation of the government-owned
Australian Broadcasting Commission in
1932 the licence fees were used to fund ABC broadcasts while the privately owned stations were permitted to seek revenue from advertising and sponsorship. Television licence fees were also introduced in
1956 when the ABC began TV transmissions. All licence fees were abolished in
1974 by the
Australian Labor Party government led by
Gough Whitlam on the basis that it was an unfair and regressive tax. The ABC has since then been funded by government grants, now totalling around
A$800 million a year, and its own commercial activities (merchandising, overseas sale of programmes, etc.).
Belgium (Flemish Region)
The
Flemish Region of Belgium abolished its television licence in 2001. The
Flemish broadcaster
VRT is now funded from general taxation.
Gibraltar
It was announced in
Gibraltar's
budget speech of
June 23, 2006 that Gibraltar would abolish its TV licence [
30]. The 7,452 [
31] TV licence fees were previously used to part fund the
Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation (GBC). However, the majority of the GBC's funding came in the form of a grant from the government.
Hungary
Hungary abolished the TV licence in 2002[
32]. Funding for
Hungarian Television now comes from the government through taxation.
Malaysia
Malaysia abolished the TV licence at the end of 1999.
Netherlands
The licence fee in the
Netherlands was abolished in 2000 due to the excessive collection costs [
33]. Public television in the Netherlands is now funded by government subsidy. In order to pay for public television from government funds,
income tax was increased [
34].
New Zealand
Licence fees were first used in
New Zealand to fund the radio services of what was to become the
New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation. Television was introduced in
1960, and with it the television licence fee. The licence fee was capped at
NZ$100 a year in the 1970s, and the country's two television channels, while still publicly owned, became increasingly reliant on advertising. Later known as the public broadcasting fee, the licence fee was finally abolished in New Zealand in
1999, partly because the administration costs to collect the tax relative to the level of revenue was unviable, and also because the TV channels had become commercial revenue generators for the government with hardly any public service obligations left.
Europe
Luxembourg
Luxembourg has never had a television licence, because when
RTL (RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg) was established, it was simply a commercial broadcaster, and acted with public broadcasting dimension in its programming. Plus many Luxembourgians are trilingual in
French,
German and
Luxembourgish, so many watched French, German and Belgian television as well as local TV, so putting an television licence would be seen as unfair.
Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein has no broadcasters in its territory, so there is no broadcasting licence and subsequently no membership of the
EBU. People watch either Swiss, Austrian or German television.
Monaco
Monaco has never had a television licence, because when
TMC (Télé Monte Carlo) was established, it was simply a government-owned commercial broadcaster, and acted with public broadcasting dimension in its programming.
North America.
The reasons why the idea of a licence fee never caught on in
Canada or the
United States bear some differences.
Canada
The Canadian public broadcaster, the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, lagged slightly behind the private American broadcasters in providing radio and then television service to Canadians. Thus unlike the BBC, the CBC has always had to compete with other
English language stations for its viewing audience - or more accurately, for
most of its viewing audience. Many, but not all, Canadians have access to radio and television signals from stations in the northern U.S. Thus, a licence fee to own a television would almost certainly have been viewed as patently unfair by those Canadians who could only watch one and later two channels, while others would pay presumably the same fee and get four and later five. Moreover, by the late
1950s through to early
1960s, close to every Canadian household would acquire a television set, thus giving limited weight to the argument that a licence fee is fair to those who do not own a television. As a result, the Canadian government chose to fund the CBC from its general revenues, although CBC Television also sells advertising to cover some of its expenses.
United States
In the U.S., privately-owned radio (and later television) stations selling advertising quickly proved to be commercially viable enterprises during the first half of the
twentieth century, which presumably proved to the American government that it did not need any sort of scheme such as a licence fee to force the end user to pay for the services he or she was listening to or watching. The United States did eventually create the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting in
1967, which would eventually be used to help fund the
Public Broadcasting Service and
National Public Radio. However, this endeavour is funded through general revenues, and PBS, NPR and their affiliated stations also receive substantial funding in the form of donations from private citizens and charitable organisations.
An additional factor is the somewhat different meaning of the term license (licence) in the USA. A license is a form of regulation, not taxation, i.e. a (usually inexpensive) document that says the holder is
allowed to do something. Actions that can potentially harm others (such as driving on the public roads, or operating a television
transmitter) are licensed. Actions that do not infringe on the rights of others (such as operating a television
receiver) are not. Most Americans would be outraged at the thought of needing a license, i.e. government
permission, to watch TV or listen to the radio. Because of this different meaning of the word license, the "television license" of Europe and the UK would probably be referred to as a "television tax" or "user fee" if it were proposed in the USA. However, since television in the USA is overwhelmingly dominated by private enterprise, such a tax or fee is unlikely. (The annual funding for public television is about $2 per capita, such a small amount doesn't warrant a separate tax.)
In most countries with a receiver licence there are opponents to the system. Some of the critics dislike the very idea of a mandatory charge for using a television, they regard it as an anomaly that a person can be forced to pay the licence fee while not using the services it pays for. Such claims have grown stronger with the rise of multi-channel
digital television. Critics claim that the licence fee is unjustifiable on the basis that minority interest programming can now be broadcast on specialist commercial or susbcription channels.
Others argue that a fixed licence fee is a
regressive tax, and thus unfair on low-income groups [
35]. Defenders of licence fees point out that, although the licence fee is a regressive tax, the same is true of many other compulsory payments such as water charges, petrol tax, vehicle tax, VAT. Furthermore, some countries attempt to make licence fees fairer to disadvantaged groups by offering discounts.
Opponents point to alternatives such as commercial funding, voluntary subscription, or funding from general taxation. However, opinion polls in most countries with a TV licence have shown that an overwhelming majority prefer the current system, as it can give them access to TV that is not driven by commercial and political pressures as is sometimes seen with commmercial, subscription, and taxation funded broadcasters (and thus "dare" to show "difficult" programmes). Some claim that a licence fee also leads to better programmes on the commercial channels, as commercial broadcasters must compete with the licence fee funded broadcaster(s). Besides this, generally, commercial broadcasters favour licence fees, as it reduces competition for advertising and subscriptions.
Many of those who support licence fees, actually regard them as the "least worst option". That is, they believe that the disadvantages of having a licence fee are less than the disadvantages of all other methods. Infact, the disadvantages of other methods have led to some countries, especially those in the former
Eastern Bloc, to consider the introduction of a TV licence.
For example, both
Bulgaria [
36] and
Serbia [
37]have attempted to legislate to introduce a television licence.
Lithuania and
Latvia have also long debated the introduction of a licence fee but so far made little progress on legislating for one. In the case of Latvia, many media commentators believe this is partly due to the fact that the government is unwilling to relinquish the control of
Latvijas Televīzija that funding from general taxation gives it [
38].
In other cases, nations with licence fees, such as the Czech Republic [
39], have increased the proportion of funding the public broadcasters gets from licence fee. In some cases such nations have found that the existing public service broadcasters could not compete with commercial broadcasters for advertising revenues. Conversely, others have found that the public broadcasters severely damage the prospects of commercial broadcasters by taking up a significant slice of available advertising revenue.
*
A list of TV licence providers by the European Audiovisual Observatory*
ORF-GIS (Austria)*
Info in English from DR about the TV licence (Denmark)*
TV-maksuhallinto (Finland)*
RTÉ info about TV licence (Republic of Ireland)*
GEZ (Germany)*
Radiotjänst (Sweden)*
Billag (Switzerland)*
TV Licensing (United Kingdom)*
Information on the licencing system from NHK (Japan)*
A news story about the South Korean TV licence*
Media Development Authority (Singapore)*
TV Licences (South Africa)*
An argument against the Irish licence fee system*
Essay examining the reasons for and against the licence fee
