Letters
Tell us what’s on your mind
Charging Netflix viewers to fund the BBC makes sense…
I accept that at first glance plans to force Netflix viewers to pay the licence fee might seem extreme (‘Question of the Fortnight, Issue 703, pictured right), but many other countries impose charges or taxes on streaming services in order to fund well-established cultural institutions like the BBC.
France, for example, now charges music-streaming services a 1.2 per cent levy to help support the French music industry. This is on top of the two-percent ‘YouTube tax’ that TV-streaming companies have to pay – not just YouTube, but the likes of Netflix, Amazon and Disney+. Again, the money is channelled into French film and TV production.
Denmark also charges two per cent, while Spain goes even further, charging streaming services five per cent. Canada is considering something similar too.
The difference is that these levies are paid by the companies, not the viewers, which means you can still watch Netflix without having to pay for a state broadcaster. Personally, I think the BBC is so important to our national identity that it’s reasonable to add the licence fee to Netflix and similar services.
Glyn Evans
…no it doesn’t – it’s completely mad!
Imagine that I preferred eating at Burger King to McDonald’s, but was charged an extra 50p on every burger to keep the latter in business. Imagine I preferred shopping at Aldi to Lidl, but was charged an extra 50p at the till to keep the latter in business. Imagine I preferred reading Computeractive to any other technology magazine (which I do!), but I had to pay 50p extra to keep the latter in business.