Re: It was a vote against their abolition
Meanwhile, in Italy the RAI Canone (obligatory TV license fee) is just over £80 for 2018 and is paid automatically with a tenner on each ENEL ‘leccy bill, until the 90 euros is paid-off. Seems to be a good system.
There aren’t that many RAI programs worth watching; of my 5 dishes one collects the unencrypted output of the UK on 28 degree E Freesat, one gets the great BADR 4/5/6 on 26 degree E, one Fransat dish on 5W, finally hotbird & astra 19 give the family many more news/views away from the Beeb’s odious gap propaganda.
The Swiss Billag expensive TV license also covers (i.e. is payable even if you only watch onlineTV) , specifically where a subscription is required for access , but seemingly not for random internet browsing or YT and similar. Looks very much like Netflix + Prime might need a Billag subscription. As many Swiss citizens seem to get an annual salary of around triple the UK average, perhaps £380 is a reasonable sum?
The Swiss broadcasters are however economising, they turned off their last powerful medium wave transmitter due the power costs. It had been broadcasting since 1924 and, fittingly on this ‘license’ discussion, during the late 50’s & early 60’s - Italians could voluntarily subscribe directly to Radio MonteCeneri 558kHz for 3500 lire (about $6 at the time)
The Swiss rented the mast to rebroadcasting “voice of Russia” for a while in 2012, but finally physically took the antennas down in 2016.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
