David Cameron has stepped up again and decided his party will oppose the propsed increase in the BBC licence fee. It’s not often that I tend to agree with Mr Cameron, but on this topic I hate to admit, but I’m on his side. I have thought for a while that the licence fee is far too high. It’s particularly tough on students, who don’t get a discount so have to fork out the odd £130 that it now costs for be able to watch television.

I don’t think I would be so opposed to the increase in the fee if we saw an increase in the quality of televison programmes that are being shown. But if anything, they are getting worse. There is hardly anthing new to watch and the tv guide is filled with repeats from years ago that have been overused already. If anything new does come on, it is nothing special that is worth making an effort for. I only watch the television for the odd entertainment program or the news, which I can get through other means anyway.

The best solution, in my opinion, is to offer a pay as yo go service, which would make things a lot fairer, especially on those who are hard up for cash at the moment (of which there are quite a few of us!). Virgin media and Sky both offer pay as you watch programmes and channel subscriptions, but you still have to pay your tv licence on top of their services. Why not cut out the middle man and just pay for the things you use? If the BBC are scared of losing revenue this way then perhaps they should think about improving their services.

David Cameron is not likely to succeed in his opposition to the proposals, as the BBC and the British Media is a hell of a beast to tackle, and will not often be beaten. But hopefully something will come out of the oppostion, even if it is just a review of the scheme.