Now, in Denmark you have to pay a licence fee (dk: ”licens”) for having a television and radio. The income goes to finance the Danish public broadcasting network (Danmarks Radio). The “licens” has recently been expanded, to also include computers and mobile phones with a Internet capacity. DR has a public service obligation – to inform, cultivate and educate the citizen. This, service obligation is in fact the justification for DR continued existence and financing.
The expansion if the licens is in many ways not just; you are paying for a service you aren’t using (non-tv/radio users). The new licens is priced at about kr. 2000,- annually and will target the people that now don’t have to pay. Students will be hurt hard by this – you can’t study today without a computer and access to the internet.
In the pre-2007 era, you had a chose. You pay, if you had a TV/radio or you go without. Now there is no choice, the licence is mandatory if you have a computer. This is a shame, it doesn’t seem just to me.
DR is a remnant of the old days, where they were “the only show in town”, and has all tell tale signs of an old rigid state monopoly. DR has tried to reform themselves, but they still lack the dynamics you need to preform in the modern media landscape. DR has two TV channels, four FM channels and a range of DAB channels as well. The only truly informative channel is the radio channel P1 (FM).
DR has increasingly come under pressure from a wide rage of commercial channels and has responded by lowering the standard to uphold their ratings. Reality and game shows… basic entertainment without real content. The product they deliver is near identically to what the commercial channels show and it makes you think. You might as well watch some of the commercial channels. DR is in a fix – how far should they go and can their existence be justified?
I understand that we all have to pay for the common good – but do we all have to pay for bad television?
