I can sympathise. I've been annoyed for years about how I have to pay far more per year than the Licence Fee for the dozens of advertising channels I never watch. They all get their income whenever we buy things in the shops from companies that advertise on TV. Weird that so few people make a fuss about this. In effect a 'stealth tax' as they don't tell you in the shop what's happening.
Not seen any recent figures, but IIRC the ones that appeared a few years ago showed that the Fat Cats at the just the main advertising channels all cost us over three times the amount that the BBC charge. Why can't I get a discount in the shop by telling them I don't want those channels and never watch them?! 8-]
That’s ridiculous. You don’t have to buy anything in a shop you don’t want, or you don’t think is good value. But if you simply own a tv you are forced to pay the licence fee whether or not you watch any of the mediocre pap that the BBC broadcasts. And if you don’t pay the tax on tv ownership, you can go to jail. Over 120,000 people were criminalized for not paying their licence fee in 2018, nearly 5000 of them over 60, and the prosecutions target women and poor people disproportionately. 30% of all female prosecutions are to do with licence fee evasion, which is shocking. Not that the fatcats at the BBC give a toss.
http://www.moragtreanor.co.uk/?p=350