In your house, taking your TV money

The TV licence fee of $110 has remained unchanged since Jan 1, 1994. It is among the lowest in the world, even as the cost of producing Public Service Broadcast (PSB) programmes has risen over the years, and there are more free-to-air (FTA) TV channels today for consumers to enjoy.

TRUE. In the United Kingdom, the current annual cost for a colour television licence (as of 1 April 2008) is £139.50 (approximately €176) and £47.00 (approximately €59) for monochrome TV (black and white).

We're cheaper. Definitely. But then the BBC has produced hit shows like "COUPLING", "The SAINT" among others.

All Mediacorp does is take the Licensing money AND sell advertisements at the same- PROFIT.

In Japan, for a nominal fee, you get many more channels including NHK, the producer of hit series- "Japan Hour"(which not only serves as a entertaining social documentary but also PROMOTES Japan sans tacky visit our country advertising). Let's continue with the spin shall we?

PSB programmes have captured international attention for their quality and range. Examples include popular series such as Little Nyonya; My World My Blog, a winner at this year's New York Festivals for Best Docudrama (Gold) and Best Direction (Silver); R.E.M., the kids drama series that won the Best Children's Programme (2008 Asian TV Awards); Vizhigal Sr 2, the popular Tamil series about taboos in the Indian community; Guru Parvai, another popular Tamil series about the relationship between students and teachers in the 1980s; Klinik Kita, a health series that won an award at the United States International Film & Video Festival 2008; and 1988 Segaris Sinar, a Malay drama about boys growing up in an orphanage.

If the awards were that accredited and so awesome, please syndicate your offerings and make some money. Perhaps we should also look at another award winning kid's series?

You might have heard of it before?

SESAME STREET.

According to wikipedia:

Sesame Street is an American educational children's television series and a pioneer of the contemporary educational television standard, combining both education and entertainment. . Sesame Street is well known for its Muppet characters created by Jim Henson. It premiered on November 10, 1969, and is the longest running children's program on American television. The show is produced in the United States by the non-profit organization Sesame Workshop, formerly known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), founded by Joan Ganz Cooney and Ralph Rogers.

As a result of its positive influence, Sesame Street is one of the most highly regarded, and most watched, educational shows for children in the world.^[2] The original series has been televised in more than 120 countries, and 25 independent versions have been produced.^[3] The show has been called "perhaps the most vigorously researched, vetted, and fretted-over program".^[4] As of 2006, the series has received 109 Emmy Awards, more than any other television series.^[5] An estimated 77 million Americans watched the series as children.^[6]

^{Here's a tip, hire better talent. Think a little harder into how you can address the entertainment and edutainment needs of Singaporeans- And then TRUELY earn the money you deserve. How's about that?}