What many don't realise is that the TV license is collected and administered by a private entity, serco, who make a substantial profit in operating it.

Last I checked the BBC receive something like 40% of the collected revenues.

So, while it ostensibly pays for the BBC, it's really just another arm of the octopus like serco, who run everything from prisons to call centres (in prisons!) to the dvla to the inland revenue.

They're the biggest company nobody has ever heard of.