> It’s a surprise to me that so many people see the BBC as such an oddity. I know it’s an unusual way to finance broadcasting
It's not unusual at all:
"Whilst TV licensing is rare in the Americas, half of the countries of Asia and Africa, and two-thirds of the countries in Europe use television licences to fund public television"
Is this a complaint against PBS? They are as close as we get to the BBC and they are excellent, I don't watch anything else except Netflix and sports. Commercials are really mind numbing.
It's not unusual at all:
"Whilst TV licensing is rare in the Americas, half of the countries of Asia and Africa, and two-thirds of the countries in Europe use television licences to fund public television"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licence