Television services in some countries may be funded by a television licence, a form of taxation which means advertising plays a lesser role or no role at all. For example, some channels may carry no advertising at all and some very little.
Australia (ABC)
Norway (NRK)
Sweden (SVT)
United Kingdom (BBC)
The BBC carries no advertising on its UK channels and is funded by an annual licence paid by all households owning a television. This licence fee is set by government, but the BBC is not answerable to or controlled by government and is therefore genuinely independent.
The two main BBC TV channels are watched by almost 90 percent of the population each week and overall have 27 per cent share of total viewing.[8] This in spite of the fact that 85% of homes are multichannel, with 42% of these having access to 200 free to air channels via satellite and another 43% having access to 30 or more channels via Freeview.[9] The licence that funds the seven advertising-free BBC TV channels currently costs £139.50 a year (about US$215) irrespective of the number of TV sets owned. When the same sporting event has been presented on both BBC and commercial channels, the BBC always attracts the lion's share of the audience, indicating viewers prefer to watch TV uninterrupted by advertising.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) carries no advertising (except for the ABC shop) as it is banned under law ABC Act 1983. The ABC receives its funding from the Australian Government every three years. In the 2006/07 Federal Budget the ABC received Au$822.67 Million[10] this covers most of the ABC funding commitments and as with the BBC also funds radio channels, transmitters and the ABC web sites. The ABC also receives funds from its many ABC Shops in Australia.
In France government-funded channels do carry advertisements yet those who own television sets have to pay an annual tax ("la redevance audiovisuelle").
source : wikipedia
