I don’t pay for a TV licence, Why? Simply because live TV and stuff on the Beeb/ITV etc simply doesn’t entertain me, I get my evening entertainment from Youtube and Netflix.
I have a TV, and it is hooked up to an ariel, why? Dunno, Just easier when I put the TV where it was and the ariel was built into the wall.
Alongside that, TV Licence people only work 9-5 and I’m out the house longer than that daily anyway
To be honest the TV License as it stands should be abolished - instead the BBC should be free to charge whatever they want for their content like paid encrypted TV channels always did. This also means no need to spend money on enforcing the law as people just won’t be able to break it (at least not as much as they can now) - those who don’t pay just don’t get the smart card needed to decrypt the content. Simple.
It’s not just the BBC channels they fund, they also do good work in funding local channels and radio, also channels in languages for example Welsh. This may seem like nothing to us and couldn’t care less, but you have to remember there is a lot of communities who this important to.
My own personal reason for paying is for the BBC Earth team programmes. If they keep spitting out the quality of programming they do, they deserve the licence. However I do agree it should probably drop in price.
They definitely deserve the money, I just feel there’s a much efficient way of getting that money to them - don’t forget a lot of that money goes to Capita’s goons tasked with enforcing the payment of the license, which is less than ideal (awful experience for most people, including some being wrongly accused of breaking the law). A technical solution like encryption (like every other paid TV channel uses) would be way way cheaper (with the added benefit of not funding an awful company like Capita) which means both a lower fee and more money to the BBC.
A TV Licence is a legal permission to install or use television equipment to receive (i.e. watch or record) TV programmes, as they are being shown on TV or live on an online TV service, and to download or watch BBC programmes on demand, including catch up TV, on BBC iPlayer. This applies regardless of which channel you’re watching, which device you are using (TV, desktop computer, laptop, mobile phone, tablet or any other), and how you receive them (terrestrial, satellite, cable, via the internet or in any other way).
The licence fee is not a subscription to watch BBC programmes but mandated by law. Under the Communications Act 2003, the BBC in its role as the licensing authority has a duty to issue TV Licences and collect the licence fee.
The fact that nobody really knows whether they need a TV license or not alone is my problem with it Of course I get a letter through the post all the time trying to convince me that I need on; however when I don’t watch broadcast TV or watch BBC iPlayer I beg to differ
Do I need a TV Licence if I don’t watch the BBC?
Yes – if you watch or record live TV on any channel, or through any provider.
No – if you don’t watch any live TV and you only ever watch on demand or catch up programmes on services other than BBC iPlayer.
The definition from the site:
Live TV means any programme you watch or record at the same time as it’s being shown on TV or live on an online TV service.
Personally, I pay for the fee even though I so rarely watch TV or use iPlayer (yearly would not be an underestimate). I use BBC News and the radio enough to justify it.
A television does not transmit, it recieves. It has a tuner. A video recorder also has a TV tuner, for the purpose of receiving broadcasts. (It used to be the case that any product with a TV Tuner built in would require the vendor to send your name and address to TV Licensing when you bought such a device)
A TV Licence is required for these devices if you watch live television, in the U.K., regardless of whether the channel is BBC or not.
Things have become a little more difficult with the advent of the internet.
Watching iPlayer catch up used to be ok to do without a licence, a licence only being required for live broadcasts watched via iPlayer.
This has changed recently with any iPlayer content requiring a TV Licence.
You can still watch UK based, non-BBC, on demand services without the need for a licence.
That is my understanding of it.
It’s an increasingly complex area that criminalises people that don’t conform, usually the poorest in society.
It’s interesting because it is a civil offense but the police will attend a search to prevent a breach of the peace. They themselves must not execute the warrant though.