Why the F should I tell BBC every year that I don’t watch TV ?

I don’t watch any of it illegally. I wanted to watch the C B Strike series so I bought it on Amazon. Ditto some David Attenborough shows. The kids like Bluey but they get that on Disney +. Why is this so hard to understand or believe?

I used to draw Chads on the envelope, saying "Wot, no TV?" & marking the envelope return to sender.
I think they goy the message in the end, as I've not had a letter for years.

I watch a lot on BBC iplayer and so does my son. And we listen to BBC Radio stations and use their website a lot. I don’t mind paying for this reason.

They sent a threat to prosecute to our allotment site.
We have no electricity on site!

I stopped my TV licence when I found out the BBC paid Huw Edwards £200k after his arrest.

My FIL is in a nursing home I rang them and explained the situation and was told that from time to time they would send letters asking if a license was needed. Those letters have become more threatening and also saying they will send someone to check . Well good luck with that the house is empty and there isn’t a tv in the house. They also questioned whether he needed a license where he was going!!!

Yeah every 3 or 4 years I ight get it

@SumUp we are talking eye watering sums here…harder to find how they spent it, if anyone can help that would be interesting ?

‘In the 2024-25 financial year, the BBC's licence fee revenue was approximately £3.8 billion, representing about 65% of its total income. This was an increase from the previous year, though the number of households paying the licence fee fell by around 359,000. Total income for the BBC was about £5.9 billion in 2024-25, with the remaining 35% coming from commercial activities and other sources.’

BBC licence fee revenue (2024-25)
Licence fee revenue: £3.8 billion
Percentage of total income: 65%
Total BBC income: £5.9 billion
Non-licence income: £1.9 billion (from commercial activities and other sources)
Number of licence holders: Declined by 359,000 to 22.8 million

They are probably wealthier than you. Doing real world activities costs a lot these days sadly. Or really into reading or some other absorbing interest.

There's absolutely no need to reply to the letters, any more than there's a need to pop into the local police station (if you're lucky enough to live near one with a counter) to let them know you haven't misused your car in any way that year. The letters get increasingly red and hysterical, and then they start back at the beginning of the cycle. Every now and then someone comes to the house and I tell them I don't buy and sell at the door.

Of course they won’t

This.

When mine were toddlers we did pay for the licence and watch CBeebies. So I paid when I needed it and stopped once we stopped watching.

Dh did the form online on their webpage his name not mine.

His more uptight about it as his from a family who believe you legally have to have a licence to watch anything on a tv and won’t hear different.

Mm, I see your point. I think it would worsen the central problem discussed on this thread, though. Already the BBC uses the special status accorded to it by the licence fee to behave in a significantly more aggressive way than private companies towards non-users. If the fee were administered alongside council tax it would be very easy for the legal powers permitted for tax collection to be deployed in relation to the licence fee. And councils are, in my experience, pretty trigger happy about payment enforcement. Also, the BBC is not government funded. That’s the whole point of the licence fee: it is funded by the public but not via the government, which (in theory) accords it full independence. Tie its funding to any part of the tax system, even in purely administrative terms, and you risk losing that.

Thanks it was a random one suggested by Mumsnet lol

I don’t know anything/anywhere else that I have to declare I don’t have/use something. I don’t declare non gun ownership yearly, I don’t declare I’ve not been shoplifting, I don’t ring car parks to tell them I didn’t park there. It really annoys me I have to tell them I don’t need a TV licence- though apparently I didn’t need to do so. I cancelled mine after I moved and didn’t take the TV with mea few years ago. One time I was supposed to renew I was at my parents caring for a few weeks. I phoned to renew the declaration after that time and apologised saying my dad had passed away - the guy was very, very rude about me declaring late and aggressively didn’t seem to believe I didn’t need a licence either, and it was then I decided to make sure I would never never need one again. I have lately inherited a TV but rarely watch it, and only within guidelines where I wouldn’t need a licence.
I really think it’s fair dos if they catch someone - via signals (if that’s even possible) or whatever way - but not this increasing level of harassment and threats. I had a declaration to Jan 26 and in around April this year they started sending letters to renew or pay - so it doesn’t even abide by its own processes or accept my declarations anyhow it seems.
If the BBC is essential as the official U.K. broadcaster and I have to pay on that basis then be honest and put my tax up or council tax up - those who probably need TV most, are probably struggling most and I’d not mind covering that for those who like to watch the BBC - and there is no free licence for the elderly any more just the blind. Otherwise it will have to go on a sub model if it can’t afford to broadcast Farage enough times 🤨

“Multi task” meaning post on multiple threads presumably?

actually more like post on mumsnet and watch BBC

You could have just ignored the letter. You're not obliged to declare online that you don't need a licence. What will happen is your will get a scary letter every few months (these are automated and sent to any address that doesn't have a licence) and you will get these even if you have declared, however, if you don't declare they will not know who to address these letters to and eventually they will revert to being address to "the occupier" or something like that. You can just recycle these letters like you would any other unsolicited paper mail and if anyone from Capita turns up at your door either don't answer or just close the door. They are not police, have no legal authority and cannot just enter your home.

Just to reiterate, it is not a legal requirement to have a television licence. Plenty of people don't own TV's and plenty of people own TV's but do not watch live broadcasts (they use them for gaming etc) which is perfectly legal.

I would have agreed with you until they started sending my elderly, vulnerable dad letters claiming they’d caught him watching the iPlayer (he wouldn’t know how even if he wanted to). They had him so scared I sent them a very angry email, which is something I’ve never done before. They’re little more than bullies and their target audience is often very vulnerable. There’s no excuse for it.

It’s not just about bbc and iplayer, its any live or recorded tv on any channel. So basically if you watch any tv through a sky, virgin etc box, whether it’s live or recorded.

I despise the BBC and think the licence fee is a joke, we should all stop paying it.

@Sesma there are the catch up free channels as well. I have permanently NOW which is sky content, plus one other streaming service it’s more than enough

NOW is very reasonable if you choose the long term deals and they have some great drama on there, especially Sky Atlantic.
I found Apple to be pricey and limited

The BBC is obliged by its charter to provide programming for minority interests and other things commercialbroadcasters wouldn't touch or only the very safe mainstream stuff - e.g. classical music, new music, high quality children's programmes, impartial coverage of current affairs. They also do stuff of wide appeal to draw in a large audience and justify the licence fee arrangement. Much of this is sold on to other countries, generating revenue. No shareholders, so no profit motive.

I’m in my early 50s, retired and spend more than half my time outside the UK. I don’t think I’ve turned on a television at home in the UK this month, let alone watched a BBC channel. I’m amazed that anyone would presume to know with such certainty what other people’s viewing habits are ;)

Edited to add, just how much TV are people watching? I have a Netflix subscription because it can be used anywhere in the world (unlike the iPlayer) and it’s handy for downloading things to watch on planes. But I’d say that there are easily more days in a week/month/year when the television is off than on. Now, before my husband died it was on most days, and we did have a TV licence then, but I reckon in the 6 years since he died and I cancelled them I must have been through 5 cycles of 8 to 10 increasingly threatening letters across several properties. Which is why I just return them all to sender now in batches :)

It's all spread quite thinly though isn't it, I wouldn't find much to watch if I just had Netflix or just had the TV licence, you need to subscribe to at least half a dozen providers to get a decent spread of things to watch.