How to stop paying for my TV licence

[caravantulips]

I like the BBC and have never really begrudged my monthly direct debit but seeing the news that the licence fee is £180 this year it’s made me question it’s value as it’s only me who watches it.

I never watch BBC live (except for the news back in Covid times) but use iPlayer a lot. Should I just cancel the direct debit and delete the iPlayer app from my TV? Is this enough?

I do have the BBC news app on my phone and it’s my sole choice for news as it’s (supposed to be!!) impartial. Do you know if I can still use this? What about the videos on the BBC news channel?

Actually up to about the early 70s they did detect but it was made difficult and didn't work well when TV went from 405 lines to 625 lines.

The vast majority of the vans had nothing in them, they just drove them around ares with low licence numbers.

Yes

And FYI on Barbra Banda, who is neither a man nor a trans woman:

www.theguardian.com/football/2025/mar/29/how-barbra-banda-got-caught-up-in-a-swirl-of-misinformation-and-double-standards

This is so sad. The BBC isn't just a couple of TV channels, excellent radio, free news on the web etc, it is also a major trainer of people who work in TV and the media. Without the BBC, there would not be an industry making programmes in the UK because there would be no training of the people required to do these jobs. Just because you rarely watch the BBC; you don't like its drama, comedy or documentaries, doesn't mean you don't benefit from what the BBC produces in terms of people. It also exports a lot of programmes, so the country gets some of that money back in its balance of payments. It's not just the TV output you are paying for. You are paying for an industry that all the subscription channels and ad channels piggyback off.

I think the BBC lie about things like men can become women all on their own accord

He literally failed a gender test and wasn't allowed to play in Afcon or sign for Real Madrid. He has exactly the same condition as Caster Semenya and Imane Khelif - a man with DSD

Someone registered blind has 50% discount. Pensioners over 75 on Pension Credit have 100% discount ie free licence.

Posters always do this when other posters say they have no interest in the BBC they try and mske people feel guilty
Its not illegal to not have a TV since
People have different viewing habits to you ,thats ,not a bad thing ,
If you think the TV licence fee is worth it for you crack on .

Did you read the article? See the phrase in bold.

And it seems that Real Madrid talks fell through because of this controversy, not because Real Madrid undertook their own test.

In 2018 and 2022 Banda was not selected by the Football Association of Zambia (Faz) for either of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, organised by the Confederation of African Football (Caf). The Faz president, Andrew Kamanga, told BBC Sport Africa in 2022: “All the players had to undergo gender verification, a Caf requirement, and unfortunately she did not meet the criteria set by Caf.”

However, Caf said that it did not conduct testing on the player and that she had been withdrawn by Faz. BBC Sport has since reported that two sources told them that Banda did not take a gender eligibility test before the 2022 tournament.

Anyway, we are getting rather off the point of the thread.

I feels like some people can’t comprehend that not everybody watches live TV / BBC player. « It’s only £15 per month » well there are other things I’d rather spend my money on, or charities I’d rather support!

If the BBC needs money there are many things that they could do instead of counting on people to subsidise them voluntarily.

When you do have interactions with the licence enforcement people, they lie.

They told me I needed a back dated tv licence as I couldn't prove I didn't have a tv, that I needed a licence to listen to the radio, that I needed a licence to access the bbc news site ( not the channel).

Just basic lies to hit their targets. They cut me off when I told them I was recording the conversation.

Imagine doing that for your job.

Fine if you don’t do those things - but OP clearly stated that she does watch iplayer and still doesn’t want to pay.

These are the FACTS about Barbra Banda:

He was about to sign for Real Madrid but they pulled out at the last minute and never publicly detailed why. Despite him being the hottest property in women's football, no other club in Europe then wanted to sign him.

Zambia then withdrew him from AfCon - and revealed that he had failed a testosterone test. This is not uncommon for 'female' athletes from this part of Africa - they are male but have a DSD and might have been brought up as female until they reached puberty and then it became clear they were actually boys.

The Zambian FA refused to give any other details but Banda had the option of taking a simple sex swab test, but never took it.

The BBC then awarded him women's footballer of the year.

I used to watch iplayer as well, but stopped when I decided to cancel my licence. Hopefully OP doesn’t intend to continue watching it if she stops paying.

But if you read this thread, a good number of poster seem to say we should all pay regardless of use, out of moral duty of some sort.

Why do you think Banda was withdrawn from Afcon?

Why do you think it's on record that his natural testosterone was considered above the eligibility level set by the Confederation of African Football?

Why do you think Real Madrid refused to sign him?

Do you think Khelif and Semenya are women?

I note that the Guardian has sourced CAF as saying they never ran any such tests. So I will make my own decision between that and a shouty caps FACTS.

I shan’t reply to you further. Have a good day.

CAF never said they didn't run the tests. They said Banda never took them - ie because he knew he would fail them.

And yet the BBC gave him 'women's footballer of the year'.

BBC has a left wing bias, this is generally rather than just news reporting so not surprising that Labour want to keep the licence and Reform want to get rid of it.

I deleted the payment

expect lots of letter threatening you, I actually wrote a cease and desist letter in the end from a template online and haven't heard from them since 18 ish years on

so why do BBC have farage appearing on their channel more than any other MP? thats not left wing bias

It comes down to being prepared to be a thief or paying for services because stealing is wrong. If you really don’t listen to the radio, watch any tv. Never watch iPlayer. Refuse to let your children watch CBBC or use Bitesize then you can opt out. If you condone theft by not paying, you are like the increasing number of shop lifters and thieves who think it is their human right to have stuff without paying. So many shops disappear because some people proudly steal everything without a qualm. My local Boots the chemist keeps so much stock out the back because lots of customers think mascaras and lipsticks should be free. So many shops struggle with theft. More and more shops are operating on line to try and cut back on customer theft. Posters who openly boast about stealing from the BBC are no doubt the same people who nick a lipstick etc. Goodness knows what message it gives their kids.

Oh so, you want those for free too OP? Don’t you be worrying about how people who make the Bake Off for you to enjoy- for free- get paid, as long as you can find a way to enjoy your favourite programmes for free….The Bake Off is on the app once it’s been on live tv- ITV shows are on ITVx after being on live tv- you do the maths. Funny thing is, Bake Off wouldn’t be on Channel 4 if the BBC hadn’t created the programme- with licence fee money- in the first place, but the BBC couldn’t afford to keep it…again, you do the maths.

There are a lot of scummy thieves on this thread.

since when did you have to pay to listen to the radio?
Why shouldn't I watch Netflix, I pay for it and BBC sell their programs to Netflix - so its not stealing to watch as I pay to watch Netflix