to wonder what would happen if EVERYONE stopped paying for their TV licence?

[shirleyhyypia]

Surely you cant put all of the UK in prison?
How does it even work, how do they decide who is responsible in a household with more than one adult?

well they might start showing better programmes!!?

I think it goes by whoever's name is first on the Mortage / Rent / Council Tax information....

No you cant put all of the UK in prison but then it's not likely everyone would refuse to pay it.

As far as I know, it works by making the home owners/tenants responsible?

we would just get nothing but repeats..

which isnt much different to what we have at the moment..

While there may be issues with wastage etc at the BBC, I cannot understand this desire to get rid of the BBC model, which in my view provides the best TV model in the world. It produces impartial TV (yes, impartial, if left and right both complain about it it can only be good) and without advertising.

Who really wants America style TV, littered with adverts and biased like Fox?

I Agree The Beast! I think the BBC is brilliant. Well worth the TV licence fee.

The thing is... I pay mine and they still write me nasty letters and when I ring them and email them they say they will sort it out and they don't ....The Bastards. I reckon they could halve the fee if they did their job right in the first place.

Whew!! sorry! rant over.

I'm going to stop paying mine as DH and I hardly watch any live telly so we are going to disconnect it. You don't need to have a licence to watch iplayer et al ATM.

I've heard they'll send an inspector round to check but oh well!

I'm pretty sure they won't check if you've been watching anything on your laptop. Just hide it if they knock at the door. I hate paying for it, but do it as my husband is really anal about paying bills a year in advance for everything.

I'd pay the BBC the license fee just for Radio 4.
Which is free at the moment.

I think it's pretty bad manners to stop paying, then watch everything on the iPlayer. If you appreciate BBC programming, pay for it.

"You don't need to have a licence to watch iplayer et al ATM."

Just to clarify that, this link is useful:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/5081350.stm

Specifically, "you are free to watch archived programmes or downloadable clips without a licence." So watching live footie, etc wouldn't be included there. Just for ref!

'who really wants american style tv' like mad men? me personally - bbcfour haven't even managed to hang onto that

i think it would make all programme makers up their games across the channels. resent paying for one channel when there are hundreds for free

though i like radio london and would pay for that

the licence fee pays for:

tv
radio
bbc website

I don't believe that you never use any of those.

Detector vans.
They were always empty, weren't they?...
They just visited unlicensed homes.

Yes exactly, you can watch old stuff but not live broadcasts (for football we will go to the pub - but we've agreed this is just a one-year experiment, we will get the licence again in time for olympics)

Tbh there are hardly any BBC programmes we watch anyway. Barely watch the news as we read papers/online instead, because

Otherwise we watch dr who, university challenge, Miranda, mock the week, QI and HIGNFY, and enjoyed Luther, Sherlock and survivors. that is pretty much it. We barely watch anything on other channels either. Most tv is shit. IMHO :o

I have no qualms about being immoral - can't afford to frankly.

I don't begrudge paying the TV Licence, I love all my ad free BBC channels, and DH enjoys listening to BBC radio!

It is why I don't bother with rip off Sky. DH was looking at getting Sky for the telephone/BB package but there is no fucking way I am paying to watch adverts.

We only get the 'good' American TV programmes, and they don't have nearly the same amount of ads included as the do on American TV. The Murdoch empire hates the BBC and the Licence fee because it's the only thing stopping him charging for all the content he has, and taking over the media. IMO, the Licence fee is well worth the money. I thought some of the money went to Channel 4 anyway?

I'm not saying they don't make good programmes in the US. They obviously do. What I meant was the advert free model.

I also like the fact that the BBC has to be impartial - if we had the US model, we would have neo-con propaganda non-stop.

I would also point out that many of the "free" channels on Freeview (and Virgin and Sky) rely heavily on BBC programmes for content.

HaveAHappyNewJung
- Yes exactly, you can watch old stuff - much of it made with licence fee money no doubt. but not live broadcasts (for football we will go to the pub - but we've agreed this is

- Otherwise we watch dr who, university challenge, Miranda, mock the week, QI and HIGNFY, and enjoyed Luther, Sherlock and survivors. that is pretty much it - all made with licence fee money and, in my view, by themselves justifying the licence fee.

What always surprises me is the number of people who will fork over a fortune to Sky but complain about the licence fee.

I'd love to love the BBC - politically i'm all for it. But then I see something like Saints and Scroungers (or similar) and I wonder why I'm paying for them to make this kind of morally redundant brain candyfloss. :(

I think the BBC is bloody brilliant. Compare it to the tat that passes for news and entertainment in many other countries, and you'll quickly see the quality programming they produce. I am very happy to pay the licence fee.

very very happy to pay the licence fee here too. the BBC and the NHS, they're what make britain great

Shouldn't people have the choice?

They watch/Listen they pay the fee.

If they don't, then they shouldn't have to pay IMO.

I resent paying it as I do not watch or listen to any of it.

i'm happy to pay tv license. think it's great.

I really begrudge paying for the TV license since I NEVER watch BBC or tbh hardly any TV at all. Its shit. I'd rather watch paint dry than watch a soap opera.