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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

TV License. AIBU to think it should be pay per view?

65 replies

ConformationFart · 14/08/2016 18:29

Before I get flamed I pay my license. Always have. However, I rarely watch TV, probably about 15 times a year. I watch things on Amazon though. WIBU to think it would be much fairer to divide the fee by 365 and pay for the days you actually watch?

OP posts:
HeadDreamer · 15/08/2016 06:13

All the people that don't watch tv - what do you do at night time

What night time? Finished house work at 9 last night. Bed at 9.30 because the kids get up at 5.30. No time for TV. Otherwise I read, or do my exercises DVD, or other hobby stuff.

Believeitornot · 15/08/2016 06:20

The tv license is payment for being able to use Tv receiver equipment not for being able to watch the BBC.

The BBC is responsible for administering and collecting on behalf of the government. They get to keep most of it.

I am not entirely sure why there is such a tv license "tax" but I do really value the BBC. I'm currently watching a commercial child's channel and by god it is dreadful, plus the glut of adverts. How do I avoid that without using a TV? I don't want my children watching on a laptop and neither do I.

JudyCoolibar · 15/08/2016 08:11

I'd like not to have to pay the extra sums added on to the price of products and services that cover their advertising costs for commercial TV, which comes to considerably more than the licence fee. I can't see it happening, though.

Original poster
ConformationFart · 15/08/2016 08:35

All the people that don't watch tv - what do you do at night time

I used to watch TV in the evening. I thought about all the millions of people sat watching a box and thought nope, this isn't living. So We turned it off. Now we talk to each other more, read or just do things we want to do. We do watch box sets as a family but never turn the TV on as a matter of course.
I don't need a TV anymore so this one will not be replaced when it goes.

OP posts:
99GBPChargeToUseMyPostsJournos · 15/08/2016 08:43

The tv license is payment for being able to use Tv receiver equipment not for being able to watch the BBC.

You missed a bit. It's not for 'being able' to use TV receiver equipment. It's for having and installing the equipment AND actually using it to watch or download live tv.

Until September, when it changes to include using BBC Iplayer as well.

99GBPChargeToUseMyPostsJournos · 15/08/2016 08:46

In other words - I own and use a TV - but I use it for Netflix and Amazon Prime and UK TV Play and All 4 and ITV catchup - so no licence required, despite the fact that I use a TV.

No reason Believeitornot that you can't do the same, legally.

99GBPChargeToUseMyPostsJournos · 15/08/2016 08:48

JudyCoolibar - you can avoid paying additional costs for tv advertising by buying products that don't advertise on TV. Simple.

You have the choice as to where you put your money.

Theoretician · 15/08/2016 08:49

The BBC is responsible for administering and collecting on behalf of the government. They get to keep most of it.

I've just googled, and the amount raised in licence fees does not cover what the BBC gets from government. (It covered 78% for 2014/2015.)

(16% of the 22% subsidy is for people over 75 who don't have to pay the license.)

Theoretician · 15/08/2016 08:55

The tv license is payment for being able to use Tv receiver equipment not for being able to watch the BBC.

I suppose the licence is a bit archaic now, if the UK wants to differ from most of the world by charging people to look at screens, perhaps the licence should be extended so that you also have to pay the government £145 a year if you want to use a computer, the definition of which would include tablets and smartphones.

99GBPChargeToUseMyPostsJournos · 15/08/2016 09:11

Theoretician is does include computers, as well as mobile phones and games consoles - if they are used to watch or download live tv.

exLtEveDallas · 15/08/2016 09:22

Yep, I agree with OP. I really resent paying for the BBC. The ability to block the channels through Sky (for eg) is already out there. People should not be charged for a service they do not use. I don't watch BBC programmes, listen to BBC radio or use BBC online services. I pay for the Sky programmes I watch, I suffer the adverts on Heart Radio. I shouldn't be paying for the stuff I don't use.

ENormaSnob · 15/08/2016 09:35

What eve said.

Really pisses me off paying for something I dont use.

OrangeFluff · 15/08/2016 13:10

I haven't had a TV license for about 7 years, since DH and I first moved in together. We have Netflix and subscribe to some channels on YouTube, but it is an active choice to watch something, rather than just having the TV on all the time like when I still lived with my Mum.

The only BBC programme I watch on i-player is Question Time (which I don't mind giving up) and the only BBC radio station I like is 6 Music, but I can't get that in my car anyway (where I do most of my radio listening).

It's been very positive for our lives, I'd never buy a license again.

ginghamstarfish · 15/08/2016 17:44

Yes, that would be great, but not workable. Maybe as PP said, an opt out of BBC would be more likely - I'd certainly go for that, then pay for the odd BBC program I might want to see (very few these days).

Boogers · 15/08/2016 18:38

Some of the comments on this thread sound like they've been lifted straight from the comments section on a Daily Mail BBC bashing article.

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