To ask if you're going to buy a tv license if you don't have a tv?

[Attethersend43]

New law is coming in this September forcing those who watch iplayer on devices to buy a tv license.

I don't have a tv and watch iplayer very rarely...

Should I buy a license?

[maxybrown]

Im not sure if anyone has asked this but what happens if you have a B&W tv licence? I mean you may geuninely only have a B&W tv then used catchup for other stuff on a laptop etc. What happens with that then?

[MindSweeper]

Stranger Things is awesome. I'm glad they're doing a season 2

[OrangeFluff]

The person who said that Netflix is shit, clearly doesn't know about all the original content they now make too. I've just watched 'Stranger Things' and it was fantastic!

[wasonthelist]

BBC TV? No. Not news, not Poldark, Dr Who, Sherlock Bakeoff Strictly etc. Certainly not sport on any channel why is that so hard to imagine/accept?

I do listen to BBC radio although not for traffic news which is usually unhelpful and out of date - but I don't need a TV licence for that. If the BBC offer a way to pay for radio, I'll pay.

Btw BBC programmes are littered with adverts for how wonderful the BBC is.

[purplevase4]

I seriously object to my licence fee. I don't watch any BBC programmes and resent being forced into paying for something I don't use

Well I only watch BBC so I'd object to being bombarded by adverts. I very occasionally watch something on Channel 4 but I've got to be really interested to put up with programmes being interrupted every 5 minutes.

Seriously no BBC ever? Not even news? sports coverage? -Poldark- ? travel news on the radio?

[wasonthelist]

Er yes; dramas created by the apparently useless BBC

That's what I mean - nobody said the BBC is useless or has never made any good programmes, but the argument always seems to descend into some kind of crazy tribalism.

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

You're still missing the point. I can pay half the price and still get the decent stuff. Why would I want to pay another £145 for stuff I don't watch? Makes no sense at all.

[LassWiTheDelicateAir]

Yes they were - that's the point. A PP had said Netflix only had second-rate shite on it and a number of us pointed out that Netflix has a number of the rather better BBC dramas on it.

Er yes; dramas created by the apparently useless BBC

[wasonthelist]

The Beeb have had their chance to get on board with the new trend for on demand TV. They could have chosen to develop their iPlayer brand and back catalogue, and made a competitive product to rival the value for money of Netflix or Now TV. They chose not to. Their loss.

^Exactly, they are trying to cling on to the past - it won't work.
Ironically, one of the foremost advocates of continuing with the TV licence system exactly as it is, is my Mum, who is 78 and therefore doesn't pay a penny.

[wasonthelist]

But there's no reason why the BBC should cease to exist entirely anyway.

Exactly - views on this often seem very blinkered along the lines of "if you don't pay for a TV licence, the BBC will vanish and lots of kittens will die".

Any criticism of the BBC is instantly met with a rebuke based on the author's apparently obvious love of Rupert Murdoch and his chums.

It's not that simple - but things are changing and the BBC won't be able to cling on to the licence fee indefinitely as if it was still 1966.

[wasonthelist]

Like Sherlock, Luther, Peaky Blinders

Weren't they commissioned by the BBC?

Yes they were - that's the point. A PP had said Netflix only had second-rate shite on it and a number of us pointed out that Netflix has a number of the rather better BBC dramas on it.

[LassWiTheDelicateAir]

Like Sherlock, Luther, Peaky Blinders

Weren't they commissioned by the BBC?

I don't have Netflix. I've seen Sherlock and Peaky Blinders.

[SaucyJack]

But there's no reason why the BBC should cease to exist entirely anyway.

It might be true that as the market continues to shift towards on-demand television that they would start to concentrate on the big sellers that they can then sell on, but there will still be a huge profit to be made in the big brands such as Doctor Who or In The Night Garden. And that's how it works for all other TV production companies and channels. Channel 4 or Peppa Pig seem to survive quite happily without receiving license payer funding.

It may well tho that they make less daytime dross and/or niche programming- but, meh if you ask me.

I don't watch it. I won't pay for it. Simples.

The Beeb have had their chance to get on board with the new trend for on demand TV. They could have chosen to develop their iPlayer brand and back catalogue, and made a competitive product to rival the value for money of Netflix or Now TV. They chose not to. Their loss.

[PigletJohn]

IMO the title of this thread has been composed to encourage a certain reply.

What if I ask "To ask if you're going to buy a tv license if you don't watch TV programmes?"

[wasonthelist]

But most of those were made for the BBC. And wouldn't exist otherwise. So they wouldn't be on Netflix if the BBC didn't exist.

Unknowable - The BBC commissions TV drama, so do other TV companies. Quite a lot of BBC TV is made by independent companies who could make it for anyone. The BBC often work with broadcasters in other other countries on joint ventures. Obviously something from the BBC wouldn't be on Netflix without the BBC - but that's not the same as saying perfectly good content couldn't be available on Netflix without the BBC. Netflix has excellent C4 drama too, just as one example.

The point being made was that in relation to someone (who didn't seem to know much about about Netflix but was saying how great the BBC is) claiming that only second-rate drama ever appears on Netflix.

[NicknameUsed]

wasonthelist but they were made by the BBC in the first place, and I am happy to fund programmes like this with my licence fee. I don't need Netflix because I can watch or record BBC programmes anyway.

[Boogers]

LordRothermere the olympics finishes this weekend and hopefully programming will get back to normal next week. However, the Paralympics start in September and that's covered by channel 4 so don't bank on that being normal service.

[wasonthelist]

Boogers, you're making me laugh out loud now.

[Boogers]

You're welcome wason, glad to assist you in your quest for moral superiority. Next time there's a thread by someone who has been made fun of because they can't spell due to a learning difficulty I'll be sure to point them in your direction so as you can rip them apart just a little bit more.

[wasonthelist]

Absy, thanks for posting your perspective, I agree with everything you say.

[wasonthelist]

A lot of the BBC wildlife stuff is also on Netflix, and it's free of BBC adverts, too.

[wasonthelist]

Thanks boogers, you prove my point entirely.

[wasonthelist]

I agree - this "envy of the world" stuff is like our "democracy" and legal system and our "special relationship" with the USA - it only exists here, not so much once you leave these islands :)

[LordRothermereBlackshirtCunt]

I'm amazed that people think that the BBC news is good. As far as I can see they go out of their way to avoid reporting anything contentious or that might be construed as being critical of the government (look at how they ignored the way that the NHS was essentially removed from public hands and accountability a few years ago). Currently BBC news is simply a round up of the day's Olympic events. I suspect they are grateful not to have to report proper news. Channel 4 news puts the BBC to shame.

Having said that I am a wildlife documentary nut and no one does these better than the BBC so I will be paying for a license fee for as long as they continue to make these. I also like a lot of the BBC4 programming (which, again, has been thrown under the bus at the moment, so that they can cover the Olympics instead).

[Boogers]

wason

You make valid points with payoffs, damages etc, but if you resort to pulling apart errors due to autocorrect, dyslexia or just plain clumsiness you just come across as a mean girl who, when faced with another perfectly valid point, retorts with "yeah but you have split ends and smell like cabbage".

You are being a wanky pedant.