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?

[Charlesroi]

LassWiTheDelicateAir I judge people who waste their time watching cooking, dancing, property porn and soaps, rather than reading books.
And then fucking lecture me about being a BBC hater because I won't give them carte blanche to piss my money up the wall.

Collywobbler They can't prove you're not watching live TV. To secure a conviction they need to show that you are watching live tv or the iPlayer. They won't be able to do this because

a) you don't have to let them in without a warrant(or speak to them)
b) they won't have the right warrant to search your devices anyway
c) you aren't doing anything wrong

We're talking about a potential criminal conviction here so the burden of proof is very much on them. They'll struggle because you aren't doing anything wrong.

[JohnLithgowsLargeForehead]

I doubt they'll be able to prove who is watching iplayer, I think this is just to scare a whole lot of people into paying it and getting the additional revenue.

[GinandTits]

Nope. I'll just block BBC I player though to be fair I don't watch it anyway but the kids might flick it on. Think it's far too expensive and would rather go without tbh.

[GinandTits]

Charles is right btw, they don't have proper warrants etc it's scare tactics. Just say you don't disclose your name and close the door. I did that when I moved here 5 and a half years ago and haven't heard a peep since.

[OurBlanche]

I do feel the BBC are rather shooting themselves in the foot in the short-term. Why? It's a government decision, a law!

[MachiKoro]

We won't. We only listen to the radio really now musketeers is finished.

I presume one wouldn't need a licence to watch Channel 4's catch-up stuff? (not that we do, anyway)

We'll probably get Dr Who/Sherlock/Hinterland on boxset after it's been on. Those are about the only things we've watched in the last 5 years.

[OurBlanche]

Oh, and I ask that as someone who has spent many years without a TV license. Paperwork filled in and sent off as and when, only had 2 visits in about 15 years... told them to sod off, I had filled out the paperwork - and off they sodded!

And Charles isn't really right, s/he seems to have 2 related issues confused: the BBC collect the license on behalf of the government... for ALL live broadcasts and the change in the law was not made by the BBC but the DCMS, to catch up with a technological loophole.

As I said, sod them indeed, but be sure you are sodding the right Them!

[Toxicity]

Charlesroi "I judge people who waste their time watching cooking, dancing, property porn and soaps, rather than reading books"

I can see you don't watch the BBC, if you did you would know the content is much more varied than what you have listed above.

[JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff]

lass completely non-crossly (.....!) why?

Do you honestly judge people who don't have tvs and don't listen to the radio much?

I'm going to sound like I'm out-snobbing you here, but the reason I don't engage much with BBC stuff is because I spend my evenings reading or pissing about on MN I only have limited leisure time and apart from occasionally listening to the World at Ten or similar whilst doing the washing up, DH and I spend our evenings in his-n-hers pensioners' chairs with a book apiece.

Why would you judge that?

[myownprivateidaho]

I think that the advent of subscription tv services and internet programming has muddied the waters a bit with the tv licence. It's not a subscription fee like you pay for your netflix account. It's a tax that the BBC is allowed to collect directly because it would be awkward (for freedom of speech reasons) for them to receive money directly from government. Like most taxes, it goes to some things that you personally won't use, for the greater good. So the question you should be asking is not, is £149 worth it for me to watch Dr Who and Bake Off or whatever it is you watch, but rather, is £149 worth it to fund programming that wouldn't be financially worthwhile on a pay-per-view/listen system - for example minority language programming, much classical music and jazz programming (radio as well as tv), arts programming, niche interest programming (One Man and His Dog, Songs of Praise), educational programming, programming made accessible for the deaf, experimental comedy and drama - and quite possibly (going by America's example) good quality, robust, unbiased news and politics coverage... These kinds of programmes wouldn't survive under a pay-per-view/listen system, simply because the production companies wouldn't be able to make enough money from them to support them.

[LassWiTheDelicateAir]

Official TV Licensing website - Live TV and how you watch it
www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/Live-TV-and-how-you-watch-it

By the way not watching the BBC doesn't mean you don't need a licence.

[OurBlanche]

I wouldn't bother Lass even written in shouty capitals, a page or so back, no one wants to engage with that aspect of the law.

Some just want to hate the BBC

[LassWiTheDelicateAir]

THE LICENCE IS NOT FOR WATCHING BBC!

IT IS FOR WATCHING ANY LIVE TV BROADCAST.

Clearly the capital letters didn't convey the message so here it is in bold.

[OurBlanche]

[wasonthelist]

By the way not watching the BBC doesn't mean you don't need a licence. That is true for watching (or recording) programmes as they are broadcast - you need a licence for that whether you watch BBC or Sky/ Dave etc. The OP was referring to the change from the 1st September that does effectively make the licence a subscription for BBC catchup viewed on iPlayer. You don't need a licence to watch content streamed from ITV, c5 etc, but from 1st Sep you will for BBC

[willowtreecottage]

What would be the result of not buying a licence, even if one does watch the BBC?
YouTube is chocabloc with households refusing to buy one and/ or not letting representatives in their homes. They make it their lifes work.
It should be funded like PBS in the states.
I have a licence, and pay monthly - but still think the system could be improved as too many people are unhappy and prefer not to pay & have a standoff on their doorstep!

[myownprivateidaho]

It should be funded like PBS in the states.

But if it were funded that way, it would become like PBS in the States. A well-meaning service providing a narrow range of programmes which are mostly not particularly high quality... We couldn't keep the BBC as we know it alive on the basis of telethon donations.

[OurBlanche]

Yes... the OP might have...but the rabid anti BBC posters seem to have taken over and it seems only sensible to counter them with some hard facts!

Thinking sensibly this will change again, this is the first time there has been a licensing difference between BBC and other broadcasters. What the next changes will be is anyone's guess... we have a choice - USA style pay per view? I hope not.

Then again, I am used to not having any telly, but what will the rest of you do when all you can get is the weird end of the spectrum? And Dial A Dollar

[myownprivateidaho]

BTW I have to say that I haven't ever had a TV licence of my own (no TV) -- have made myself feel quite guilty about it now. Roll on September, I'll pay up.

[DecaffCoffeeAndRollupsPlease]

Meh. I don't watch live tv, and iPlayer is not important to me. I'll delete it and keep my money in my pocket.

[jellybaby1]

i dont watch bbc at all,i dont listen to bbc radio and never use the bbc website for news or whatever. theres no way im buying a licence for the odd half hour or so of live tv the kids watch.

[manicinsomniac]

I've always had a license but no tv. I didn't know you didn't have to (I watch BBC sport a lot and sometimes iPlayer as well as Netflix and other internet tv)

I suppose I've wasted a lot of money but do think I should morally have had the license as I do watch tv - just not on a tv.

[timelytess]

I haven't had a television for years but I always have a television licence. I watch iplayer. I'm not terribly interested in television. I like BBC4 and property programmes, really.

[wasonthelist]

I'm glad I wasn't paying for Victoria Derbyshire to ask Jeremy Corbyn to identify Ant and Dec from a photo - although the fact he didn't know who they were means he's just gone up in my estimation.

[manicinsomniac]

How can you delete iPlayer? It's on the internet.