AIBU TV Licence

[LouBlue1507]

I don't have a TV licence and don't intend to pay for one.

I don't have access to live TV and only watch Netflix, Itv player, 4od and channel 5. Not BBC iplayer.

I have declared this to the TV licence people and now property is under investigation.

AIBU to refuse them entry if they turn up? I've read horror stories of them being bullies, intimidating and even lying!

All these people not watching any BBC output!

So where are all the millions of people watching Bakeoff, Strictly and Sherlock coming from

Er... possibly the large proportion of the population who are not posting here?

25.5 million tv licences. 10 million peak figures for Stricktly & Sherlock. 13 million for bake off. So quite a few million not watching the 'flagship' programs.

Maybe because that argument hasn't been made on this thread.

Oops!

Well, I guess I can chalk that misread up to my poor eye sight, deafness, poverty, elderlyness etc.

As you are my near-namesake I'll give you a pass on that one.

tbh the only reason I still have a TV License is for DS1 to watch Match of the Day and other sport stuff - the only BBC programming I have watched live/on iPlayer in the last year is Question Time and I gave that up for the sake of my blood pressure

We have Netflix, Amazon Prime and a ton of DVDs - if I watched any more TV I'd have no time for anything else! I'm not sure why it's so unbelievable that with other options available, people don't watch TV live/on catch up. I much prefer browsing NF/Amazon for something that fits my mood - if that's BBC programming then I have paid for it through my subscription to those services

Well yes. We've all failed to notice that we're very elderly and deaf blind because that's who the 21% 3% of people who don't watch BBC television are. Apparently.

I cancelled our license earlier this year when our digibox thingy broke. We hadn't watched live TV for months and I suddenly clocked that we didn't need to be paying the license fee (I was on mat leave and DH out of work so was cutting costs everywhere). I neither watched BBC before that point, or have missed it since. If there were a programme I particularly wanted to watch I'd probably get in on DVD, therefore paying for it in another way. But that's unlikely. When ds is older I'll probably get is our live TV and license back so we can rely on our third parent as needed

I'm rare as well then! I don't watch any live TV at all - none of our family do. Not since the tv aerial became obsolete, so that must be a few years ago :D We have the TV connected via the internet.

My DH and I only watch Netflix, and very very occasionally something on Iplayer. My teenager just watches YouTube, no TV and very rarely films. My younger child watches Cbeebies a lot, so we do pay for a TV license.

As Soupdragon said, if there was a license for the other channels - C4, ITV etc then I wouldn't need one as I never watch them.
I don't think we are rare at all, and I would agree that a lot of children use the internet more to watch content rather than "normal TV"

I don't watch BBC channels. It's not that unusual. Once I was unlucky enough you watch a few seconds of The One Show and it was just people braying, couldn't see the appeal.

I like Call The Midwife but wait and buy the DVDs.

Back in the day I loved Blackadder, ttom and Ab Fab but they don't do anything like that any more.

I kind of unofficially boycotted the BBC after the Saville thing came out.

I don't have a license or watch the Beeb either.

We have Netflix and NOW TV- and there's plenty more than enough on there for the limited occasions we want to stare at the googly box.

I'd only consider buying a license if the Beeb acquired the rights to Game of Thrones.

My life is still worth living without watching confectionary based reality television.

My tv broke - can still watch DVDs etc but no signal. Called them to tell them two years ago and not once recieved a letter or a visit

I'm a vanishingly rare person too. We have a Kodi box and watch through apps, we no longer use the iPlayer app and have deleted it as we didn't use it much before the rules changed anyway.

The TV license man visited last year and we let him in, he saw we had an android box and no other device plugged in to the TV, and said we shouldn't get another visit for about 2 years.

This is in contrast to when I did have a license, when I got married they decided as they had no record of my name holding a license at my address they would just backdate it from April to January, stealing 4 months of payments.

So I'm not too bothered about people 'stealing' BBC TV, they are perfectly happy to do it to you if they have the opportunity.

TBH, you shouldn't have to put up with two-yearly visits either. Tv licensing should not be working on the assumption that you are guilty until you prove to them you are innocent (and then only for 2 years).

Why are so many of you annoyed at those of us who watch stuff on catch up (not BBC) and don't have a license? The license is so that the BBC can show ad-free tv. The other channels are full of ads, even watching via catch up, so there's no need to pay for an ad-free service.

It is a mystery to me why you can access iPlayer WITHOUT logging in (and paying, obviously) like on any other normal subscription service.

Do you think Netflix need to get up to all this cloak and dagger crap? No - because you can't USE Netflix without paying.

I would be perfectly happy to subscribe to iPlayer for a monthly fee that is comparable to Netflix, but because they don't offer any such commonsense approach, I don't use it.

And wow, how dare you accuse people of being dishonest when they say they don't watch iPlayer?! I haven't watched it since last September because I don't have a license. I am NOT a liar, even though I watch ITVPlayer and Netflix. And occasionally NowTV. I still don't watch iPlayer.
How bloody rude.

I don't listen to any BBC radio either. I listen to podcasts for news/current affairs and have a Spotify subscription for music.

Another one who doesn't watch live TV / have a licence.

We have a TV, not plugged into an aerial, for use with the PS4 / Xbox. Through these we can access Netflix, ITV player, 4oD, Now TV etc.
As we don't watch live TV, we don't pay the TV licence. We now also don't watch BBC iPlayer since they changed the rules (though I think it is rather odd that you don't need proof of licence ownership to watch iPlayer, but hey).

If they offered it, I would happily subscribe to certain series to watch them. For example, Planet Earth II. I own it on BluRay, but would have been happy to pay a subscription fee for the series to watch it on iPlayer. As it is, there simply aren't enough BBC shows that catch my attention that make the full TV licence worth it.

The license is so that the BBC can show ad-free tv

And a Sky subscription is so you can watch Sky ad-free.

Oh, hang on ...

We don't have a licence. Don't watch any tv, other than channel 4 app very occasionally (I like gogglebox, grand designs, CDWM, etc). We have a tv for DVDs only and have told them as such. Left us alone so far but if they start that crap they will be ignored and certainly not let into our property.

Bloody state TV

Love this thread!

Particularly the misinformation and the people hoiking their drawers at the very concept of someone not watching BBC!

I must be rare. I too have no TV licence. I have Prime and Netflix and Channel 4 and UKTVPlay on catch up and there is plenty on there for me. I also have ITV player but can't remember the last time I watched it. I did occasionally watch iplayer pre-September, but much prefer the first 4 I listed.

I have never watched strictly, have watched a couple of seasons of Bake Off, but not this years obviously. I do like Sherlock and Dr Who (although really not loving Peter Capaldi so not that much of a miss tbf), but that will become available to me in time. BBC content with no TV licence, yes, perfectly do-able entirely legally via Netflix.

I too would pay for a radio licence if I had that option. I don't.

My mum has a TV licence. I can go and watch BBC at hers if I want to. And she doesn't even pay for hers. She does watch BBC through, despite having sight problems, so we totally screw up the 3% who don't watch category!!

Immoral? Really?

So say a business such as Spotify offers some content free. Are you then morally obliged to pay for the content that you don't use? What an odd argument.

I would argue that the new licence rules actually should pave the way for streamed live TV from non-BBC channels to be free from licence rules, as it has absolutely and unequivocally strengthened the link between BBC and the TV licence. The licence is also used for transmitting equipment, fair enough. But if it doesn't go to online content for other channels, people should be able to watch them live or on catch up.

But I have a feeling that there will be people on here that hate that idea. The same people that really resent the fact that people can get content free when they feel they have to pay for it. But in reality they are only paying for live transmission and the BBC, everything else we all pay for via buying advertised products.

I think the BBC is shit. I pay £145 a year to watch Match of the day. I'd rather it had ad breaks to be honest, especially as I never watch live TV so I fast forward through the ads anyway.

you all do realise (those of you who ever contemplate life outside your comfortable bubble) that there are areas of the country (I live in one) where the internet is so b***y slow that netflix and all the rest are not possible.

We do not have a choice despite promises that good broadband would be available to all soon by the government. Just as the digital switchover required a very long rollout - superfast broadband has ground to a halt outside the lucky urban areas. My concern is that with fewer people paying the TV licence - the burden will fall on those who can least afford it.
Personally I think the BBC is loathsome given their coverage (very biased) of the EU referendum but then it is governed by 'remain' voters who had their own axe to grind

BBC4 is worth my licence fee alone. Add in things like Sherlock, The Night Manager, and other one-off drama serials, and it beats Sky/Amazon/Netflix hands down for value for money.

"The license is so that the BBC can show ad-free tv

And a Sky subscription is so you can watch Sky ad-free.

Oh, hang on ..."

Netflix doesn't show ads, and unlike the BBC, doesn't interrupt their output with adverts for their other products and services or propoganda about how great they are.