to hope the news that non-payment of the BBC tv will be decriminalised and changed towards a subscription type service are true?

[mothertruck3r]

I've just read that the Government are planning on decriminalising non-payment of the tv licence (which currently clogs up the courts and punishes some of the poorest and most vulnerable in society) and instead plans to change the licence fee to a Netflix style subscription system.

I think this is the right way to go. Those that like the BBC can pay to subscribe just as people who like Sky pay to subscribe. Those that don't, wouldn't have to pay and wouldn't have access to any BBC content. Sounds fair and the BBC would have to compete just like other broadcasters currently do.

Why, because I mentioned the fact that it's pensioners at home because, well, lots of non-pensioners are out at work? That's offensive to you?

I hope they go ahead with this, the BBC are biased and sport obsessed.

I get annoyed as adverts are just as frequent but its all for themselves!!!

I think the subscription route is the right way to go

I would like to watch it abroad and would gladly pay for that.

Totally agree - the BBC have really missed a trick by not making iplayer available abroad (for a fee). It must cost them money to constantly keep up with blocking vpns, even though people like me would more than happily pay a subscription to access iplayer.

I do wonder why everytime I go abroad I am able to pick up BBC channels and the World Service. Presumably we are all paying for that but the rest of the world gets to watch and listen to it for free?

They wont make it a subscription service. I've been in meetings where this was discussed. It would cost billions. And if it does get decriminalised it's actually worse for everyone. It is much easier to take someone to court for a civil case than criminal and you could end up with CCJ's and ruined credit.

I don't think this will happen, actually; this is Boris taking a warning shot across the BBC's bow and flexing his 80-seat majority muscles. The BBC will adjust its editorial policy a bit and things'll quieten down again. It's been happening since the 80s. And this government has far, far bigger fish to fry than Auntie right now and everyone knows it.

This one is also almost impossible to debate, because it's so politicised whenever the conversation comes up it attracts shills from both sides so it's difficult to have a nuanced debate.

You don't go to prison for not having a TV Licence, by the way. Although theoretically you can eventually be imprisoned if you repeatedly refuse to pay the fine the court applies, but it's rare; only about 90 people a year I think. And technically it's imprisonment for not paying a court-levied fine, not for not having a TV Licence.

Those who don't like ads can record shows and ff through the ads. Is it worth paying £12.56 a month for no ads on BBC channels?

All theoretical for me anyway, I stopped paying it ages ago, I find it funny now that I was so nervous about stopping. Avoiding live TV and BBC content has not been hard at all.

Figures for 2018 -

Of the 184,595 people across the UK charged with non-payment of the TV Licence by Capita TV Licensing, 21,300 were found not guilty – and 90 people were jailed for failing to pay court-issued fines. The figure for charges includes out-of-court disposals.

140,000 of those charged were taken to court, where an astonishing 101,000 women were found guilty.

So long as they stop sending threatening letters and thugs in fake detector vans.

I’m a big fan of the BBC, and I would happily pay the license fee for R4 on its own, but even I can see that in the 2020s it will be unsustainable and indefensible for non-payment to be a criminal offence. It’s a complete anachronism.

Can't see it happening soon, but it's long overdue. Haven't had a licence for a few years but would gladly pay for the odd month at a time (as I do with Netflix and prime, alternating months).

I really loathe Boris (and certainly didn’t vote for him), but this is one policy of his that I definitely support.

No issues with BBC either, but it’s barbaric that 30% of all female prosecutions are for non-payment of tv licences. It needs to be reformed (also we don’t have a tv licence, or tv for that matter, and my experience of Capita over the past ten years is that they are a bunch of shady racketeers).

www.refinery29.com/en-gb/2019/07/237240/tv-licence-evasion-women