To ask if you have stopped paying your TV Licence?

[GodDamnITBarbs]

Basically that?
I understand a lot of people have just stopped paying.

I filled in the online declaration and no longer pay. I only ever watch programmes via streaming services or catch up and I can't remember the last time I watched anything on the BBC.

I know quite a few people who've done the same. I think the TV licence will be defunct long before the charter is up for renewal

We turned over to ITV as the BBC commentators couldn't shut up. But maybe they improved later on.

I haven’t had a tv for 12/13 years so don’t need a tv licence

Really? Why? Do they think people are saying they don’t watch tv at all maybe, which is more unusual? We don’t watch live tv but we watch a lot of tv as we have Netflix, Prime, Disney, Now and Apple and do occasionally watch iPlayer.

We haven’t just stopped paying but we don’t have a licence. We don’t have a tv aerial so can’t receive live tv and don’t watch iplayer so don’t need one. We have Netflix instead but barely watch that either tbh.

I think Amazon quite crap. Whenever I want to watch something I have to pay extra. Maybe its just my taste in shows :(

Usually comedy which you find free on 4OD

Really want to cancel and would be happy to never watch iplayer but I do not dare 😅

Genuine question but why don't you dare? The threats and tales of fines are meant to put you off but in reality nothing has happened to me since I cancelled other than I've got an extra £160 in my bank account.

Yes I do still pay. We watch bbc on the TV.

I have also seen a fair few people receiving fines of £1000 (working in an environment where I need to see people's income and outgoings).

I think Amazon quite crap. Whenever I want to watch something I have to pay extra. Maybe its just my taste in shows :(

No - we tend to find the same we have it because it comes with prime and prime works out better for us with delivery charges at the moment.

Netflix was great when we first got it - but do struggle to find things now -though it does look good for Halloween movies/shows. Disney we dip in and out of - and Paramount we got for Brave New Worlds - which was great but not huge amount of other stuff we want on there.

I think we pay for more TV than ever and watch less overall.

We are just about to cancel too.
We never watch ‘live TV’ anymore and can’t bear the way the bbc - supposedly a man impartial service - offers such one sided views bordering on persecution and it doesn’t report anything of interest to me. I want to hear about the whole world not about the government every single day on a loop.

I am excited to cancel it! It will contribute towards the heating bill.

I’ve never paid it. And I watch live tv.

I pay because I like the bbc content. Eg, Attenborough docs, hignfy, bbc news, CBeebies etc

I have worked in the court service for nearly twenty years and never seen a single fine! I wonder how you managed to see so many?

I pay ( although I think it’s a lot) because I listen to bbc radio and watch lots of live news, and also watch i player more than anything else. I have had Netflix in the past to watch something specific ( The Crown ) but I find BBC have the best programming. If you only have Netflix/ Amazon etc do you never watch news or current affairs programmes?

I have also seen a fair few people receiving fines of £1000 (working in an environment where I need to see people's income and outgoings).

From my albeit limited knowledge the amount od fines have been decreasing year on year and are now at approximately 50,000 a year although I doubt all of those would be £1000 fines. It would be pretty impressive if out of a population of 67 million you'd come across multiple people who had received £1000 fines.

The TV license is indefensible in modern times. Imagine getting locked in prison for not subscribing to Sky or Netflix. The BBC should be a subscription service, no difference to Netflix, Prime or Disney plus.

Most people that are ‘caught’ not many to be fair as most people see working when the licensing team knock. Also people stream so it’s increasingly hard to prove they usually offer to pay before it goes to court if there is proof or argue that there was a problem with the direct debit
As a result we never see them now.

Do you really think only the bbc shows news or current affair programmes?
You can watch any news/current affairs programs on itv/ch4 catch up. Or stream live news from sky news/aljazeera etc on youtube.

You also don't need a license to listen to bbc radio.

Still watch, stil pay.

Not interested in the news now. I actively avoid the news and current affairs broadcasted, it’s tip toxic.
I read for an hour a day on the above and draw my own conclusions. I am not spoon fed political agendas by questionable sources 🙂

Obviously it's a tiny sample size but we had this discussion at a family catch up recently (came up asa result of the coverage of the queen's death and funeral) -basically nobody under the age of 35 had a tv license, everyone over the age of 55 did.

As a non license haver there are a few things I'd like to watch on the BBC but not enough to pay 160quid - if they did a service more like netflix where you could pay per month and then cancel without nasty letters, having to apply for rebates, and people knocking on your door I probably would have paid for it two or three months a year to watch some specific programs, then cancel.

Nope. I read the Guardian and FT online for news. And I still listen to BBC radio, you don’t need a licence for that.

As a result we never see them now.

I can see why and I was surprised its still approximately 50,000 to be fair as it must be hard to prove. It just really surprised me that the poster had seen so many people get the £1000 fine.

I do wonder how cost effective it is to even send people knocking on doors to try and catch people out if they only end up fining such a tiny minority. I can imagine vastly more than the amount raised in fines.

Do you really think only the bbc shows news or current affair programmes?
You can watch any news/current affairs programs on itv/ch4 catch up. Or stream live news from sky news/aljazeera etc on youtube.You also don't need a license to listen to bbc radio.

I had never really thought about it but I guess you can watch them in itv etc and you don’t have to watch Newsnight! I didn’t actually realise you didn’t need the licence for the radio. Tbh though, I think the programming is pretty good- it covers a lot of ground.

Yes, about a year ago. But I genuinely do not watch anything that we would legally need a TV licence for. Plenty to watch on catch-up on non-iplayers (no livestreaming a simultaneous broadcast) and via Amazon, which I have kept as we use the deliveries a lot. There are lots of interesting things on Youtube and elsewhere too. And I am listening to the radio more, reading more, and studying more because of it. My watch lists have more on them than I'm going to get around to watching even without iplayer.

You can still watch clips (so this is how I am following Strictly and some news content), and listen to BBC Sounds, and bookmark programmes to watch later when you have a licence again as a lot are going to be available for many months or over a year from now. Or you can arrange to watch your favourites over at someone else's house who has a licence.

I know a lot of people aren't as strict with themselves about this and I am not going to judge that, but I decided to just do it properly and not stress out about it (or risk getting fined).