AIBU cancelling my TV Licence direct debit?

[Heliosdeep]

In the wake of the Gary Lineker saga and the weakness of the BBC I cancelled my direct debit. Currently at £159 for a yearly licence I thought this was a waste of money. The only thing I would have missed would gave been the Great British Bake Off but now that Alison Hammond is fronting it I would have struggled to get past her incredibly irritating voice.

I've not watched it once since cancelling and haven't missed it. Has anyone else done the same and AIBU cancelling?

If you don't have a TV licence you can't watch ANY live TV from any channel and you can't watch Iplayer. You can listen to BBC radio.

You can watch any other channel's catch up service and Netflix or YouTube.

I cancelled my licence a few years back when I got sick of Tory BBC propaganda against Corbyn.

TV licence service is seriously awful in harrassing people who don't have a licence. I used to respond by affirming that I didn't need a licence, but they still keep threatening stuff that they aren't actually allowed to do in law, like coming into my house. Best response is to totally ignore them.

I do of course stick to the rules totally.

😂😂😂😂 some of these comments are so much fun to read! Thanks for the entertainment

This is because of the decision taken by David Cameron's government to make it a legal requirement for all suppliers of 'terrestrial' TV delivery to include BBC services in every single package.

This came about because of the likes of SKY agitating for the ability to offer packages which did not include the BBC, meaning their subscribers would not be liable to pay the TV licence fee. Cameron's government took the decision to protect the BBC's income stream by legally mandating that any TV package offered must include BBC.

It's not strictly correct that you 'need a TV licence to watch ITV/C5/C5 etc' because you can watch their catch-up services perfectly legally without a TV licence. It is the case that any means of delivering live 'as broadcast' ITV/C4/C5 service will automatically include delivery of 'as broadcast' BBC, so regardless of what you choose to watch, if you are watching any live 'terrestrial' service you will require a licence.

This does not extend to 'ability to receive', hence why the licence bill is unequivocal in its language. It states 'if you watch, or if you intend to watch', which is why simply possessing the means to watch does not mandate that you must also have a licence.

This came about because of the likes of SKY agitating for the ability to offer packages which did not include the BBC, meaning their subscribers would not be liable to pay the TV licence fee.

Your post makes no sense. You need a TV License to watch ANY live TV, so a package without BBC makes no difference, you still need a TV license.

You need a TV licence to watch any TV precisely because David Cameron's government legislated to make it a legal requirement for all means of delivery of live TV within the UK to include the BBC's services.

I explained this in the post you quoted, and I'm not sure why you are having trouble understanding it?

You’re talking out of your bum. You don’t need a licence to listen to the radio

I've cancelled mine after years and years of having one. Nobody is watching tv at all. We don't get time. Cancelled sky too. Only time for work, Netflix and a song game on my phone.

You needed a TV license to watch live TV prior to David Cameron ever becoming prime minister.

The inclusion of BBC in whatever pack makes no difference to that.

Yes, you needed a licence because analogue broadcast meant everyone who was capable of receiving any TV picture was capable of receiving BBC.

Analogue switch off meant that everyone who wanted to watch TV was going to have to acquire another means of delivery, whether that was via a subscription service, or just some means of receiving the Freeview service.

When the Charter was reviewed during the period of the analogue switch-off, the subscription service providers argued that as they would be able to tailor packages to the desires of their customers, their customers should have the right to 'opt out' and choose to receive a digital package that did not include the BBC, thereby rendering themselves incapable of receiving BBC in the first place and simultaneously removing their obligation to pay for a licence.

It was precisely to pre-empt this and protect the BBC's source of licence-derived income that Cameron's government amended the licence act to mandate that all providers of digital 'terrestrial' broadcast, whether that is subscription or otherwise, must include BBC in every single one of their packages, meaning that anyone in the UK who receives any service that supplies the formerly 'terrestrial' service also receives BBC and is therefore obliged to pay for a licence, hence why you can not legally watch live ITV, C4, C5, Sky One, Sky News, etc in the UK without a licence even though the licencing act only applies to BBC services.

If the act had not been amended, then Sky, Virgin packages etc would be in the same situation that currently applies to Netflix, Disney+, and so on, in that they would have been able to offer packages that did not include live BBC broadcasts, and therefore be free of the obligation on the customer to also hold a TV licence.

I don't have a license and I don't know anybody who does. A lot of people just use streaming now, I don't even have a television I stream everything I watch. It seems really out dated and old fashioned somehow to think people pay a license and have an actual TV, that doesn't do anything else. And before anybody asks no I don't watch anything on the BBC iplayer!

You don’t need a licence for BBC radio https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ102 though not worth listening to since Ken Bruce left.

What act is this?

It's been the law for decades that that TV platforms have to show the public service broadcaster channels.

You also need a TV licence to watch live TV in the UK from non-UK sources whether this is by streaming or, if you have a suitable dish, from satellites that are not aimed at, and not marketed to the UK. Often the only BBC channel these broadcast is BBC World.

You also need a licence to watch live TV on streaming services, such as the 20 Premiership matches shown on Amazon Prime.

@Namechangedforthisonetoday 😂 yes very good point. I used itvplayer for the first time for unforgotten but so worth it! I'm getting my programmes mixed up.

Happy Valley was the one I was thinking off - had me absolutely hooked and watching once a week like the old days.

for all of you saying you don't need a license to listen to BBC radio, how on earth do you think it's funded? Its the best in the world - but you will kill it if you don't pay. I can't believe I have to say this.

Of course YANBU if you don't use it, you can still watch everything apart from BBC and iPlayer on catch up, just not live and listen to BBC radio if you want.

I've not had a licence for years. Bought one to watch the football and then cancelled afterwards. Declared it etc but still had someone come knocking after increasingly threatening letters. I politely explained what and why and the fact we don't watch iplayer or ANY LIVE TV. He just said we needed to make sure we were signed out of every iplayer account.

I have a licence as I'm retired so more time to watch telly, if I wasn't I probably wouldn't bother, DS doesn't have one because he doesn't have much time to watch TV so just watches a streaming service when he watches.

Most people I know stream too but on an actual tv. I personally hardly watch any tv but what I do, I stream, like most people I know.

Most people I know still have a tv though, I use mine for gaming, watching old dvds that I can't find on any streaming platforms. We like to watch movies as a family and I wouldn't like to be huddled round a laptop. Dh watches all his documentaries on the tv as he doesn't find using his phone to stream a nice experience.

So even though we also don't watch live tv etc. a tv is still used.

The Communications Act 2003. I believe the amendment in question passed in 2016 but was the brainchild of the coalition government rather than Cameron's post-2015 majority government.

I'm unsure precisely which 'platforms' you are referring to that have been around for 'decades' other than analogue broadcast, but with specific regard to subscription services there was no legal requirement for them to provide BBC channels. It was the norm for the few cable providers, certainly, because of customer expectation, but even if they had chosen not to then people could still access analogue broadcast of BBC channels in any case. The switch off meant that people no longer had that option, hence the requirement to compel providers to include BBC, and in turn prevent end consumers from 'opting out'.

I got rid of my licence years ago when my son grew out of CBeebies as I realised it was almost the only time the tv was even on.

As the only other time was to watch a movie once a week which we always ended up having to get from Netflix or hiring online we ditched everything & haven't seen or ever missed live tv at all.

I think with the internet & the ease of finding other things to do nowadays, the time when everyone sat in front of their tv each evening watching stuff has passed.

Kids don't seem to even think of tv, it's all about gaming or YouTube or similar & they don't value Live TV because they are used to watching things when it suits them.

As for their website, they've spent years disregarding women & misreporting things so it's of no value & certainly isn't impartial.
I couldn't even tell you which decade I last listened to a BBC radio station, I have streaming subscriptions for music.

The BBC is no longer of any real service, it's just a luvvies club of people who want to keep their inflated wages & to pretend they are relevant in todays society.

Why is it outdated to have a TV, I wouldn't want to just watch on my iPad and it's a bit uncomfortable perched watching a film on my iMac.

The principle of the licence is outdated but it's not outdated to watch live TV any more than any other types of TV. I have the lot, licence, Sky, all the streamers as I like a good choice of watching what I want when I want.

Cancelled our tv licence January 2020 so 3 years ago and don’t have one regret.

We don’t watch anything live and don’t watch bbc iplayer, we watch Netflix, prime and Disney majority of the time, very rarely watch itv hub etc.

I haven't had a TV licence for years.
But I don't watch live TV or BBC or listen to any BBC radio channels.
I did really want to watch Sanditon and Ghosts and rented them from my local library.
A lot cheaper than a TV license and good for the local library 😊

i feel really old fashioned when I read these threads with people that don’t know anyone that has a licence or watches terrestrial tv live. In addition to myself and family have friends that watch Bake Off and Dragons Den and current Dr Who.

I also quite like anticipating what will be next episode of a drama rather than it all being available at once (I know I could spread it out but it isn’t quite the same as having no choice except to wait for next week or next day’s episode.)