To say that the TV Licence should be abolished?

[Appalonia]

When I look at what I watch on TV these days on the BBC, it's really only Strictly, repeats of TOTP and Glastonbury . There's nothing else that interests me. I listen to Trevor Nelson on R2, but that's it. I watch Netflix, Amazon much more and some shows on ITV, C4 or Sky Arts. And a lot of interviews on YouTube and podcasts. I also object to how the BBC posits itself as the voice of truth and neutrality, but it really isn't these days, on so many issues.

Why are we forced to pay for a service that has had its day and is no longer fit for service?

I’ve always paid but this year money has been so tight. I seen someone on twitter talking about how they’d not paid for 15 years so I cancelled mine.
It’s a fee I can’t afford and I think you should have the option to pay it or not.
The wording is as thought it’s for all tv channels but isn’t it just the BBC ?

Good news is that's not true.
Think about all the devices that are capable of receiving tv. Your tv, tablets, 'phones etc. etc.
You don't need a license just because you have equipment capable of getting tv.
You need a license if you access live tv. or iplayer.
Ditch it.

It's all tv channels... We paying by month now. I hope they stop the license. I hate paying it but we do have a TV.

I used to love the bbc. I’m still a fan of some stuff, the nature programmes, the space programmes, bbc bite size are really educational and good for kids. I watch have I got news for you and some dramas.

I think once dc are older I’ll cancel licence though I never watch live tv and will just use a paid service of my choosing.!

That's not true.
It's against the law to watch live tv or iplayer.
Otherwise you don't need a license.

I think it’s if you watch live tv from any channel and if you access iplayer.

That's not true ,you are allowed to have a TV ,as many watch streaming channels, and game etc
You only need a licence if you watch live TV

I haven't paid mine for years either. Just went online and declared I don't watch tv and that's it. I don't understand why people would pay it in this day and age because there's so many ways to watch tv now so it should be abolished, it's massively outdated.

I've never been anti-BBC. Don't really watch it, do listen to the radio in the car and value the international stuff and so on. CBeebies is a hill I would die on and happily pay the license fee for alone, but I can't imagine they will now need to remake number blocks.

This thread has been a realisation that my views have changed. It's too expensive and yes, I do now resent paying in an era of choice for what is basically a massive monothilic block of rubbish content.

The BBC's general programming is excellent. My DH and I tend to watch BBC1 and BBC2 the most - out of all the channels.

Its news provision is biased and actually jeopardises our country's security and values in some cases. Actively not what the licence fee to our state broadcaster should be doing.

I'd like the journalistic and programming aspects of the BBC be split out under a subscription model so I can actively support and consume the high quality aspects of the BBC and let the news elements flounder without support.

It should be abolished. I used to support it, when there were only four channels available to most people it made sense to have it. It's just not necessary anymore.

For a while I thought there should be a lower licence fee, say £10 a year, to support its news output. But the BBC news is so biased now. (PSA: any news provider who has to tell you they are impartial almost certainly isn't.)

The only way the licence fee could possibly be tolerable to me would be if it granted access to the entire back catalogue of the BBC. Every episode of every series available on demand, not just the tiny selection they put on the iPlayer. That's never going to happen, so just scrap the whole thing. It can still be a voluntary subscription service if there are enough people who want to pay for it.

I don't. I don't want to watch adverts.

don't the BBC advertise their own services?

They're putting it up again for the people who pay because there is more not paying it. Government ran so obviously they need to do whatever to screw the payer to keep it.

YANBU, I haven't had a TV licence for well over a decade now. We just don't watch live TV and for the amount of content that I want to watch, Netflix had always seemed a much better deal.

It's an absolute rip off. I stopped paying it years ago and don't watch the rubbish they put on bbc, and all the perverts they've employed and protected over the years.

Can't believe people still pay it in this day and age, must be hard-core eastenders fans.

I won't be paying come renewal time.

The misogyny this year has been unbearable and I won't be contributing my finances to that.

I really like the BBC content - have seen & heard some fantastic programmes this year. Happy to keep paying the licence fee.

ITvX and Channel 4 catch-up are all bur unwatchable with the ads. There's lots of stuff there I'd like to see, but I won't go near either any more.

As for news, there's no such thing as a genuinely impartial take. The moment you make a choice about what to show and how (because you can't show literally everything), you're opening yourself up to accusations of bias. Since the BBC seems to get accused about equally by left and right, it's probably about as centrist as it can be.

Don’t pay for it then? Remove your coax and watch your ITV shows on ITVX or whatever it’s called.

And herein lies one of the issues in that people don’t understand how the BBC already operates.

Absolutely loads of BBC dramas are sold to streamers and around the world via BBC studios, so are formats - Strictly is sold all round the world, you’ll find Peaky blinders and Luther on Netflix for example.

If you don’t watch bbc then cancel your licence.

No, it’s just rising with inflation like everything rise, except it’s had a freeze for about the past four years.

Oh well 500000 people have cancelled it so it wouldn't surprise me if that's why they unfroze it. Struggling to pay all the peedos pensions. Ate they still paying huws 300000? Ran by a bunch of corrupt SOs

I should imagine that figure will ramp up as more people realise you don't need to pay it at all

So it's the responsibility of the person being harassed to change their behaviour rather than the organisation doing the harassment? Sounds a bit victim blamey.

declaring no license needed does nothing to stop the letters or visits and I agree: I don't get harassed by paramount demanding to know why I don't subscribe and making threats of court