About the TV license potentially being extended to streaming services?

[Haruka]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/01/28/netflix-users-could-forced-pay-licence-fee/

I already pay enough for the services themselves. I don't watch live TV and especially not the BBC. I am fed up with this potentially becoming a lack of choice; it feels like extortion and yet another tax.

I know that in other countries any device capable of receiving live TV and/ or radio needs a licence (including car radios, laptops, iPads and smartphones), but in this day and age it's taking the piss potentially having to pay for a service I don't even use, just to get access to things that I do.

AIBU to take a very dim view of these proposals?

I'm surprised I haven't seen any other threads on this yet, but maybe I'm blinded by fury 😆

"Inform, Educate, Entertain" it's been their slogan since forever and they seem to think it means that they're a national service, whereas, in actuality, I haven't watched it in years because it's nothing but biased documentaries and shit "reality TV" and they seem to think that everyone owes them for that.

The stuff I watch is documentaries, channels made direct by the YouTuber such as Abroad in Japan, craft (knitting, crochet) channels, old films, music videos, recipes, etc. I don’t think any of that is stolen.Other than YouTubers who ‘react’ to other people’s channels (I don’t watch those), I don’t know what stolen stuff that would be.

@Feelslikewinter any comment on ypur supposed non judgement of what other people watch ( which seems to involve being very judgey)

That will be because BBC puts a lot of content on youtube including
BBC news
BBc teach
BBC world service
BBC select......

i was talking about so called "stolen " content

And I was talking about this

m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=513478917923251&id=100003334791925

Etc.

Seven years that's been up on YouTube.

well the BBC obviously aren't that bothered about having it removed. Probably because so much of their stuff is put on there by themselves anyway.
Can I ask what this has got to do with potentially having to pay for an entertainment service that many people don't want?

Well, I was wholeheartedly agreeing with the rest of the post more than that one sentence, but yes, dismissing the entire output of the BBCs many channels,
websites, radio stations and community outreach projects would make someone seem pretty ignorant and ill-informed, because either the have no idea what the BBC offers, or they are so determined to hate the institution they won’t acknowledge any positives.

But look, you seem to be getting really cross and upset and I don’t think we will find common ground,
so maybe we should leave it there?

If it’s professionally produced and looks like something you would see on tv, but hosted by someone other than an official channel, it is likely to be stolen.

Very few films and dramas are ever put on you tube but some channels eg Sky will put some full documentaries out

OK .
I'm not cross and certainly nowhere near upset.
It's a bit pointless talking to someone who genuinely thinks if you don't watch the BBC you are ignorant and ill informed.
I recommend catching up a few decades and actually finding out what else is out there.

that sounds like that is mostly you tube content. They used to commission some originals, too, some of which are really good.

Stealing content reduces the revenue it makes. So there is less money to make new content.

See also copying DVDs and torrent streaming music from back in the day.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_FtE0S-IyY0

(ironically I couldn’t find an official host of this)

yes, it's happened with every bit of broadcasting forever. Certainly not unique to the BBC ( as you point out)

See, there you go again.

Wilfully missing my point and suggesting I’m out of touch because I realise the importance of PSBs over social media.

I know what’s out there - I am extremely well versed in content across all platforms and have tracked the changes for many, many years.

You seem determined to take offence, so crack on.

Doesn’t make it ok.

Again, you seem not to value creative endeavours.

How sad.

"You seem determined to take offence, so crack on".
I'm doing well not to be offended when you have called me ignorant and ill informed but maybe you just have an unpleasant way of talking to people.

I didn't say it should but they need to leave people alone and stop harassing them, especially when it says clearly on their letters to me that I have already informed them I don’t need a licence.

Again, I didn’t. I agreed with a poster who said something that I don’t even think was directed at you - but you would have to ask her.

You're the one deciding I’m out of touch by a couple of decades, so perhaps you are projecting when you talk about judgement.

Because us people who watch a lot of YouTube are supposed to hang our heads in shame for choosing to access our stolen chosen programmes instead of being glued to the dull chasm that is the bbc 🙄 our virtue thoroughly compromised, nay, shattered. We deserve to be ducktaped to a chair and forced to watch back to back Songs of Praise until we beg for mercy and dutifully pay the licence fee

Mrs Brown's Boys? I'd rather have my toes chewed off by termites.

Some people drink too much, some people smoke, some people cause upset and mayhem wherever they go, but the real degenerates watch YouTube 😂 😜😱

I mean, how far back is my heritage allowed to go? My family tree has gone full circle, having originated somewhere here, then having spent a good 2-300 years elsewhere before I made the decision to migrate here. If we're being picky about my rights because of cultural heritage, I claim it by way of descent 😁

See we're still arguing about this.
I put the anti BBC crew in the same pile as conspiracy theorists, anti vaxxers, flat earthers and Reform supporters (and those that went rioting last year)! You can't tell me that the content on YouTube/Netflix/Amazon Prime is of the same quality as the BBC content (Mrs Brown's Boys Aside)!

I did hear Netflix are launching a documentary on Grenfell, an hoping this will be exceptional quality. Will be interesting to see if they produced it themselves.

Are you suffering from amnesia?
You said it again about 5 posts up

Well, I was wholeheartedly agreeing with the rest of the post more than that one sentence, but yes, dismissing the entire output of the BBCs many channels,
websites, radio stations and community outreach projects would make someone seem pretty ignorant and ill-informed

They don’t produce anything in house but this is a commission from them. They commission a handful ( 3 or 4 iirc) of uk stories a year.

I've just thought of another knock-on effect if this becomes reality.

It is my understanding (and I might be wrong; it's been years since I've had a TV licenCe) that, in order to get registered, you need to pay the first 6 months upfront before being allowed to switch to monthly.

Given the licence is meant to go up to over £180 (negating the point a PP made about other services increasing their prices, too - this happens with the Beeb now and will likely accelerate if they have a captive audience with little choice), that's an extra £90 some may suddenly have to find.

None of the subscriptions I currently use is forcing me to do this.