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 😆

There are so many other things they could do.

Fewer radio stations - why do we need dozens of them with only slightly different content? Have 2-3 national ones instead.

Paywall for Bitesize and news content.

Ads. Even Disney+ have a tiered subscription service; they could then make ad-free subscription only.

Monetise the download of content, similar to Prime, with a rental and a buy option for stuff people actually watch and re-watch, like Dr Who.

Stop sending letters. That must cost a fortune in postage.

Quality. Produce things people want to watch and listen to.

Do they charge for content abroad? I was able to watch and listen to BBC World in my home country without additional charges.

Why?

I don't want ads on the BBC, I pay extra to get rid of the ads on all the other streamers, there was also talk about a subscription for iPlayer, this seemed to be on top of the licence fee.

The BBC should launch as a subscription service and raise its own money that way. I don't watch live TV and don't want to pay a compulsory tax to fund the BBC when I have no interest in watching it.

In the articles I've seen a BBC spokesman is quoted as saying "The public cares about the BBC...". Does it really? Personally I do not.

If they did this then would they move onto people who use tvs for gaming or just watching dvds? The latter is places like children’s A&E and schools.

They are going to end up driving more people into watching illegal streams on Firesticks and the like.

Hate the license fee, especially as there's almost nothing I want to watch on BBC. And when I do, there are endless adverts - I don't understand how just because they're advertising their own programmes, they don't count as adverts? An ad for a tv programme is just as irritating as an ad for washing up liquid!

Wtaf?!

That's disgusting! Greedy sex harassing pigs.

I don’t understand why the government have anything to do with a private company. They shouldn’t be endorsing them. How dare they try and force this. I will not give bbc a penny. Haven’t had a license in years.

I'm a huge fan of the BBC but even I think this would be a bad idea.

That said, for those of you who claim that it's bad value for money, Netflix told me that my sub is going up to $17.99 per month (I am in the US much of the time) which works out annually at quite a bit more than the license fee. No more Netflix for me!

Without a PSB, the quality of tv will go to terminal decline. As it is very little is commissioned for older viewers, and once the BBC goes, it will be zero.

Netflix, Apple, Disney etc commission very few UK-centred documentaries - like 5 or so a year.

ITV lost £1m making their biggest hit (Mr Bates) and said they can’t afford to make UK centres dramas.

Most commissioning now requires guaranteed international sales to raise the finances, and that means it has to resonate in the North American territories.

The only reason everything isn’t already made for the US market is that the BBC sets a standard for prestige viewing that the other terrestrial channels (and to a lesser extent streamers) align with.

The second it’s all about ratings and subscribers, the general quality of tv - especially that servicing an older demographic - will nose dive.

You might be ok with that now, but when you’re older and all you can find is celebrity crap, you’ll wish you hadn’t been so quick to defund the BBC.

Nothing good comes of creative pursuits entirely beholden to market forces.

Most streaming services already have ads (if you’re on the basic packages)
i would be annoyed at having to pay for a license as well as still having to watch ads and paying subscription services.

@Feelslikewinter

"You might be ok with that now, but when you’re older and all you can find is celebrity crap, you’ll wish you hadn’t been so quick to defund the BBC"
pointless celebrities
celebrity escape to the country
impossible celebrities
celebrity masterchef

and so on and so on............

It's interesting that fans of the BBC find it impossible to believe that others don't want to watch it.
Now we have " oh, you may not want to wach it now, but give it 20 years and you will"
nope, can't see it

The bbc are pathetic and archaic. I'll never want to watch overpaid sexual harassers parading their foul personalities on ridiculous cooking and baking shows. My IQ just isn't low enough to ever watch bloody baking ffs.

oh, just looked at the listings for BBC for this evening.
Some examples of the world leading first class programmes on for your delight this evening:

BBC 2 ( I always used to think this was more of an arts type channel)

Flog it
Richard osman's house of games ( another celebrity type thing)
Alison Hammond's Florida adventure ( another celebrity type thing)
Celebrity antique shop

That's from 5:15 to 9pm.
Looks amazing; popping off to but a license right now

It's all pathetic rubbish, but the labour party seem to love it.

It's an absolute joke. It should be scrapped and BBC should become a subscription service but they will never do it because they will lose a shit ton of money.

But either way, not paid it for years and not going to start now.

@Feelslikewinter That's an issue with live TV shows, though, not general viewing content. One of the reasons I don't watch live TV and/ or TV channels is because what they show is generally crap.

I like good comedy shows and decent film and TV series quality. I pay Disney+ for providing me instant access to just that. I have a huge stash of DVDs and Blu-rays for the same reason.

But current live TV content is mostly shallow trash about people who don't interest me. So I don't watch it and I don't want to be forced to pay for it.

@Feelslikewinter
BBC three ( again, thought this was an artsy channel)
Some fantastic home grown programming on this evening showcasing the amazing things the BBC makes:
The traitors US
Suits
Suits again!

That takes you to 9:45.
Cracking evening's telly so far!

They'd better not start charging everyone who has a device, or for something like YouTube. I mainly watch documentaries, educational content and the odd film hire on that platform.

I think I'm going to blow a bloody gasket at this rate. I absolutely detest the bbc after the savile thing came out. I haven't had a license since.

which is perfectly reasonable - all I’m saying is that when there is no PSB, the breadth of choice gets limited to what the market supposedly wants.

And the market being woo’d is not 50+ women, I can assure you.

I agree that the BBC has lost its way already trying to appeal to a younger audience too much, but I think that needs correcting, rather than scrapping the whole lot.

And that’s even before you look at radio, world service, the website, bitesize and all the other stuff that is in no way commercially viable when pitted against venture capitalist funded international streamers.

That's a good idea. I don't pay TV licence because I don't watch live TV at all. Why the fuck should I have to pay the BBC for something I don't even use? Surely this can't actually happen 🤨

I bloody love youtube.
You can watch basically anything you can think of on there

Probably
It happened last year where I live

First it was only if live tv. Then you had to have license if you owned anything even able of watching live tv, including laptop, you could get tv officially made into just a screen for internet but that cost for the paperwork which made you not need license.

Since last year it’s now called household fee’ license and it’s automatic that you have to pay like a council tax. It’s now a legal requirement. You can opt to be excluded if disabled, low income etc if you have proof but basically 98% of people have to pay. What depends on each region but ours is now €240 I think a year, and we haven’t had live tv for about 20 years ( in uk or here). I think it’s €15 something a month fixed plus whatever out region adds which is about €5 a month

I bet most moaning on here voted for Labour who were never keen to get rid of it though

@Feelslikewinter
I'm in my mid 50's and there is nothing, and I mean nothing I want to watch on the BBC
Actually, i lie, I like to watch only connect but I'm not shelling out £170 a year for one program that then appears on youtube anyway.
Wha did you think of this evening's tv listings?
Which of the programs are you looking forward to watching?