Why the F should I tell BBC every year that I don’t watch TV ?

[LadyGillingham]

Why can’t they upgrade their subscriptions/licencing model like Netflix etc ?

If you look at BBC corporation’s ownership, majority stakeholders are private Ltd companies and individuals. Why the f are they entitled to demand subscription fees from me for services I don’t use!

The language in the emails is quite strong, I’m sure a lot of senior citizens just pay to not get into trouble. That’s extortion!

You need a coffee and some fresh air @SALaw
pronto!

So you knew you were wrong but then you questioned me saying you were wrong? Make it make sense.

As everyone on the left seems to think they are biased right, and everyone on the right seems to think they are biased left, I rather feel that they're getting the lack of bias about right.

However I'm impressed by the witty and incisive substitution of 'Biased' in place of 'British'. This is very sophisticated political argument, right up there with 'gammon' and 'snowflake'. Well done. Whatever your point is, I'm completely won over.

Coffeed and fresh aired up! Can multitask. It’s a gift.

I've lived without a licence several times (in last 25 yrs) because no TV. Including right now.

Never found it a hassle when they verified or sent a query. No pressure at all.

And here's the ageism again! Odd behaviour, narrowmindedness, suspiciousness - all to be expected from older people.

So what are you balancing now with your furious tapping on this thread about how kids in the 80/90s without a tv were “weird” and imploring us to try the bbc

No

but a belief that the BBC is much more important than it actually is…. Yes

Maybe as far as 'left' and 'right' goes but they've pretty consistently been anti-women's rights and anti child safeguarding all along. Single mothers were sent to jail for not paying TV license fines, leaving their children without a parent. Which is the greater crime there? Not paying a tv license or forcing children into care because their mother has been arrested over not paying for a tv license?

Enabling Savile and other predators, shaming and gaslighting the victims. Calling child rape victims 'sex workers' and some extremely dodgy content in some of their children's programmes too.

@whatwouldafeministdo Single mothers were sent to jail for not paying TV license fines, leaving their children without a parent.

Authoritative citation required.

Wrong about what ? I asked what Zoe ball did to justify her half million salary and why she had a decrease from 900K as I’m not in the slightest bit interested in the BBC I had no idea what she does, so how am I wrong ? You didn’t answer anyway 🤷🏻‍♀️you just said she ‘famously’ doesn’t present anymore ‘famously’ no less so I asked what she actually did. FFS this is hard work and not worth the pay off quite frankly I’d rather defrost my freezer with my bare hands whilst watching a re-run of Dads Army

@SALaw
I think I might get it now, did ZB earn a paltry 445k in 2024 becuase she no longer has a job presenting?

So you could have explained that to me rather than saying I was wrong, I thought she had taken a pay cut.

I have zero interest in her or her career so I wasn’t aware

I have made it make sense now !

What is the point of it when there are so many other content providers out there?

It's all spread quite thinly though isn't it, I wouldn't find much to watch if I just had Netflix or just had the TV licence, you need to subscribe to at least half a dozen providers to get a decent spread of things to watch.

I’m in my early 50s, retired and spend more than half my time outside the UK. I don’t think I’ve turned on a television at home in the UK this month, let alone watched a BBC channel. I’m amazed that anyone would presume to know with such certainty what other people’s viewing habits are ;)

Edited to add, just how much TV are people watching? I have a Netflix subscription because it can be used anywhere in the world (unlike the iPlayer) and it’s handy for downloading things to watch on planes. But I’d say that there are easily more days in a week/month/year when the television is off than on. Now, before my husband died it was on most days, and we did have a TV licence then, but I reckon in the 6 years since he died and I cancelled them I must have been through 5 cycles of 8 to 10 increasingly threatening letters across several properties. Which is why I just return them all to sender now in batches :)

The BBC is obliged by its charter to provide programming for minority interests and other things commercialbroadcasters wouldn't touch or only the very safe mainstream stuff - e.g. classical music, new music, high quality children's programmes, impartial coverage of current affairs. They also do stuff of wide appeal to draw in a large audience and justify the licence fee arrangement. Much of this is sold on to other countries, generating revenue. No shareholders, so no profit motive.

@Sesma there are the catch up free channels as well. I have permanently NOW which is sky content, plus one other streaming service it’s more than enough

NOW is very reasonable if you choose the long term deals and they have some great drama on there, especially Sky Atlantic.
I found Apple to be pricey and limited

It’s not just about bbc and iplayer, its any live or recorded tv on any channel. So basically if you watch any tv through a sky, virgin etc box, whether it’s live or recorded.

I despise the BBC and think the licence fee is a joke, we should all stop paying it.

I would have agreed with you until they started sending my elderly, vulnerable dad letters claiming they’d caught him watching the iPlayer (he wouldn’t know how even if he wanted to). They had him so scared I sent them a very angry email, which is something I’ve never done before. They’re little more than bullies and their target audience is often very vulnerable. There’s no excuse for it.

You could have just ignored the letter. You're not obliged to declare online that you don't need a licence. What will happen is your will get a scary letter every few months (these are automated and sent to any address that doesn't have a licence) and you will get these even if you have declared, however, if you don't declare they will not know who to address these letters to and eventually they will revert to being address to "the occupier" or something like that. You can just recycle these letters like you would any other unsolicited paper mail and if anyone from Capita turns up at your door either don't answer or just close the door. They are not police, have no legal authority and cannot just enter your home.

Just to reiterate, it is not a legal requirement to have a television licence. Plenty of people don't own TV's and plenty of people own TV's but do not watch live broadcasts (they use them for gaming etc) which is perfectly legal.

“Multi task” meaning post on multiple threads presumably?

actually more like post on mumsnet and watch BBC

I don’t know anything/anywhere else that I have to declare I don’t have/use something. I don’t declare non gun ownership yearly, I don’t declare I’ve not been shoplifting, I don’t ring car parks to tell them I didn’t park there. It really annoys me I have to tell them I don’t need a TV licence- though apparently I didn’t need to do so. I cancelled mine after I moved and didn’t take the TV with mea few years ago. One time I was supposed to renew I was at my parents caring for a few weeks. I phoned to renew the declaration after that time and apologised saying my dad had passed away - the guy was very, very rude about me declaring late and aggressively didn’t seem to believe I didn’t need a licence either, and it was then I decided to make sure I would never never need one again. I have lately inherited a TV but rarely watch it, and only within guidelines where I wouldn’t need a licence.
I really think it’s fair dos if they catch someone - via signals (if that’s even possible) or whatever way - but not this increasing level of harassment and threats. I had a declaration to Jan 26 and in around April this year they started sending letters to renew or pay - so it doesn’t even abide by its own processes or accept my declarations anyhow it seems.
If the BBC is essential as the official U.K. broadcaster and I have to pay on that basis then be honest and put my tax up or council tax up - those who probably need TV most, are probably struggling most and I’d not mind covering that for those who like to watch the BBC - and there is no free licence for the elderly any more just the blind. Otherwise it will have to go on a sub model if it can’t afford to broadcast Farage enough times 🤨

Thanks it was a random one suggested by Mumsnet lol

Mm, I see your point. I think it would worsen the central problem discussed on this thread, though. Already the BBC uses the special status accorded to it by the licence fee to behave in a significantly more aggressive way than private companies towards non-users. If the fee were administered alongside council tax it would be very easy for the legal powers permitted for tax collection to be deployed in relation to the licence fee. And councils are, in my experience, pretty trigger happy about payment enforcement. Also, the BBC is not government funded. That’s the whole point of the licence fee: it is funded by the public but not via the government, which (in theory) accords it full independence. Tie its funding to any part of the tax system, even in purely administrative terms, and you risk losing that.

Dh did the form online on their webpage his name not mine.

His more uptight about it as his from a family who believe you legally have to have a licence to watch anything on a tv and won’t hear different.