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!

When mine were toddlers we did pay for the licence and watch CBeebies. So I paid when I needed it and stopped once we stopped watching.

This.

Of course they won’t

There's absolutely no need to reply to the letters, any more than there's a need to pop into the local police station (if you're lucky enough to live near one with a counter) to let them know you haven't misused your car in any way that year. The letters get increasingly red and hysterical, and then they start back at the beginning of the cycle. Every now and then someone comes to the house and I tell them I don't buy and sell at the door.

They are probably wealthier than you. Doing real world activities costs a lot these days sadly. Or really into reading or some other absorbing interest.

@SumUp we are talking eye watering sums here…harder to find how they spent it, if anyone can help that would be interesting ?

‘In the 2024-25 financial year, the BBC's licence fee revenue was approximately £3.8 billion, representing about 65% of its total income. This was an increase from the previous year, though the number of households paying the licence fee fell by around 359,000. Total income for the BBC was about £5.9 billion in 2024-25, with the remaining 35% coming from commercial activities and other sources.’

BBC licence fee revenue (2024-25)
Licence fee revenue: £3.8 billion
Percentage of total income: 65%
Total BBC income: £5.9 billion
Non-licence income: £1.9 billion (from commercial activities and other sources)
Number of licence holders: Declined by 359,000 to 22.8 million

Yeah every 3 or 4 years I ight get it

My FIL is in a nursing home I rang them and explained the situation and was told that from time to time they would send letters asking if a license was needed. Those letters have become more threatening and also saying they will send someone to check . Well good luck with that the house is empty and there isn’t a tv in the house. They also questioned whether he needed a license where he was going!!!

I stopped my TV licence when I found out the BBC paid Huw Edwards £200k after his arrest.

They sent a threat to prosecute to our allotment site.
We have no electricity on site!

I watch a lot on BBC iplayer and so does my son. And we listen to BBC Radio stations and use their website a lot. I don’t mind paying for this reason.

I used to draw Chads on the envelope, saying "Wot, no TV?" & marking the envelope return to sender.
I think they goy the message in the end, as I've not had a letter for years.

I don’t watch any of it illegally. I wanted to watch the C B Strike series so I bought it on Amazon. Ditto some David Attenborough shows. The kids like Bluey but they get that on Disney +. Why is this so hard to understand or believe?

They had to keep paying his salary until the allegations were proven. Employers can't just stop paying employees without legal backing. Protection for both parties is the whole point of employment contracts. There were reports in the press that they asked him for it back too.

From the OP:

If you look at BBC corporation’s ownership, majority stakeholders are private Ltd companies and individuals.

Isn't that fundamentally untrue? No one owns the BBC (apart from arguably the license payers). There are no stakeholders. There are no private Ltd companies.

BBC Studios is the commercial branch of the BBC (which sells content overseas) but all the profits go back into public service broadcasting.

How would I even know, if I’m not watching TV to see the trailers?

Do you think I am buying a copy of Radio Times every week and circling all the programmes I might want to watch, and then cursing the fact that I can’t because I don’t own a television? 🤣

My mum doesn't. She watches Netflix, Disney and ITVX.

Well, that's just weird! It's 2025, not 1985! Most people stream now anyway. I have a TV licence as DH likes watching the traitors (god knows why) on iplayer. But no one else in the house watches either live TV or iplayer. I never even use the TV unless we're all watching a movie together. I prefer my laptop.

You know the No. 1 app that's watched in this house? YouTube! Now that is worth paying for the Premium package to stop all the ads!

Probably, but that’s in no way relevant to the point I was making in my post which was exclusively about the expectation that old people are all dependent on and comforted by television.

It depends what you call "elderly". I'm 64 and only watch 'on demand' and never watch live TV or the BBC. My partner (at her own home), is 65 and likewise, only watches 'on demand', and no BBC. My neighbour, who is 73, is exactly the same, and my EX-SIL is 76, and she's also the same. In fact, I cannot think of one person older than me that watches BBC, live TV, or has A TV licence. "Elderly" people are often more savvy than people think....

I watch BBC stuff so pay for the license. Am I being taken for a mug? So many people watching but refusing to pay.
It is like watching people shop lift and wondering why I am not doing the same.

Absolutely! I occasionally hear of something I'd like to watch on a subscription service I don't currently have. For instance, there's a series I've been watching which is complete on another service which I don't have, but part way through on Netflix, which I do. So I'm waiting for the rest of it to come onto Netflix.

It's a very odd outlook to assume criminal behaviour in people. There's stuff in the shops I'd like but can't afford, I don't steal in those circumstances either!

Why can't the BBC be like any other content provider? Why do they have to special and get a "licence fee"? If people were forced to pay for Netflix and Netflix sent letters out to people who didn't subscribe accusing them of watching illegally and telling them that they were breaking the law if they didn't subscribe, it would seem ridiculous. And yet that is what the BBC does on a daily basis, and people think it is normal just because it has been that way for so long.

@SALaw Maybe an age thing? My partner and I (both late twenties) haven’t watched the BBC since leaving our respective family homes nearly a decade ago (apart from incidentally seeing stuff on my mum’s telly) and our TV has never had an aerial. Judging by our friends and colleagues, I would say that’s very much the norm amongst our age group. I don’t think I’ve ever been tempted to watch the BBC, even when at my mum’s house and free to watch it - there are loads of other (much cheaper or free) options and what I’ve seen of it when having a quick look while at my mum’s appears to be mostly absolute trash, truly dire comedy or just another version of the same “gritty drama” they’ve been churning out for years. If they accidentally make anything good it’ll get bought by a streaming service at some point anyway.

I haven’t owned a TV for years, but still regularly get the threatening letters, which I find entertaining. I never respond.

They increase in severity, eventually specifying a day on which they will be visiting.

Then never come. Which is a pity, as I’d hugely enjoy acting suspicious and messing them about.

Bastards.