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!

CBeebies has great content and back when we had a tv licence it was the only thing my children were allowed to watch. Numberblocks and Alphablocks were a staple. I would love to buy these separately and would welcome a subscription model that made paying a monthly sum for children’s programming an option. I still don’t agree that the BBC should be allowed to flout its own impartiality charter whilst aggressively demanding annual declarations of non-use.

Collecting revenue is not a free exercise. Adding it as one line to another bill is much cheaper.

Christ @Rosesfornoses why don't you just marry cbeebies if you love it so much? 🤣

Or just close the door on them no need to be rude.

Quite. I fill my long lonely nights browsing on mumsnet! 🤣🤣🤣

Honestly, DH and I work long hours, we do a lot of sports, I like reading and Duolingo, we have a social life, DS has a lot of clubs and activities, and likes playing Minecraft and various Switch games. If I do want to watch something I’d rather go to the cinema or theatre. If there is a sporting event we want to watch, we go to the pub and watch it with friends. CBeebies is a hotel/holiday/gran’s house treat for DS. We lived overseas when he was a preschooler so I promise he didn’t miss out on Numberblocks 😆

I do listen to R4 but you don’t need a licence for that. If you did, I would pay it. But I’m not paying for a tv licence when we genuinely don’t watch it.

This thread has made me cancel my tv licence duevto renes at end of month genuinely tv is just used for gaming and I watch stuff on my phone ( not iplayer) I did watch sewing bee but the cost versus hours watched is really high so that’s £170 saved!

Cancelled mine about a year or two ago and I've had an email saying it's run our and I have to tell them again. Unsure whether to do that or ignore it.

Yeah I have hundreds of them they start off quite gently reminding you, you don't have a licence, and they get increasingly threatening promising visits etc, then the whole cycle starts again such a waste of paper.

I declared I didn't need one and still get letters so personally I would bother wasting any time letting them know.

@FutureMarchionessOfVidal

yeah good old ‘auntie’

it’s almost as if other streaming / pay per view / catch up as and when you want them with no adverts sometimes didn’t exist isn’t it

it is 2025 not 1955

Yeah I've heard that. They're a nuisance. I don't watch live TV at all but obviously watch Netflix and YouTube.

The trouble is with this insidious company though is the goons they send around lie through their teeth and claimed they saw you watching live TV through the window etc. Horrible people.

More fool you for paying a bill that you don't need to ,would you pay for a bag of shopping you didn't need or someone else's gas bill?

@x2boys how many ‘’investigations’ have they started against your address? actually not you as they don’t know your name !
I must be in double figures by now 🤔

@SumUp as I’ve said before they will not do a subs service they would lose BILLIONS in revenue, they just aren’t that popular

We would not accept this from any other service provider.

Just imagine if Netflix started sending everybody threatening letters and people at the door, and asking people to opt out every month. Also the opt put form is worded threateningly, and suggests that most people who opt out are fraudsters and are you sure you are not one of them? Because we will fine you 1000s of £ if that’s the case.

Would you be happy for Netflix to send this every year to everybody including elderly and vulnerable people?

Of course the system needs to be opt in, otherwise it is bullying.

Ive not had a tv in years if or when i get a letter in the post i just ring them all done within a few minutes then get on with my life.
Simple.

Must be in the hundreds!
They always promise to visit but I never get one.

its many years ago now but people did used to visit to check AND in vans with the whirly thing on the top. When we bought our first house it was still in the era of paper licences. We giot a visit from a bloke who asked did we have a licence and assumed it was because we had newly moved in and it was our first TV licence. I showed him the licence and he went away happy. Same thing happened a few weeks later and then a third time. Bloke very apologetic by then. The following year it happened again and this time on the second visit he came back triumphant. Did I or my husband work for the prisons service? Nope. Turns out for some reason the house was registered on ther lists as in the ownership of the prisons service used for temporary accommodation of prisons staff! No idea how or why. The previous owner so far as we knew, worked in a bank.

And many hope bbc will disappear

Even simpler to just not ring or email them though

Makes me laug how we all fell for the "Detector van," nonsense.

But capital a rude by simply turning up. Trying to scare people into buying an outdated item that is no longer needed.

It's not hard is it?

I wish I could tell Sky I don't want 95% of what they provide and pay £15 a month instead.

@x2boys I would love a visit, it’s very disappointing of them to keep letting us down

Not everyone did !