Tv licence ?

[AlwaysHopefull89]

Does anyone still pay their tv licence? If NOT, why not?

we don’t watch bbc at all, stream any live tv or even watch live tv to be honest.

our bill was £180 and I can’t justify paying that anymore if we aren’t using the services? I’m worried if I don’t pay next year when it’s due I’ll get a knock at our door 😂😂

AIBU to cancel ours?

Yep just be normal and do subscription like everyone else. If what was it 12 million watched Traitors then there’s a market. Let people sign up and pay, we don’t need the door knocks and letters.

I use BBC iPlayer for programmes I like and work for documentaries. (Teacher)

If you don't use the service, don't pay.

I do like a lot of BBC output, and would pay purely for the children's element. My DS is autistic & Pablo has been a great programme for him. I suspect it has a very low viewership - and would never be made by a big streamer, but that's the benefit of a public service broadcaster.

I would hate to have programming dictated by shareholders- particularly news sources. The BBC is far from perfect, but once it's gone, it's gone & a profit making streaming service cannot replace it.

I think what people fundamentally misunderstand is that it would no longer exist as the BBC in this format - it would no longer be a public service broadcaster, it would unlikely provide any educational content, the World Service would disappear, BBC news would likely become entertainment driven or cease to exist at all & radio output becomes a series of podcasts.

Whilst the Trump IV edit is a PR nightmare - the BBC do constantly strive for impartiality, which is why there is so much discussion, on both sides of the political divide about bias etc.

We all expect a degree of bias from our other news sources - Guardian, Telegraph, Fox News, CNN etc. Which is why impartiality isn't up for debate for these outlets. Whilst it is most definitely imperfect, the BBC does a great job of holding power to account (the Emily Maitliss/ Prince Andrew IV as an example). I have firsthand experience of the censorship happening of the media is America right now & it's truly terrifying.

I understand if people don't use any of the above don't pay, but the BBC cannot become a subscription service. It would be impossible to retain any impartiality & everything is skewed towards viewing figures/ what subscribers watch - that sounds great in theory, but actually pushes society further into ignorance & their own bubbles dictated by the algorithm.

For those who use it/ watch live TV without paying & think it's hilarious - you may want to read about the crisis in the industry, with many out of work & struggling. It has a real life impact.

I'm afraid I did not understand your supermarket analogy.

It's not required but my husband and l benefit every day from listening to BBC radio.

My conscience is easy and I'm happy to support those that create the programmes.

Cancelled mine in 2008 after realising I had watched three programmes in a year. Only watch YouTube (no live stuff) and don't miss the TV. If they brought the radio licence back I'd happily pay that, BBC radio is imho good quality.

We don't know how much is the BBC part and how much is the live TV part. I mainly have it for live TV as I have Sky Q so even if I didn't watch any BBC, I would still need it or I would be paying loads for a very restricted Sky service.

If it went to subscription what would happen to the watching live TV part, how would that be paid for, I'm not sure even what it is but it seems to also include the live sport on Netflix and Prime, why are they not paying for that bit, what even is it.

Will the streaming services and Sky put prices up without the Licence money

No I don’t meet the criteria for needing one. I haven’t informed them just like I haven’t informed the DVLA I don’t meet the criteria for needing a Class 1 HGV license. They can keep sending their nonsense letters (which are worded to frighten the naive) and they can keep wasting the money of those who do pay.

I don't watch any live TV bar occasionally the (non BBC) news on YouTube.

Do you think that's the equivalent of shoplifting?

I don't know anyone who watches live TV

Haven't had one in years! The only BBC services I use are the website and radio, not watched live TV or iPlayer for ages.

If you don’t use these services then you need to formally declare (every year-on their website) to tv licensing that you don’t need a tv licence. Then they will stop sending threatening letters

I am happy for the BBC to go the way of the dinosaurs.

It has already lost any credibility of impartiality and I've found that their investigative reporting never digs very deep and never asks really challenging questions - it's all very shallow and left wing and they don't even pretend to be unbiased. I would never trust anything reported by the BBC again. It's non-news programmes are boring, fast-food tv slop and certainly nothing special, nothing to expect people to pay £175+ every year. They need to compete against commercial channels. It's completely unfair to expect people to fund BBC luvvies lifestyles, propaganda and really piss-poor programme making, not to mention how absolutely vile their extraction methods for getting vulnerable (mostly women) to pay for the licence is. They should be ashamed of themselves. And just think about how much paper they waste sending out threatening letters - from an organisation that is obsessed with climate change you'd think they'd be a bit more environmentally conscious.

It's also extremely arrogant and entitled to demand other people to fund things you like.

This sounds like a Pravda infomercial.

You’d think so, but I formally declare for my dad every year and they’ve recently started sending him very threatening letters, which is not great as he’s vulnerable and gets scared by them. Their latest tactic is to claim they’ve caught him watching iPlayer which he categorically has not and would not even know how to.

Your poor dad. They are vile and cruel.

I'm not a lawyer, but I don't believe that YouTube counts for TV licensing purposes, so no, I don't. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will correct me if I'm wrong.

I've read cases of the BBC / Capita aggressively pursuing people for watching the iPlayer because they track email addresses. In every case I read the victim was not at fault but they couldn't prove it. In one case their child had logged onto the iPlayer on an ipad for a few seconds but that led to demands for money.

It's always worth using a fake email address to log into the iPlayer and giving the BBC no information about you.

No - I'm happy to stay away from the dark side thanks. 😂

I'll be honest. I do watch live TV and avail of BBC services but I've never bought a licence and I don't ever intend too either.

I turn on the TV and the channels are there. If they want to ensure payment for services they need to lock off the channels unless proof of payment is shown.

Maybe if I valued it more, I would be more inclined to pay.

Yes I assume they must have sent him the letter because used my email address on his declaration because he doesn’t have his own, but of course they denied that when I complained!

Lots of vulnerable people won’t have to pay heir own email addresses and will be relying on family to fill the declaration in, so it’s not on really.

It's terrifying isn't it, and explains an awful lot. I watch loads of BBC but <<gasp>> also watch ITV and Channel 4 news so it balances out.

I'd pay the licence fee for BBC radio alone.

Well yes, and they’ve come under a lot of fire because the people they prosecute are vulnerable. Those who ‘admit’ to doing something wrong. If you don’t admit it they can’t do anything - and to admit it you would tend to be either

• elderly and confused/ scared
• have learning difficulties
• genuinely can’t afford it and not meaning to deceive.

It was found, at one point, that single mums were like 70% of the people they prosecuted. Disgusting

You've achieved the perfect balance there between establishment left wing news and establishment even more left wing news

I have never heard of this happening to anyone who watches iPlayer illegally 🤔 and most non license payers are let's be honest. I think you got unlucky.