TV license officers

[vennomm]

So I've received a snotty letter saying at tv license officer is going to be visiting my property. I literally only watch Netflix and Amazon prime as my husband and I have only just moved here from the states and don't know any different from Netflix and prime with travelling so much. Is there any way we can prove that we only watch these two streaming services? Our TV set isn't even connected to the aerial so I'm puzzled on what to do and to dodge the dreaded £1000 fine!

It's a broadcast, if it's from a TV broadcaster.

So, your live webcam doesn't need a Licence, but live GB News does.

@vennomm

Very late to the party here but if you watch live amazon tv eg sports you do need a licence (you don't for exclusively watching prerecorded items like movies)

You also need a licence if you watch broadcasted news etc via YouTube, Facebook etc eg bbc broadcast this way.

If live sport is exclusive to Amazon, you do not need a Licence to view it (because it is not streaming parallel to a linear TV broadcast).

You can watch live news streams on Youtube, as long as they are from non-TV Broadcaster organisations (or from private individuals). So, live content of major events often comes from Newspapers or Radio Stations, and those do not need a Licence to view.

We completed the simple online form a number of years ago to state that we do not watch anything that requires a licence. They have never sent us any threatening letters, no inspectors have been to our door, they have not harrassed us in any way. We are on their records as not having a licence, and seem satisfied with that.

No you don't

Three points on that-

• Not everyone has the same experience from completing the form as you have had.
• It only lasts for 2 years before requiring re-registration.
• They do actually say (quite clearly) that they may visit after completion of the form, and sometimes they imply that their acceptance of the form is conditional to your agreement to that visit.

Yes you do. Just because it’s an Amazon exclusive does not mean you don’t require a TV licence

It’s a matter of whether the programme / broadcaster qualifies under the Broadcasting Act

Normal Amazon content is streamed on demand, the football is broadcast (it doesn’t need to be live but is viewed as broadcast rather than on demand)

www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/tv/tv-licence-football-premier-amazon-25692209.amp

I still pay my License even though I haven't watched live TV for years. I only watch YouTube and that's it. Unfortunately because I do have an aerial(the wire hangs near my door and the landlord won't let me disconnect it), I'm paranoid that they'll claim I watch the BBC, so I just pay it. Not happy about it but because I can't just remove the aerial I'm stuck.

@Kerrybemmy but you aren't watching live TV, you shouldn't have to pay! Do you have a TV and is it yours? Just disconnect the TV from the ariel lead if you didn't already, and fold up the end of the lead that comes through the wall with elastic bands or ties. Then if inspectors do come in it's pretty obvious you don't watch live TV. If you don't even have a TV, even easier.

But you don't have to let them in anyway, they actually have very few powers they just intimidate people with suggestion, and the way their letters are worded as if everyone watches live TV of course. But they are behind the times, it's no longer the case especially with the younger generation. Could you go to the TV licence website and complete the 'no licence needed' declaration, it might put your mind at rest.

It actually makes me angry how they intimidate people into paying who shouldn't pay. And it's often people on lower incomes too. Shame on the BBC /Capita.

I live in a block of flats that has a central aerial for all the properties.

Just because I have access to the aerial @Kerrybemmy doesnt mean I use it.
It’s up to licensing to prove I use it. Unless I know the people I only allow people in with an appointment which licensing don’t do, so it’s hard for them either way to proof I use it. Not that they’ve sent anyone around 😂

I haven’t filled in any form. I just recycle the ridiculous letters and have done so for several years. I don’t watch live tv.

If more people who don’t need one stopped paying it might force their hands to finally update and do some
type of subscription service. And without this sub you cannot access live tv and sky etc will have to take your sub number to activate their channels.

Yes - you're right that it comes down to definitions.

Namely, that Amazon is not a broadcaster, streams are not broadcasts, and there is no concurrent broadcast from a TV Broadcaster when Amazon streams events exclusively.

The key term in the legislation is "programme service" which means a linear TV channel. That is where the TV Licence requirement starts from. And Amazon is not a linear TV channel.

BBC/TV Licensing like to confuse things by misusing the term "live TV", but we don't have to fall for it.

If I had £1 for every newspaper article that didn't cover the TV Licence accurately, I would be considerably wealthy.

I know I shouldn't pay but my partner is mentally vulnerable and may accidently let an inspector in the house, and they have a reputation for lying about seeing you watch live TV. If I lived alone I would definitely not have a license but at the moment it's easiest just to pay it, to stop the aggrevation of visits and them potentially gaining access through my partner. I don't want to live having to never answer the door or watch my partner constantly so he don't let anyone in.

All those adverts in the old days showing vans with detectors for people watching TV, I'm assuming they were all lies?

In the old days before video players if you had a TV and aerial it was pretty obvious you were very likely to be watching broadcast TV as there would be no other reason to have a TV and often the TV was seen through the window and if you bought one the supplier had to give your details to TV licensing. This is why the tv licence is so archaic and belongs in a bygone age. Nowadays you can use a TV for many different things that don't need a licence

www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ104#:~:text=If%20you%20watch%20or%20record,covered%20by%20a%20TV%20Licence.

I'm shocked that you need one to watch YouTube!

You don't. Only if watching live broadcast TV channel via Youtube.

I've had someone show up to my house before. I didn't let them in and gave them a piece of my mind about how outrageous the system was and advised the arrogant twat to get a job that wasn't about accusing and bullying innocent people who choose not to buy their service.

It's a good example of what needs a Licence and what doesn't.

• GB News, Talk TV and Sky News live streams all require a TV Licence on their own websites, and on Youtube.
• Felicity's World of Cats Live Webcam (made up) doesn't require a TV Licence because it's not from a TV broadcaster.
• The Sun live coverage of the New Year fireworks doesn't require a TV Licence, because it's not from a TV broadcaster.

Lots of people still believe you need a license if you own a TV, the whole thing is confusing, which explains why most people carry on paying, Like the above poster who thinks you needed a license to watch YouTube. The system stinks having to pay for something nobody even asked for and the attitude by everyone is that if you don't have a license then you must be doing something illegal. How many of the younger generation actually watch live TV anymore I haven't for ten years and I'm in my forties, I watch everything on my phone mainly YouTube or twitch..I'm seriously considering getting rid of my TV completely, makes it easier to get rid of inspectors with no TV at all....then again I could be watching live TV on my phone ...I don't.....but they don't know that. That's the other issue how will they know if people are watching on their phones, they can be easily hidden down your pants....it shows how completely pointless and outdated these checks actually are, people can also buy cheap portable aerials the size of a credit card that again can be hidden down your pants.

The reality of the question of whether you require a licence or not boils down to one thing - method of delivery.

This came about through David Cameron's government acting to pre-empt companies like SKY who were agitating for BBC-free subscription services so their customers would not have to pay the licence fee.

Cameron's government amended the act so that any supplier of a live TV service in the UK must include BBC programming as part of their service, so, if you can get live TV, you can receive BBC, and you require a licence.

The language in the act is unambiguous and very specific. It states that you require a licence if 'you watch, or intend to watch'. This is to make it clear that you do not require a licence simply because you own relevant equipment, but that you must be in receipt of the ability to watch live BBC transmissions, or use iplayer, and actively do so OR intend to do so.

What it really boils down to, is that if you watch any sort of live TV where BBC is also available through the same service, then you require a licence. If you are watching a streamed service, or a broadcast on something like YouTube that does not also offer the BBC service, then you do not require a licence.

You still require a license to watch for example Sky news LIVE on YouTube because its a live broadcast off a TV station, the same for foreign channels that don't have BBC services. Basically if its broadcasting straight from the channel you have to pay. But if you watch news clips from Sky News then no license required because it's not broadcasting at the time, same for On Demand. These rules don't apply to normal YouTubers because they aren't classed as a TV station same for Twitch.

iPlayer on demand is the only service non license payers have to skip.

The unambiguous definition of what requires a TV Licence is this:

• To watch/record TV Broadcasts transmitted by linear TV channels using traditional means (satellite, cable TV and terrestrial).
• To live stream the channels above over the Internet where they are made available concurrently.
• To watch/download BBC TV programs from iPlayer.

"All you need to do when/if someone turns up is to tell them that you do not watch broadcast TV and do not require a licence"

You don't need to tell them anything. Just shut the door, or better yet, don't open it in the first place.