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TV License. Who pays it?

274 replies

Tulipsroses · 09/12/2023 10:07

Judging by the variety and quality of the streaming services I always ask my self where are the people that actually pay for TV license? I have never paid non of my friends pay. It is obvious that BBC have lost this game and is sticking to the licence fees as a lifebuoy.

OP posts:
Wonsunwell · 09/12/2023 13:30

Got rid of the tv in 1992 and have been getting threatening letters and cards ever since. Some of them are quite funny, there was one that promised 'We said we'd be back!' which gave us a laugh. I did let the license people in once and they stopped bothering us for a while but I don't see why I have to let strangers search every room in my house looking for a television we don't have. Fortunately we've had no visits since. Another time, about 25 years ago, I phoned the tv license people and had a chat with a man. It was a Somerset number, in Street where there's a shoe museum, so I kept him on the phone talking about the construction and design of shoes for a good 20 minutes. In the end he asked me what I wanted him to do and I said 'Please go away and leave us alone' and we got two years of not being bothered before they started up again. Glad to say that the threatening letters have reduced in number the last few years and I hope it stays that way.

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 09/12/2023 13:34

WashItTomorrow · 09/12/2023 13:24

If you can only hear the TV, how does that really leave you in any better position than a sighted person who chooses to just listen to the radio, for which no fee is required anyway?

It’s audio-described now.

But the bulk of the content - the picture - is still inaccessible to you.

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 09/12/2023 13:37

Wonsunwell · 09/12/2023 13:30

Got rid of the tv in 1992 and have been getting threatening letters and cards ever since. Some of them are quite funny, there was one that promised 'We said we'd be back!' which gave us a laugh. I did let the license people in once and they stopped bothering us for a while but I don't see why I have to let strangers search every room in my house looking for a television we don't have. Fortunately we've had no visits since. Another time, about 25 years ago, I phoned the tv license people and had a chat with a man. It was a Somerset number, in Street where there's a shoe museum, so I kept him on the phone talking about the construction and design of shoes for a good 20 minutes. In the end he asked me what I wanted him to do and I said 'Please go away and leave us alone' and we got two years of not being bothered before they started up again. Glad to say that the threatening letters have reduced in number the last few years and I hope it stays that way.

The thing is, though, that you sound like an intelligent, worldly, non-vulnerable person.

They probably do it deliberately knowing that many folk will find it hilarious and/or ridiculous, but in the hope of catching out vulnerable people.

ANightingale · 09/12/2023 13:41

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 09/12/2023 13:20

I wonder how many of the people who buy the cheaper black and white licences are genuinely only watching in B&W, or if they're just thinking they'll score a bargain and then be left alone if they do have a licence?

When did the last B&W TV set roll off the production lines?!

Mind, I remember the nasty old days when blind people only got a fixed £1.25 discount on their licence cost. I think it's a much fairer half-price now, but would it really hurt to make a relatively small amount of people, with much more limited entertainment options, completely exempt?

If you can only hear the TV, how does that really leave you in any better position than a sighted person who chooses to just listen to the radio, for which no fee is required anyway?

And don't get me started on those nasty ableist car supermarket adverts that they deliberately broadcast silent, in the hope that people will wonder what's happened and look up at the screen. All very well if you can look at the screen...

We genuinely had a black and white TV in the mid-90s - renting our first house and couldn't afford to buy a new TV so used my parents' spare for a year or so. It was difficult even then to convince TV Licensing that we didn't have a colour TV - they kept sending the 'you don't have a TV licence' letter and I would write back enclosing a photocopy of the black and white one.

ButterCupPie · 09/12/2023 13:57

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 09/12/2023 13:12

How do you mean? As far as I know, they treat anybody without a licence as a criminal and come down hard on them all, regardless of their need of a licence or intent to buy one.

Show quote history

It was a light-hearted way of drawing attention to the mis-spelt 'license'.

XDownwiththissortofthingX · 09/12/2023 13:59

I barely ever watch the TV and it's invariably streaming services on the odd occasion I do, so I do not pay the licence, and I would not on a point of principle in any case. The speculative letters go straight in recycling as and when they arrive.

SweetPetrichor · 09/12/2023 14:06

I don’t pay it. Did for years despite not watching anything like enough to get the moneys worth. We watch YouTube, Netflix, Amazon prime, etc. Nothing live soon need to pay the licence. If it went subscription, I’d consider it, cause I do miss Christmas tv, Hogmanay broadcasting, etc. But not enough to pay the licence for. We just do without those few things we watched in the past. I object to the way it is imposed as an essential thing…like a fee for owning a tv. If you’re meeting the rules to not need the licence, then there’s no need to pay it, but they use scare tactics to confuse people into paying. I don’t particularly want to support an organisation like that.

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 09/12/2023 14:17

ButterCupPie · 09/12/2023 13:57

It was a light-hearted way of drawing attention to the mis-spelt 'license'.

Show quote history

Oh, sorry - I missed that one! Smile

ButterCupPie · 09/12/2023 14:26

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 09/12/2023 14:17

Oh, sorry - I missed that one! Smile

Show quote history

Maybe I need to get out more?

Aplaceinthecold · 09/12/2023 14:33

I have always paid for it.
It's worth it just for Wimbledon and the Six Nations.
Really hate adverts and the BBC have some brilliant programmes and I hope it never changes.

ohtowinthelottery · 09/12/2023 14:49

We pay it but then we don't pay for multiple streaming services - only have Netflix.

Just out of interest, how much a month are you paying for all your streaming services OP?

User2856948 · 09/12/2023 15:02

No hope of the licence fee going if Labour are in government, they will definitely keep it

TheShellBeach · 09/12/2023 15:03

User2856948 · 09/12/2023 15:02

No hope of the licence fee going if Labour are in government, they will definitely keep it

Very likely, but at least we won't have a bunch of heartless right-wingers in charge.

User2856948 · 09/12/2023 15:06

It's not too bad a price, Netflix is £10.99 unless you have adverts or a shit picture and there isn't much on that, with the streaming channels you have to have most of them as there isn't much to watch if you just subscribe to one

Cattenberg · 09/12/2023 15:11

I used to have one, but when I moved house earlier this year I knew I’d have to make savings due to the cost of living crisis. So I no longer have a TV. I rarely miss it, but DD does unfortunately.

WashItTomorrow · 09/12/2023 15:17

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 09/12/2023 13:34

But the bulk of the content - the picture - is still inaccessible to you.

Show quote history

That’s what the audio-description is for - it describes the picture - in the same way that subtitles reflect the sound.

gertrudemortimer · 09/12/2023 15:55

I pay it. I didn't pay it when I didn't have a tv and the constant hassling was unbearable! I kept telling them but the letters kept coming. I think eventually they'll make anyone with a tv pay a licence fee and have adverts on bbc too.

SarahShorty · 09/12/2023 16:33

It's 46p a day once the price increase comes into effect. I'm sticking to my library of DVDs and boxsets. I payed for those, so screw the stealth tax TV license.

Petrine · 09/12/2023 17:40

i don’t have one. I don’t watch live tv so I don’t need one.

I guy came round a couple of years ago asking if I had a tv, which I do, then asked what I watch. He agreed I don’t need one and said he’d put a stop to the threatening letters… they’re still coming once a week. It’s so obvious what they are that they don’t get opened and go straight in the recycling bin.

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 09/12/2023 18:37

gertrudemortimer · 09/12/2023 15:55

I pay it. I didn't pay it when I didn't have a tv and the constant hassling was unbearable! I kept telling them but the letters kept coming. I think eventually they'll make anyone with a tv pay a licence fee and have adverts on bbc too.

Aside from the constant hassling being obviously infuriating, there are people out there - including people who belong to certain religious sects and others with certain ethical and lifestyle codes - for whom the very idea of television, and the suggestion that they would watch it, is highly offensive.

They must find the clear assumption/accusation that they do watch it - along with the in-built accusation that they have been avoiding paying a due tax/bill/licence - grossly offensive. Imagine a deeply committed lifelong vegan being hounded on a weekly basis by people seeking to shame them into paying for all the meat that they must have been eating; or a Muslim being constantly hassled to pay for all of the alcohol that they surely drink.

I think that, once the licence fee as we currently know it, is no longer justifiable, the BBC will start charging subscriptions - that will end up costing the average viewer/listener/consumer far more than they currently pay; whilst making no difference at all to those who do not pay (whether illegally avoiding it or who legitimately don't need one).

I also think that the days of scheduled broadcast TV are limited, so we'll only have iPlayer, ITVX, 4 On Demand etc. That way, it will be much easier for the BBC to know who is watching what and when - which they can't currently do with broadcast TV.

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 09/12/2023 18:43

Cattenberg · 09/12/2023 15:11

I used to have one, but when I moved house earlier this year I knew I’d have to make savings due to the cost of living crisis. So I no longer have a TV. I rarely miss it, but DD does unfortunately.

That's also quite a nasty thing to do, when you think about it: constantly hassling, threatening, shaming and intimidating people for not buying something that they simply cannot afford.

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 09/12/2023 18:45

they’re still coming once a week. It’s so obvious what they are that they don’t get opened and go straight in the recycling bin.

Wow - so they're wasting the equivalent of two licence fees every year (just in postage, let alone their other admin and printing/stationery costs) trying to intimidate you into paying for one licence!

TheGhostOfTheOpera · 09/12/2023 18:56

gertrudemortimer · 09/12/2023 15:55

I pay it. I didn't pay it when I didn't have a tv and the constant hassling was unbearable! I kept telling them but the letters kept coming. I think eventually they'll make anyone with a tv pay a licence fee and have adverts on bbc too.

They’ve never been hassling me in 15 years tbh.
One letter to confirm I dint have a Tv every 2 or 3 years isn’t a major inconvenience tbh.

Museum10663 · 09/12/2023 20:23

FatherJackHackettsUnderpantsHamper · 09/12/2023 11:43

Leaving aside the ethically dubious part of that standpoint, how do you think it's sustainable if everybody said and did the same as you?

It's like having a supermarket where nobody/only a minority ever bothers to pay anymore, as shoplifting is so easy to get away with and just walks out with their goods - and then complaining when the shop eventually closes down and ceases trading.

Show quote history

except that with the vast array of channels and other services
back in the day when it was channels 1-5 and sky then i can understand but instead the bbc is replaceable

Halfemptyhalfling · 09/12/2023 20:31

I pay it as bbc is not owned by foreign billionaires who only care about making a profit.

A TV licence (and free YouTube) is cheaper than netflix plus Amazon plus Spotify plus random podcasts

If the BBC was not there everything else would be lower quality and more expensive as wouldn't have to compete. Just as housing has got more expensive and worse quality since social housing was sold off