BBC licence fee - do you pay it?

[BG2015]

We were out with friends and there kids last night. Kids are late teens and early twenties.

Our friends were saying how they don't pay their licence fee anymore.

They rarely watch live TV and stream everything. The kids were saying they never watch live tv at all.

We occasionally, once every few weeks watch the news but it got me thinking that we don't actually watch much live TV either.

Very tempted to cancel my direct debit but I've got the typical fear of the van roaming the streets and knocking on our door!

Who else no longer pays it?

I pay it. We watch Iplayer sometimes and also channel 4 news.

I resent paying it though - and would happy to put up with advertising and no monthly fee of £13 or whatever it is.

I haven’t had a licence for about 3 years now. Or a TV for that matter.

On the very rare occasions I want to watch something I use catch up or Netflix.

We cancelled ours last year. Realised we hadn't watched any live TV or iPlayer etc. for over a year. We have Netflix, Prime, and Disney+. That's more than enough!

I pay it, the bbc still provides most of the best content and I enjoy the radio offerings.

I pay it. I watch quite a lot of BBC on iplayer and also radio. And the website for recipes

If you don’t use it at all, then fair enough

I pay it, I do watch live tv sometimes ( rarely) Dd watches iplayer. It’s expensive for the amount I use it.

Yes, I would say 80 per cent of what I watch and listen to is on the BBC - Radio 4 throughout the day, BBC Sounds is my first port of call for podcasts, iPlayer the first place I look for something to watch, I would always watch BBC’s news above any other channel . We also have Prime, which is rubbish, and Disney, which is Ok, but BBC is always my go to.

I pay it, we rarely watch live Tv but we do use iplayer.

No, not for about 10 years, haven't missed it at all! Get all we need from swapping between netflix/prime/youtube etc etc

Yes, I do pay the license fee, although I acknowledge that as a compulsory tax it has become increasingly difficult to justify. I also understand why so many people bitterly resent being forced to pay for such blatantly biased ‘woke’ propaganda.

I love R4 & Test Match Special though, and I would happily pay the current amount as a subscription for these on their own.

I pay it but then I pay for most of the streamers and Sky as well, I watch a bit of everything.

I stopped when I realised I hadn’t watched BBC for years. Hooray!

Too expensive for me.

Met three people who cancelled their TV licence this week cos of the T word in the BBC’s non-coverage of the latest war.

We use iplayer so I pay for it.

My ancient parents pay it cos it’s on all day.

The Beeb’s good company for dementia.

Yes, I only watch live tv on the BBC & channel 4. £13 per month is excellent value for money

Haven't paid it in 10 years 🤷‍♀️

I pay it. I really value the BBC. A year or two ago, there was talk of changing the funding model, and then BBC did a montage of the programmes and services they’ve created and funded. I was really emotional watching it! I really value it.

No, ticked the exempt box online. I only stream YouTube and on demand telly.

I don’t - we don’t own a tv though. Mostly use phones/tablets to watch things on Prime or YouTube, go to the pub to watch sports etc. Genuinely don’t watch anything live from home.

We pay it. It's not just for live TV but for streamed bbc stuff too. Doctor Who and other original content drama makes it feel worth it for me. There is original drama on other channels but it rarely reaches the same quality level as BBC stuff. Obviously the bbc has some terrible duds as well but that's part of the deal, having it publicly funded gives it the space to be brave and experimental and sometimes have a spark of pure genius in a way that's much more difficult for a broadcaster whose chief duty is "make money for our shareholders" rather than "entertain, educate and inform"

We pay it. We think the standards in journalism and documentaries and drama are the highest in the world on the BBC. We also have Netflix and Prime which ate both pretty shit. I wouldn't pay anything to Sky and line Murdoch's pockets even more.

The government has spent years doing the same thing to the BBC (and Channel 4) as it has done to the NHS (aided by the same right-wing papers, mani ly the Daily Mail, that run shit stories about the NHS) badmouth it, undermine it , interfere with its independence and plan to dismantle it. We should protect the BBC and Channel 4. It particularly want the BBC to rely on adverts because it wants rid of any public service broadcasting so it can flog it off to the likes of Murdoch who will just report right-wing propaganda and Tory lies continually as does GB News.

We don’t pay it. Don’t feel like there’s enough to justify the cost. TV offerings are dross.

I've always paid it but I'm not sure I will this year. I watch no live TV and my son would be just as happy watching no live TV, so I just need to think it through and commit to the change.

If it were still £100 a year I would probably just keep paying it. But £160 for what? Even the little live TV my son watches is Pop Max.

Yes, I pay it, it’s top quality and worth every penny. It not just about TV and radio they’re now in the process of providing emergency radio to Gaza, called Gaza live. Their World Service can be invaluable, they also did a lot for children’s education during lockdown, including curriculum based programmes.

Stopped a few years ago. We looked through the "if you do any of these, you MUST have a television licence" list and answered NO to the lot, so we cancelled it then and there.

Works for us. In fact when I go to other people's houses and the TV is on, I find it low-key irritating.

We just watch odds and sods on YT and a couple of the streaming services. Either channels where it's just one or two people making a living from it or doing it as a hobby, or feature films. The commercial stuff in-between those two extremes doesn't grab me these days.

We never got any hassle from the TV licensing people at all (but they'd get very very short shrift if they tried!).