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 do. Don't watch a huge amount of live content but I do listen to Radio 2 and 4 most of the day.
I know you don't have to pay to listen but HOW is it paid for of everyone stops?

We still pay for the TV licence. We very very rarely watch live TV (even the News is usually only on catchup) but we do use i-player a lot - and so we need a licence for that.

We don’t and haven’t for 15+ years, but to be clear, we don’t watch live tv or iplayer.

I pay it (by direct debit). It's one of the few debts that also incurs a fine - of £1000. At a previous workplace clients would come in with them most days.

BBC licence fee - do you pay it?
Resentfully, but am too lily livered not too.

Nothing the BBC shows other than masterchef is relevant to me, agree the content is dross with over privileged staff getting down with their bad selves.

No I don't watch any tv, don't have one and don't want one, since 2014.

As an alternative I have online streaming subscriptions with Spotify and Netflix which suits me more.

Live online videos and iplayer as well as tv is what I have to avoid and this suits me to be honest.

I have a 10.1" tablet and a smartphone which I watch Netflix on, I alternate between these 2 devices when one is charging, the other is in use.

I get a letter from the tv licensing authority about one a year to check if my circumstances have changed and no they have'nt is the update I give them.

I miss the tv adverts like a miss a brain haemhorrage and the news I get online.

So if you hardly watch tv, they will expect your tv to be unplugged from mains power and aerial. You could easily remove the fuse from the plug to prevent miss understandings in case someone plugs it back in this sometimes happens to people.

As the bbc start pouncing on those who cancel licences and watch tv. I was told they would send someone round to check the tv was unplugged and I told them they are more than welcome. No one turned up to check.

I think they are like Bond villains with satelite dishes the size of bungalows ready to pounce.

I pay it.
Excellent value.
I watch TV (often on Catch up, but they have still made the programme).
I watch live sport
I watch the new a few times a week.
I use the website all the time for sport.
I use the website for news.
Very occasionally I listen to something on BBC radio.

Yes. I resent the fuck out of it though.

BBC should be subscription like other services .

Those who worship at its feet can pay and watch it and those of us who don't watch BBC content but do watch other live TV sometimes can carry on without it.

Every time I've given my opinion on here about the BBC I've been set upon by posters getting very angry with me because I think the BBC is neither impartial nor the envy of the world so can I just say don't bother, you'll only be wasting your time. I don't care. Heard it all. My opinion remains the same. 😁

Why would you have to unplug your TV, many people use a TV just for Netflix nowadays, it's not 1970.

None here. Don’t watch Live tv or iplayer. Load of old crap these days.

The Saville drama made me so happy we don’t support them.

I pay it. Watch all the intelligent quizzes and news. They have good dramas too a radio 4 every morning, radio 2 for the rock show.

*So if you hardly watch tv, they will expect your tv to be unplugged from mains power and aerial. You could easily remove the fuse from the plug to prevent miss understandings in case someone plugs it back in this sometimes happens to people.

As the bbc start pouncing on those who cancel licences and watch tv. I was told they would send someone round to check the tv was unplugged and I told them they are more than welcome. No one turned up to check.*

I disagree with this that you need to unplug tv. I've ticked the exempt box online for YEARS at multiple addresses I've lived at. One I genuinely didn't have a TV, another I had one but it was plugged in for my chrome cast. TV here is on now streaming YouTube. I have no idea if aerial works.
I've never once had them threatening to check. I just get a letter once a year asking if my circs have changed.

Absolutely! Very happy to pay it. BBC still produce some of the best quality content. Particularly with things like documentaries which are dire, poorly researched, trash TV on the likes of Netflix. We don't tend to watch live TV anymore but we watch iplayer loads. And also listen to radio 4 almost daily plus access BBC sounds almost daily also. I do not want bloody advertising on BBC. So annoying. We have been watching McDonald and Dodds on ITV catch up and the number of bloody ads. Every 5 minutes! Driving me insane I had to stop watching. BBC set a bar, TV would all go to shit if we lost the BBC.

Yes we pay it- we get a lot of usage out of cbeebies- I’d be very sad to see the bbc go, it may not be perfect but the alternative is worse.

Haven't paid it for years.
I despise the BBC.

This completely. Don't be fooled people!

We pay it, we listen to the radio and watch IPlayer. DD was of the opinion she never watched bbc etc, but they knew when she streamed something in IPlayer, she now has one.

If the Labour Party get into government the TV licence will probably stay the same as it is now but the Conservatives are more likely to change it when it comes up for renewal in 2027

If it was down to me, I wouldn’t pay it but the missus insists

I watch lots of TV and live shows and I also watch iPlayer but I don't and won't pay the fee.

Even a company with the vast resources of Disney is struggling to run a viable subscription video on demand service. Netflix is pretty much the only one out there that is working, and it has brand recognition from being the first, and it borrowed billions to get there.

The BBC can never compete with the financial resources of those giants, so saying “they should be subscription” pretty much means they should die.

I don’t want to live in a world where my only option for entertainment is a US media giant that managed to get in first and only really cares about their home audience. I want a tv company that gives a shit about our own interests and struggles, which provides a British voice rather than an American one.

Can you expand on this and provide sources?

This is the first year we've not paid. I get my news online and there hasn’t been anything that’s really grabbed my attention enough to want to watch. My daughter’s too old for cbeebies now (which was worth the fee alone for us!) and a lot of the mindless dross is even more rubbish than it used to be.

We’ve had a few threatening letters but no van with the whirly satellites on top! 🤣 They don’t have the right to gain access to my house so I wouldn’t be letting them in if they knocked. A friend however did get a letter after watching iplayer without a license so I wonder if he signed up a long time ago with his home address and that’s how they knew he hadn’t paid?!!

Yes I pay it. I listen to the radio all the time and watch loads on iplayer The BBC is amazing value and its foreign broadcasting is really important.

So if you hardly watch tv, they will expect your tv to be unplugged from mains power and aerial. You could easily remove the fuse from the plug to prevent miss understandings in case someone plugs it back in this sometimes happens to people.

As the bbc start pouncing on those who cancel licences and watch tv. I was told they would send someone round to check the tv was unplugged and I told them they are more than welcome

What nonsense.

Here's how to deal with TV Licensing:

Remember first, they work for a private company, they're not BBC Employees. They were once upon a time employed by the same people paid millions by the government to find Disabled people got for work - Capita.

Secondly - THEY HAVE NO MORE RIGHT TO ENTER YOUR HOME THAN A DOUBLE GLAZING SALES PERSON. The only time you have to let them into your home is if they have a warrant signed by a judge. They can only get a warrant if they have evidence you have been watching the TV without a license.

So - if they come to your door, treat them as the sales people they are and say "No thank you" and close the door. If they have a warrant, they'll need a cop to come with them, then you can let them in.

dont fall for their lies and threats. They will send letters designed to frighten you and they'll spread misinformation to get you to pay. Don't fall for it.

Cancel the license.
Bin any letters they send.
Tell them no thanks if they visit.