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. I use the BBC a lot - with BBC sounds and the website (and CBBC!) it’s worth every penny.

in fact, if I could only pay for one bit of TV I would pay for the BBC ahead of Netflix / prime etc

Yes as I use it a lot, especially the radio stations which are excellent. I really value not having adverts. I don't bother with any other TV subscriptions.

We don’t as no tv.
However if my dc visit and use iPads to watch iplayer in our home then technically we are supposed to have a license.
I don’t intend to start policing my guests viewing habits though.

I've just read on Money Saving Expert that if you record ANY live TV on ANY channel you need a TV licence.

We have a digital recorder that we often use.

I do currently as we have a sky box and so access to live tv, which needs a licence. We rarely watch anything live though, in fact it's mostly Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video. We never watch bbc programming or use iPlayer.

In fact this thread has prompted me to check when the sky package is up, I'm clearly paying for something we barely use and it's a lot more than £12 a month or however much the tv licence costs!

Nope and haven’t done that for about 15 years.
Same than your friends, we hardly watched anything. And when we did, we were channels hoping constantly, not finding anything worth watching.
At the time, you could watch bb iplayer wo paying so we did. Occasionally.
But when they started to say you had to lay the TV licence for the iplayer,we just stopped.

If we ever end up with a TV (hotel, my parents), none of us can ever find anything we want to watch….

Agreed i think the licence fee (there's a C in it, not an S) is well worth it. I do watch live TV as well as Catch Up, radio, Sounds

We watch it & therefore pay for it. Otherwise id feel like a skank and that’s not the vibe I’m going for

Btw we had ONE visit to check if we had a Tv in 15 years.
I was (more) naive then. I opened the door and showed the guy the computer screen (that we then used to put cartoons for the dcs) sitting at the place the place the TV would.
We never had another visit ever after 😂😂

Yes because we watch tv and I'm not a thief

I think as long as your guests have a tv licence, that is ok? As far as I’m aware you need a tv licence to use iplayer on your phone, but there are no restrictions on where you use it.

I pay it but I do think it's ridiculous. I mean I only pay £4.99 a month for Netflix in comparison u get a lot more for ur money! I occasionally watch the news or use bbc iplayer.

We have sky mainly for sports and bt sports, Disney and Netflix.

Yes it’s the person using their iPad etc… that needs to have the licence

Iv never paid it. Ever. Never would

I pay it and watch a lot of live TV and enjoy BBC content.

Currently watching Shetland on iPlayer, will watch Time later

I wonder why you think you're entitled to watch iplayer without paying? Do you work for free? I don't understand.

Yes, I pay it and consider it money well spent

I pay it. I don’t see it’s any different to paying for any other service. I watch the TV and pay for Amazon Prime. I prefer the paid approach then adverts.

Yes, even though I'm resident in the US for large chunks of the year. I love the BBC and really enjoy their programs when I am back in the UK. The only thing that does annoy me is not being able to get iPlayer over here - I think if I've paid for the license I ought to be able to get access to iPlayer even here.

Also I was told you’re not allowed to plug the device in to charge whilst watching. It’s covered by your home tv licence as a portable device.

I don’t have a tv licence.

I don’t need one as I don’t watch live tv

When the benefit cap came in, I got rid of it and haven't had it back since. Even when my circumstances changed.
I realised I was only watching it for Holby City and Doctor Who anyway.

Yes, there are strange rules around the TV licence like not plugging in the portable device in an unlicensed house but you can in your touring caravan if you have a licence and also a boat I think. It's probably because it hasn't changed since the days of the only way to watch TV was a plugged in one with a few terrestrial channels and an aerial. This all changed when people had Videos which they could watch on the TV without a licence and it just hasn't moved with the times, They never mention the vans now which they had in the 70s and 80s as that would be laughable when people are watching on iPads and such

🤣🤣

Dear god, please use the joy of modern technology to find out correct information before spreading such utter tripe.

To everyone else.. You DO NOT need a TV licence to own a TV SET!!!