Hopefully not such a decisive/political topic that it doesn't fit the G&D but curious about people's views and thoughts on the BBC TV licence. As an Australian I find it a strange concept and would certainly enjoy a discussion about it with some locals over a pint or two in the pub, sadly that's not the world we're in so thought the G&D would be the place to bring up the topic instead. While I can learn a lot by reading (and I've done a little already) I like to hear people opinions on it as I find that there's a more broad range of views.
For us here we still pay a "TV licence" of sorts where the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is funded from the federal government budget and ultimately paid for through our tax so it is more on an invisible cost to us.
We also have a number of commercial channels purely funded through advertising and are freely available over the air or internet.
The ABC here offers a similar service to the BBC with television, journalism, radio etc though would not generate the volume of local TV content the BBC does (the ABC also airs a large number of BBC programs being the various comedies, dramas, panel shows etc hence my seeing the alignment between the two). It serves a role as the national broadcaster and helps to offer some services the commercial channels will not (i.e. regional coverage outside the major centres).
I find the licence system fascinating as it really is an honour based system and also opens up so many chances for social and political commentary as paying or not paying the fee could almost be seen as a political statement could it not. I'm sure there's a few groups around who stand up for their right not to pay.
The processing of the licensed fees and the fact there is also a requirement for policing and enforcement seems such an inefficient idea as well and I'd be interested to know the annual budget for purely administering and enforcing the fees as I'm sure those funds could be better spent on more content/quality for the BBC if there was direct government funding?
I wouldn't say our system is perfect as the quality of the content and journalism on the commercial channels is certainly questionable (I'm sure Rupert Murdoch is a well known name) and sadly the ABC becomes a bit of a political football as there is plenty of accusation of left leaning bias etc so their budget is very dependent on who is in power so that direct finding arrangement can muddy the waters of its independence. On the whole it's a great asset to the Australian population and something I happily find through my tax (the commercial free radio alone is worth it) and I'm certain you see the BBC as the same, it's more the funding model I find interesting.
Anyone keen to pull up a stool at the bar? Happy to buy the first round.
I don’t have a tv, radio or use any sort of streaming and yet it was incredibly difficult to get the BBC’s licensing department off my back and to stop demanding payment from me. They simply don’t believe anyone these days could not use their services. They were quite threatening.
I don't have an issue with the TV licence (I do with their collection service though for the reason mentioned above) because I have a strong dislike of having whatever I'm watching being interrupted with commercial advertising.
I also find BBC to be the generally the least biased of all of the news reporting and their 'Nature' programmes to be the best available.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
If there was only the BBC on TV i would refuse to pay a penny.
I pay the licence so i can watch the hundreds of other channels on freesat and freeview, plus use the iplayers type services on smart TV`s.
The BBC and ITV love to waste money on making middle age twits rich who seem to be permanently juiced into their system, such as Ant and Dec.
And the adverts on UK TV now seem to be every 10 mintes and 4 minutes long each lol, its terrible now.
There are many that treat dealing with the TV licensing people (Capita, not BBC) as a sport.
http://www.bbctvlicence.com/index.htm
https://tv-licensing.blogspot.com/
Threads on Moneysavingexpert etc.
It should now be a subscription service and if you want it you pay for it.
Only a few weeks ago the DG of the BBC said the service would be worth £400 per year on subscription...oh really...bring it on then and see how many people pay that.
I've recently stopped the direct debit for mine as I do not use any BBC service. I've already had a letter telling me I need to put payment back in place but ignored it. It'll be interesting to see if a bloke turns up at the door demanding entry to check my TV etc. Which will of course be refused. There is a fair bit of information on this on the Internet.
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I no longer watch anything other than Internet recorded films/series etc.
Pretty much because of “the unique way in which the BBC is funded”, which essentially outlaws watching BBC broadcasts or any other live channel without a licence.
Until recently I was spending up to 50% of the year in Australia too.
I just don’t see the point in it today, but others love it and appreciate it the way it is.
They waste millions sending chasing letters each year. I will respond at some stage (I’ve already advised that one address is an empty property, and that I don’t need a licence at my residence, and they stop for around 3-6 months and then just send the demand letters again) and advise that I’ll charge them the next time I have to waste anymore time receiving the junk mail.
If they turned it into a pure new channel then fine, but they are an effectively state funded, public paid for service that get an unfair advantage to any other broadcaster. With any profits going back to be squandered.
It's just a matter of time...
I haven't had a license for around 9 years now, we never really watched anything live for a long long time but I'd faithfully pay it when the bill arrived. When my wife was expecting our first child she was rushed into hospital with complications and so started about 4 weeks of hell for us (mother and baby all fine in the end) during this time I was running a fairly big project and was bouncing between work and hospital. The mail just piled up, once everything was sorted wife and daughter home safe I started sorting out the mail etc paid all bills due no issues with anyone but the beeb who 15 days after the letter for the license fee sent a rather aggressive man to the gates demanding entry to see if we where watching TV. 15 days late wow I could've been on holiday or anything anyway he was sent packing and I got the bit between my teeth worked out that if I stopped watching top gear live (the only programme I ever watched live) I didn't need a licence. I sent them a complaint about their behaviour and stated that we no longer required a licence and have never heard anything since, it's an antiquated system to my mind and should be left to die.
I love the BBC’s nature programmes and journalism, the gold standard IMO. I also very much enjoy BBC radio (I accept radio outside scope of fee). For these I (would) gladly pay the license fee.
I have two properties, and I don’t pay the license fee for the second one (as I don’t watch live TV there or iPlayer), and I’ve never been chased or threatened for payment since completing the non-use declaration many years ago. I imagine a lot of threats will be the result of user error / stupidity / ignorance.
Oh yes, adverts annoy the t1ts off me on other channels.
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I went legally licence free in July 2019 as a protest at the BBCs's woke, left-biased reporting and their metropolitan elite programmes that always portrayed farmers baad, Tories baad, Brexit baad, Christians baad, heterosexuals baad, white men baad etc. Haven't missed it for a moment
Last edited by J J Carter; 13th February 2021 at 11:45.
It’s worse still that they pursue collection of TV licence payments in the IoM. I believe the Manx courts now enforce this. I understand (anecdotally) that in the past any Home Office licence enforcement people who turned up on the Island would be met at the Sea Terminal by government officials and told that as they didn’t have and wouldn’t be given work permits to operate, they needed to get back on the boat.Originally Posted by Omegamanic
It started off so well...
Unfortunately this discussion usually heads political quite rapidly. My 2p is that it only seems to be those with views at extremes of the spectrum that find the BBC to be particularly biased. The licence fee system is undoubtedly archaic and it is in need of funding reform, but I've lived in enough overseas countries long enough to see how much it is envied for quality and range (not forgetting things like radio, internet and educational output).
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
Perhaps, sometimes we don't appreciate what we have until after we lose it.
Not using any BBC service is not a defence for not having a licence.
What! And miss highlights such as tomorrow night? The Ranganation, immediately followed by The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan and on Tuesday The Ranganation again, and constant trailers for The Ranganation, interspersed with Romesh Ranganathan on Mock the Week, Have I Got News for You, Would I Lie To You......
I think that it's time that the BBC was reigned in. Far too many "correspondents" and "presenters" who are only interested in self promotion and seem to ignore their primary function. I know that the BBC is more than just a news facility but they can't even pass on the news without airing their personal views. As said above, some of the programmes (wildlife etc) are second to none. The incestuous nature of the place also seems quite obvious, when the same faces seem to crop up all over the channel/s! If you are a "Yes" man presenter/actor/whatever (or woman or whatever!) they seem to over expose you to the point of viewer boredom! The political correctness has more recently just become totally ridiculous to the point where it is funnier than the comedy programmes (which are often not!). A good pruning would not be amiss IMHO. Rant over!
Provided he isn’t watching a live broadcast of anything else that’s all that’s needed
You could always switch over to Sky and catch The Reluctant Landlord.
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
I agree fully with this. The only BBC content viewed in our house is Death in Paradise (wife loves it) and occasionally MOTD. I’d gladly pay on demand as I do with NowTV, Apple TV, Amazon Prime etc but as it stands I am forced to pay for a service I don’t use. The license fee is ridiculously outdated in the modern media world.
Which demonstrates perfectly what a nonsense the system is.
This. I don't use any BBC service live or otherwise
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The horror, the horror!
Romesh Ranganathan and lining Murdoch’s pockets.
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That link to the Ian Botham guff tickled me. Seeing his mug on a screen will surely cause people to cancel their licence!
F.T.F.A.
It’s not just for BBC service, live or otherwise.
I know that. Why even mention the BBC, it’s not relevant.
Hilarious! There is so much more to the BBC than ITV's Ant & Dec.
But why not refuse to pay a penny now? You'd still get all your other shite and can freely ignore the BBC.
I just don't understand how people can look at the entire output of Aunty and say it's rubbish. It smacks of shoulder chips and ignorance.
I have no problem with it. The news output is the best there is, the very fact that both left and right are constantly complaining of bias just shows what an excellent job they do of being neutral. Those that complain of bias should really take a look at the US networks to see what real bias is. Classic example this week of both sides using clips of the same CNN reporter in the impeachment trial. The Democrats show him almost in tears shouting “protesters should never be violent” during the assault on the Capitol, the Republicans counter with the same reporter, still almost in tears, stating that “nobody says protests can’t be violent” during a BLM protest.
The only issue I have with the BBC is the constant positive discrimination, female footballers replacing male players as experts on the mens game and presenters being axed and replaced for no other reason that they are the wrong gender or the wrong colour. But the BBC are far from alone in this, the worst are probably Sky who have turned the once excellent Soccer Saturday into an unwatchable mess with genuinely funny and knowledgable pundits replaced with the likes of Clinton Morrison, who I only remember for pulling his penis out of his shorts and masturbating in front of the family enclosure at Vicarage Road after scoring against us many years ago!
I get SO much value out of the BBC.
It's extremely cheap as far as I'm concerned.
I listen to BBC radio most days. Its podcasts are incredible. It provides great sport and wildlife shows. It offers an amazing website. Its news is unbiased and of great quality (though I agree others do this too). And it offers (some) very good entertainment shows.
Absolute bargain and I'd say so at double the price too.
One of the joys of asking opinions, especially on the internet, is you'll get some interesting answers.
Even as someone on the other side of the world the BBC has brought me many hours of entertainment and education and I hope it continues. It's not without its faults but certainly something for the rest of the world to envy.
Just interesting that they can come knocking on your door to see if you have a television and a licence.
"Ah-hah! So you do have it! You little runt! The old trick, eh? Eat the telly before I get a chance to nick you!"
They should just encode it and charge a subscription fee. Forcing people to pay for it just because they have a TV is just wrong in a (reasonably) democratic society. If you love it them great. It's for you to choose. My mum loves wildlife programmes and had the latest Attenborough documentary on when I last visited. Even that is dumbed down to make it dramatic. The last thing that was worth watching for me.
I do listen to the World Service though....
Indeed, I was just having a dig at the seemingly inevitable political comment despite it being the G&D, but thankfully things have come back onto the track you intended.
I absolutely agree with your statement, and for anybody who hasn't had a rummage thorough the podcasts on BBC Sounds, you really should. There's something for everybody.
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
?? But you are using the service.
Personally, I have no problem in paying, I've spent enough time in assorted hotel rooms around the world to see just how bad TV can be. The breadth of assorted content whether TV (drama, news, documentaries), Radio, Internet etc. is second to none, and the envy of most countries.
Then I read some of the forum threads about how to reduce the cost of Sky subscription and see most are paying more than the yearly BBC licence fee in two months for Sky, I choke on my cornflakes!
Happy to pay the licence fee.
There are so many great programs that would never get made on any other channel.
The Adam Curtis series of films and the Small Axe series by Steve McQueen are good examples.
During lockdown who else would have broadcast hundreds of hours of Schools programming?
The subject has been hammered to death already.
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
So has Brexit but you're happy to bang on about that all day.
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I’m using it because I have to pay for it. If I consume no BBC content whatsoever (which I’d gladly do) but want to watch the Six Nations live on ITV I have to pay the license fee of which 90% I believe funds the BBC. How can that possibly be fair? If the license fee was split among all live content providers then I’d have no problem. I’m glad you like the Beeb but I don’t see why I should pay for your viewing preferences and I wouldn’t expect you to subsidise my NowTV subscription.
Last edited by benny.c; 13th February 2021 at 12:24.
I don't use the local library/ bus service/ fire brigade/public toilets/leisure centre etc but I pay my council tax.... Never visited the doctor in my life or got drunk and ended up in A&E complaining about the long waiting time...
Presumably you don't watch the the Six Nations on the BBC then?
The ABC system sounds very similar to the BBC one, except you pay it indirectly.
I don't mind paying the TV licence - I watch more on the BBC than I do most other channels and I don't see, say, Netflix or Amazon Prime as better value (We do have a Netflix account and my wife is watching some interminable Turkish historical thing on it, but we often struggle to find anything we want to watch on there).
Sadly this thread died once someone used the word 'Woke' - Whichever side of the fence you sit, once you use that word (in that context), you've marked yourself as an extremist.
M
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
My problem is the criminalisation of refusal to pay and the assumption of guilt until proven innocent.
We have 6 TV's and regularly use 3. We watch bbc regularly so can't really complain. My Daughter recently moved out and has declared no terrestrial use at her new house. She ignores the occasional letters and has stated she will refuse entry to any 'inspectors'. I would do the same but my Wife has a fear of admonishment.
I just unplugged the aerial to see what you can get without free-to-air and it is quite a lot. Being brave enough to remove the aerial off the roof might be an idea.
If you don't want the service stop watching the terrestrial TV that you do and stop paying, you have the choice. You can listen to the Six Nations on the radio, that's free.
Not sure what you mean by 'free-to-air', but :
The law says you need to be covered by a TV Licence to:
Watch or record programmes as they’re being shown on TV, on any channel
Watch or stream programmes live on an online TV service (such as ITV Hub, All 4, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Now TV, Sky Go, etc.)
Download or watch any BBC programmes on iPlayer.
A lot there that unplugging your TV aerial doesn't cover...
M
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
I should expand. This is taken straight from
https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one
The law says you need to be covered by a TV Licence to:
watch or record programmes as they’re being shown on TV, on any channel
watch or stream programmes live on an online TV service (such as ITV Hub, All 4, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Now TV, Sky Go, etc.)
download or watch any BBC programmes on iPlayer.
This applies to any device
I do non of these.
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The BBC provide so much: lots of TV channels, radio stations, websites, Apps etc. I probably average one or more of these every woken hour and consider it a bargain.
Not sure how the rules work, but it doesn't appear fair to me for people to refuse to pay the fee and then enjoy BBC content.
Edit: just seen the post above. Not many households in that position I imagine.
Last edited by Halitosis; 13th February 2021 at 13:12.
Yes, but originally you just said you didn't watch BBC, not none of those. That's why I commented.
I do but only because I’m effectively forced to pay for it. I’m quite happy not to watch if I don’t have the pay the license fee.
It apples to the other services I use though too. Unless I fund the BBC by paying the TV licence, I can’t watch live football on BT Sport or Amazon, Sky Movies via NowTV at the time they are shown etc etc. And why should I give up the many commercial channels on Freesat just because I don’t want to pay for the Beeb. It’s nonsense.
We’ve been in that position for years as have others I know of, to me the likes of yourself and others who enjoy and use the service should pay for it via a subscription service like Netflix etal at least giving people the chance to choose instead of the draconian way of “if you watch any other live tv you from any other provider you must fund the bbc” seems very antiquated to me.
As I said we don’t pay it because we don’t need it but many are forced to despite never using any bbc services.
ive not owned a tv licence for 6+ yrs (legally licence free) i still get the monthly threat letters which i file under bin - ive had a few visits from 'inspectors' aka capita salesmen over the years and they just get told to do one and have the door shut on them - they have no legal power whatsoevver and are treated like any other door to door salesman.
regardless of my opinion of the BBC (not much point going into details) the system is archaic and should just be made into PPV - that way there will be no argument at all - you either pay or you dont get it - the same as sky etc.
The BBC are almost as bad at advertising as the commercial channels; they are just advertising their own output. It's often done with (presumably) hugely expensively produced adverts.
And the "The Future Isn't Cancelled" 'thing' referred to in another thread is really starting to get on my wick!
Yes another thing that winds me up on the occasion I have seen bbc programmes of late (at others houses before the police start ) is the amount of adverts they have for there own stuff bit of a monopoly racket isn’t it
Quick question. I don’t have Sky, I don’t have Virgin, and I don’t have an ariel connected to my tv, my tv is not even tuned to any free channels.
I have Netflix and I have Amazon Prime and my kids watch crap on YouTube.
Do I need a licence? I have one and pay it every month by direct debit but based on the above, do I legally need one?
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