tv licence help

ChemicalBrother_2

Don't trust the agents who come to your door. They're paid commission for each "sale" they get. People have been fined and/or felt they had to pay up and get a licence even when they legally didn't have to.

If people think they may not need a licence and don't mind being on the top of TVL's watch list then they might want to write to them and get TVL to clarify. It's good to have something in writing. Unfortunately they'll get what is almost a bog standard response that does nothing but muddy the situation further so probably best to go to this site: http://www.tvlicensing.biz/ in the first place!

dc

The TV licence is a Government Tax....and always has been, initially oprerated by the GPO ( who also took a cut), it was a licence to receive broadcast signals, no matter where they came from. The TV Licencing Authority is a progression of that.

Part of the fee is used to fund the BBC, and is the only control that the gov has over them and mainly uses itto keep the BBC in political line.

For instance the Gov is committed to close analogue TV, why?, so they can sell off the high lucre frequencies and make a killing. The BBC saved their (gov) necks by taking on the twice bankrupt digital services ( ON, then ITV Digital) and called them "Freeview" and made them a success.

Their reward? The BBC has to pay out of the licence fee for the cost of converting the whole UK Transmitter Network to digital, whether commercial TV or Public Service Broadcasting. So getting it in the neck for the ensuing licence fee increases, another "Stealth Tax".

Dont be fooled ITV costs more than the BBC, except the ITV Licence is taken painlessly in 10p a packet in your local supermarket, AND you pay them whether you have a TV or not. :rolleyes:

dc

Horlock

You definately don't need a TV license if you don't watch it. To fine you they need to prove that you were using it illegally. Anyone with a computer has the capability to receive channels and they know it. Most people don't even try to not pay, and you definately do need a license to watch sky even if you don't have BBC tuned in.

I try and go a few months every year without TV when the license expires, everytime I write to them and they say fine - no problem, but they do send people around just to check - though always during office hours so as long as you go to work you don't need to worry about that either.

Last time I had a break (toward the end of last year) I also sited the Jerry Springer Opera - which incidentally I did find offensive (please don't take the thread off topic going into a discussion of it here). That was enough to make sure they didn't send someone to check, no cards, no visits etc.

If you want to get rid of the TV licensing people blame your antagonism against TV on a programme they broadcast and they don't even bother.

Hope this helps.

Mr_Mumble

dc wrote:

Dont be fooled ITV costs more than the BBC,

This is simply untrue. ITV's total net advertising revenue was £1,588 million for its last full reported year, 2004. This compares to BBC's license fee revenue of £2,940 million for 2004/5.

except the ITV Licence is taken painlessly in 10p a packet in your local supermarket, AND you pay them whether you have a TV or not. :rolleyes:

The likes of Lidl, Aldi and Netto don't advertise on ITV. These discount supermarkets largely sell own or foreign brand goods that don't get advertised in the UK media. You have the choice whether to buy Cadbury's chocolate, which you could say is inadvertently funding Coronation Street, there is absolutely no compulsion. This is completely different to the coercion of the bbc which spends £152m a year just to collect the television tax.

ChemicalBrother_2

Here's a simple guide to what you should do if TVL come to your door:

You've got...
...a TV & a licence & they come to your door: Don't answer and/or close door
...a TV & no licence (TV used just as monitor): Don't answer and/or close door
...a TV, no licence and you watch TV (naughty!): Don't answer and/or close door
...no TV, no licence: Yep... don't answer and/or close the door

I think that covers any eventuality. Remember, don't say a word to them. If you've opened the door accidentally or they've tricked you into opening the door - still don't say a word to them. Close the door. They may try to put there foot in the door (literally) so be forewarned.

You have no legal obligation to talk to them and you have no legal obligation to let them in. They'll just go on to an easier target (remember there's a bonus scheme!)

MikeLB

The likes of Lidl, Aldi and Netto don't advertise on ITV

Actuallly Aldi and Lidl advertise on both ITV and heavily in local media such as Radio and the press, both national and local too.

On a like for like basis, ITV does cost us more that BBC, as ITV do not deliver over 50 Radio Stations, the most visited and largest website in Europe nor does ITV deliver as many channels as the BBC. I sometimes think TV licence is really bad wording when it pays for Radio and Internet as well as TV services. Maybe Media Licence would be a better title!

Also dont forget that Channel 4 is also a public funded channel, funded by the Government as opposed to a Licence Fee, so we all pay for that too wether we watch it or not!

lipidicman

MikeLB wrote:

Also dont forget that Channel 4 is also a public funded channel, funded by the Government as opposed to a Licence Fee, so we all pay for that too wether we watch it or not!

Could you provide a reference for this assertion?

From Channel 4's website
http://www.channel4.com/about_c4/information.html

It (The Channel Four Television Corporation) is a publicly owned corporation whose board is appointed by the television regulator - the Independent Television Commission / OFCOM (after Dec 2003) - in agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport. Unlike the BBC, Channel 4 receives no public funding. It is funded entirely by its own commercial activities.

Gorgeous_George

Check this out

http://www.tvlicensing.biz/

I pay my TV licence by DD and consider it good value when compared to Sky. Found the above site an interesting read nonetheless. FWIW, I do not think highly of people who do not pay the TV licence when they should.

The TV License is not required for radio. I do not listen to independent radio - the constant ads really bug me.

IMO, BBC is good value and my fee would be less if everybody who should pay paid.

What I find bizarre is that a blind person only gets a 50% discount on a colour license making it still more expensive than a black and white licence. Where can you buy a b&w TV these days anyway.

Finally, who do you think pays for ITV? We do and we get the bleeding adverts as well encouraging us to spend more money.

GG

cantcope

I used to work in the fines department of our local court and i was in charge of sending fine notices out. There were hundreds for people who watched tv without a license.
I'm sure people dont need to come into your house. They inform the court and a fine notice is automatically sent out. If you dont pay it then another one will be sent. Eventually you'll get called to court and the fine will be huge.

If you watch any tv through an aerial/sky/freeview without a license you are breaking the law. If you dont have it plugged into an aerial then you dont need a license.
This would tell me that if its only plugged into the wall and a dvd player then there is no signal for the tv license people to pick up.

Dora_the_Explorer_5

I'm looking forward to the day I won't have to buy a licence, by which time my eyes and ears will be so clapped out being entertained by the telly will be but a distant dream.
I still buy one, but after 45 annual trips to the post office I'm becoming extremely bored with the whole process and wonder which bit of the BBC I now own.