Is a TV License required for non UK/EU channels?

hackeron

I only really watch American TV online and very rarely watch the occasional program on BBC iPlayer catch up TV. UK TV just doesn't appeal to me.

My dad who is 64 has a big satellite dish directed to receive Russian channels and only Russian channels are stored in the favourites - to get to any other channels you need to do a search and scroll through a list 10s of thousands of channels, most of which are dead channels - I am not sure if you can pick up any UK channels, but no obvious ones like BBC appear in the list.

Do we still need to pay for a TV license if not receiving any UK/EU channels?

Owain_Moneysaver

yes.

A TV licence is required to receive any broadcast TV signals, including TV over the internet which is streamed concurrently with being broadcast.

hackeron

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

yes.

A TV licence is required to receive any broadcast TV signals, including TV over the internet which is streamed concurrently with being broadcast.

OK, what if I remove any broadcast receiving equipement altogether?

Will I be able to watch a Russian channel on a website in Russia that is not available for broadcast in the UK?

Kurtis_Blue

hackeron wrote: »

Will I be able to watch a Russian channel on a website in Russia that is not available for broadcast in the UK?

Yes....................

hackeron

Kurtis_Blue wrote: »

Yes....................

Yes without a TV license?

macman

Kurtis_Blue wrote: »

Yes....................

Surely if it's a live broadcast, then a licence is required regardless of the country of origin?

Kurtis_Blue

Yes if it is available within the UK as live broadcast, incl foreign transmissions by sat.

But he stated this foreign channel transmission was NOT available within the uk as broadcast, hopefully he has checked sat feeds.

macman

So web reception is OK, but using a massive sat dish to pick up a Russian sat feed is not?

Buzby

I have a 1.8m offset steerable dish. It recived Russian channels and a few 1000 more. I would not need a licence to view live russian broadcasts (as they are not licenced for reception in the UK).

HOWEVER, by swinging the dish a few degrees to the left, I get FreeSat, which DOES require a TV licence. The risk to you, is that you have the capability to view UK licenced brodcasts, and it would be up to a court to decide whether you did you you didn't. If the judge having made you swear on oath your usage, if he didn;t believe you - you get done.

Since you cannot easily ensure the equipment is incapable of viewing UK broadcasts, this risk will always remain.

System

Buzby wrote: »

I have a 1.8m offset steerable dish. It recived Russian channels and a few 1000 more. I would not need a licence to view live russian broadcasts (as they are not licenced for reception in the UK)..

WRONG!. Origin or legality of transmission has no bearing on whether a licence is required.

The simple requirement is that a licence is required to watch ANY broadcast received via ANY medium at the same time that it is broadcast. There are no caveats as to origin or licenceability (?)

Heinz

I can't believe this argument has reared its head again.

I only watch non-UK satellite TV programmes, do I still need a licence?

Yes. If you watch or record television programmes that are broadcast from outside the UK, you still need a TV Licence.

Do I need a television licence if I only watch programmes received by satellite?

Yes. Under the Communications Act 2003 you need a TV Licence to receive or record television programmes. This applies if they are received by a satellite, cable or land based transmitter. If you are watching any satellite service controlled from within or outside the UK you must have a TV Licence.

That's perfectly clear to me.