Do I need to buy a license if I dont terrestrial TV?

MingVase

Serious question, not interested in the politics side of this ok.. What is and is not legal, re watching tv without a licence? Is it ok to watch youtube or catchup or anything at all without a licence? So many conflicting stories about this - we hardly ever watch tv at all and are thinking of ways to save money. TY

[Deleted User]

MingVase wrote: »

Serious question, not interested in the politics side of this ok.. What is and is not legal, re watching tv without a licence?

Have a read of the article here https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/tv-licence/ to see if you need a TV Licence.

[Deleted User]

Guest101 wrote: »

Seriously? You are actually considering letting them into your home?


The mind does indeed boggle....

Whats the problem. If he has nothing to hide I can t see why its such a big deal in allowing a Capita officer looking at your equipment is so bad.
The vast majority of "confessions " of viewing without a licence are obtained without gaining entry..So anyone who agrees for them to enter will most likely be honest and not need a TV licence.
. In my view anyone who refuses access to a Capita officer has something to hide..and I speak from experience .. In my job I get behind the doors of people claiming they do not "need " a licence and the vast majority of those watching TV are watching live scheduled broadcasts from the main broadcasters, in other words, they are thieving the licence fee and are the reason why the BBC are not now allowing free TV licences for the over 75s....because the younger generations are nicking it from them.
Its not Gary Lineker `s wages which has caused this, but the rise in licence fiddling

Cornucopia

Reasons not to let Capita into your home:-

- Because you don't have to.

- Because there is no requirement in UK law to prove your innocence in this way, and if there were it wouldn't apply to Capita employees who are simply members of the public without any legal authority to conduct these enquiries.

- Because they are financially incentivised to obtain evidence against you.

- Because you have a right under PACE not to answer any of their questions, so why not jump straight to the chase and deny them any answers to anything from the outset. (Rather than waste your time humouring them when you will ultimately end up asserting your legal rights against them).

- Because you might feel that the entire TV Licensing regime is unacceptable, and denying them access sends that message loud and clear. If everyone did it, then the regime would have no choice but to find a different approach.

- Because you object to them hassling you when they ultimately let off half the Licence evaders they catch.

There's something for everyone, there, I would have thought.

[Deleted User]

Reasons not to let Capita "officers " into your home

Because you are fiddling the licence fee and they may find out

Because You do not want to pay £154.50

Because I can say the usual " I only watch Netflix, catch- up etc for the whole year and get away with it because they cannot prove I am lying if I do not let them in

I would compare failing to admit a Capita Officer to inspect your equipment with exactly the same scenario where a suspect is being interviewed about a crime in the police station and replies "no comment " to every question.. That is his/her right but we all know that anyone who replies " no comment " is in most cases guilty of the crime , even if a lawyer gets them off later on.

Cornucopia

MingVase wrote: »

Is it ok to watch youtube...

Yes - everything except the live streams that are parallel to TV broadcast channels (e.g. Sky News).

... or catchup...

Yes - all commercial catch-up, box-sets and movies on demand, except for BBC iPlayer.

I second the suggestion of the MSE article, above. It is clear and accurate.

[Deleted User]

Cornucopia wrote: »

Yes - everything except the live streams that are parallel to TV broadcast channels (e.g. Sky News).


Yes - all commercial catch-up, box-sets and movies on demand, except for BBC iPlayer.

I second the suggestion of the MSE article, above. It is clear and accurate.

Youtube now do live streaming, Youtube Live I think its called, therefore you need a TV licence for that or any other on demand services which show live streaming

Cornucopia

Houbara wrote: »

Reasons not to let Capita "officers " into your home

Because you are fiddling the licence fee and they may find out

Because You do not want to pay £154.50

Because I can say the usual " I only watch Netflix, catch- up etc for the whole year and get away with it because they cannot prove I am lying if I do not let them in

This is unnecessarily argumentative.

Although I wouldn't condone Licence evasion, everyone has a right to exclude TV Licensing/Capita from their homes and a right not to answer their questions. In fact, the former is a basic human right and the latter a basic right when being questioned under caution.

I'm sorry if that's inconvenient for Capita, but they should not, IMHO, be operating on the basis that those rights are ever in question, whether the householder asserts them or not.

Cornucopia

Houbara wrote: »

Youtube now do live streaming, Youtube Live I think its called, therefore you need a TV licence for that or any other on demand services which show live streaming

No. You only need a Licence to watch live streams that are identical to TV broadcast channels and concurrent with them.

The main example is Sky News.

From the MSE Article linked above:-

'Live TV' is content that's being broadcast on a TV channel. This applies to all channels (including, say, +1 channels) on any mainstream TV platform, including Freeview, Virgin or Sky.

It also applies to watching 'live TV' via internet-only services such as Now TV and YouTube, but only if you watch content that's also being broadcast on a TV channel, ie, if you use YouTube to watch cat videos or pranksters you don't need a TV licence to do it.

pphillips

Cornucopia wrote: »

No. You only need a Licence to watch live streams that are identical to TV broadcast channels and concurrent with them.

The main example is Sky News.

From the MSE Article linked above:-

I find it confusing when I want to watch a live stream and have no idea whether or not it is being broadcast concurrently on one of many hundreds of TV channels.