TV licence costs to rise from April - MSE News 1 February 2019 at 1:39PM in TV MoneySaving 21 replies 3.1K views

Former_MSE_Callum

The cost of a standard colour TV licence will rise to £154.50 from 1 April – an increase of £4...

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'TV licence costs to rise from April'

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societys_child

Whoops!

Sorry, you've landed on a page that doesn't exist. :huh:

[Deleted User]

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2019/02/tv-licence-costs-to-rise-from-april/

mr_jrt

Probably would be worth reiterating that the best way to avoid the increase is to decide if you actually need a license at all. You only need a license if you watch broadcast TV via any means (yes, even on a mobile or computer!), or use iPlayer. Ownership of a TV does not mean you need a license as you may quite legally use it to play video games, watch non-iPlayer on-demand services (Netflix, Now TV, Prime Video, 4OD, ITV Player, etc), watch DVDs/Blurays, etc.

https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/telling-us-you-dont-need-a-tv-licence

Kernow666

i am surprised the licensing people haven't chased down the B&W people who I expect the majority have a colour TV but continue to lie saying they only have a B&W set


surely it would pay to actually check as everyone caught means an extra £100 I expect it would cost less than £100 to actually go and check in person

pphillips

Kernow666 wrote: »

i am surprised the licensing people haven't chased down the B&W people who I expect the majority have a colour TV but continue to lie saying they only have a B&W set


surely it would pay to actually check as everyone caught means an extra £100 I expect it would cost less than £100 to actually go and check in person

Interesting point, I don't know how log the old B&W set last and how they easily they can be fixed / replaced but my guess is that those who do upgrade never report it. It is also worth noting that a colour tv with the colour turned off is still classed by TV Licensing as a colour tv.

Neil_Jones

pphillips wrote: »

Interesting point, I don't know how log the old B&W set last and how they easily they can be fixed / replaced but my guess is that those who do upgrade never report it. It is also worth noting that a colour tv with the colour turned off is still classed by TV Licensing as a colour tv.

It is the ability to receive colour that is of interest, not how you set your telly up to display that colour. As a B&W set cannot receive colour it qualifies for an appropriate licence (for backwards compatibility reasons the colour information IIRC is transmitted in such a way that black and white TVs can just ignore, while colour TVs process it).. A TV that can receive colour but has it turned off is not by definition a black and white TV.

Mister_G

Does anyone actually make a black and white digital TV anymore?

None of the old analogue ones will work now.

If you are talking about using a digibox with a B&W TV, then you are actually receiving a colour signal, so surely you will need a colour licence.

Cornucopia

Mister_G wrote: »

If you are talking about using a digibox with a B&W TV, then you are actually receiving a colour signal, so surely you will need a colour licence.

A set-up consisting solely of a B &W TV and a normal Set-top Box is permitted as long as the STB has no recording capability.

Cornucopia

Kernow666 wrote: »

i am surprised the licensing people haven't chased down the B&W people who I expect the majority have a colour TV but continue to lie saying they only have a B&W set

I think they probably do check.

surely it would pay to actually check as everyone caught means an extra £100 I expect it would cost less than £100 to actually go and check in person

There are so few left that it wouldn't make a huge difference.

[Deleted User]

Cornucopia wrote: »

There are so few left that it wouldn't make a huge difference.

In September 2018,

Precisely 7,1611 UK households are still watching television via black and white TV sets, rather than enjoying modern classics like Bodyguard, Mc!!!!! and Killing Eve, in full colour.

https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/cs/media-centre/news/view.app?id=1369785628266