Free TV licences to be scrapped for millions of over-75s - MSE News

[Deleted User]

Autumn86 wrote: »

All you need to do is tick the box on the TV-license website stating that "you only use your TV for listening to the radio"

You don't need to do anything of the sort.

You can (as I have done for the last 9 years and counting) simply ignore them.

roddydogs

So there we have it, no one of any age needs to buy a licence, just follow Bob.

[Deleted User]

JonahJ wrote: »

Until then let's hope this reaches 100,000 votes to be debated.

It's already well past that. Currently at 131,388 signatures.

[Deleted User]

pphillips wrote: »

Put simply, it is illegal to watch or record live TV or watching BBC iPlayer without a TV licence.

More precisely, without being covered by a TV Licence.

[Deleted User]

roddydogs wrote: »

So there we have it, no one of any age needs to buy a licence, just follow Bob.

You are correct. Nobody needs to buy a licence.

They can simply stop watching live TV and/or BBC Iplayer, and legally stop paying.

archess200

It seems bizarre that the BBC are withdrawing the free TV license for the over-75's. It costs around £6 per month to subscribe to netflix, sky or others, that is half the cost of the BBC license. The quality of the BBC programmes, for my taste and I am not over 75, has plummetted. [They are still showing Dad's Army after 60 years, and still very very popular with all ages, in fact it is a cult with younger viewers, so I understand]. If they can't improve on that, or even come up to that standard, there is something wrong with modern producers/directors, programmers. Acting quality has plummeted: they seem incapable of not over-acting or overdramatising.
Anyway, given that you can listen to the radio without a license, that the journalism on BBC has been reduced to haranguing, barracking, agressive techniques, bigotry and lack of intelligent debate, I no longer watch their political programmes since Andrew Marr's biased views only let representatives of the Labour contingent answer questions without interrupting and Andrew Neil is no longer presenting This Week. They keep switching the timing of Gardener's World around to suit other programmes, their coverage of Chelsea is not to view the plants but to view celebrities trying to find something to say: that's of no interest to me.
So, what is there in BBC that myself, as an older viewer, want to watch? Certainly not Killing Eve, Game of Thrones or cooking progs. Not even Mastermind, since Humphries stumbles through it, trying to relate to the contestants and failing. I know there is Dad's Army, but I would like something alternative and more intelligent that BBC think I want.

Is there any reason to buy a tv license? Have they shot themselves in the foot and the over 75's will change to subscription?
Sorry for the rant, but I have yet to discover an intelligent customer-relating BBC voice who knows what I want and has a bit of common sense.
To resolve the cost of the free license fee issue, why not reduce the huge fees paid to John Humphries and the other 'celebs', get rid of a heap of the journalists - far too many, get rid of the presenters that only read the auto-cue badly - far too many, and reduce salaries down to that earned by the PM. That would pay for the license fee subsidy.
They could even offer a reduce fee to match the subscriptions available as above, elsewhere or down to the cost of Black and White. Anybody want to join the debate?

Neil_Jones

The licence for 75+ is not being withdrawn completely.

Its horses for courses, what I really like you may loathe and what I really loathe you might love to pieces. Hopefully there is something for both of us. Wage reductions are only a drop in the ocean compared to the savings figure needed, something like £700m.

In all honesty I can't see masses of individuals aged 75 and over moving to Netflix, when a large number of them will not even have an internet connection. The digital switchover was for a lot of people heavily confusing on its own and that was just to get "free" TV back.

elsien

Parent is 80. She loved Killing Eve.
And MotherFatherSon which I found unwatchable.
(Game of Thrones is nothing to do with the BBC btw.)

It really is each to their own and I don't think they do a bad job of covering the various demographics, given their public broadcaster remit.

[Deleted User]

archess200 wrote: »

It seems bizarre that the BBC are withdrawing the free TV license for the over-75's. It costs around £6 per month to subscribe to netflix, sky or others, that is half the cost of the BBC license. The quality of the BBC programmes, for my taste and I am not over 75, has plummetted. [They are still showing Dad's Army after 60 years, and still very very popular with all ages, in fact it is a cult with younger viewers, so I understand]. If they can't improve on that, or even come up to that standard, there is something wrong with modern producers/directors, programmers. Acting quality has plummeted: they seem incapable of not over-acting or overdramatising.
Anyway, given that you can listen to the radio without a license, that the journalism on BBC has been reduced to haranguing, barracking, agressive techniques, bigotry and lack of intelligent debate, I no longer watch their political programmes since Andrew Marr's biased views only let representatives of the Labour contingent answer questions without interrupting and Andrew Neil is no longer presenting This Week. They keep switching the timing of Gardener's World around to suit other programmes, their coverage of Chelsea is not to view the plants but to view celebrities trying to find something to say: that's of no interest to me.
So, what is there in BBC that myself, as an older viewer, want to watch? Certainly not Killing Eve, Game of Thrones or cooking progs. Not even Mastermind, since Humphries stumbles through it, trying to relate to the contestants and failing. I know there is Dad's Army, but I would like something alternative and more intelligent that BBC think I want.

Is there any reason to buy a tv license? Have they shot themselves in the foot and the over 75's will change to subscription?
Sorry for the rant, but I have yet to discover an intelligent customer-relating BBC voice who knows what I want and has a bit of common sense.
To resolve the cost of the free license fee issue, why not reduce the huge fees paid to John Humphries and the other 'celebs', get rid of a heap of the journalists - far too many, get rid of the presenters that only read the auto-cue badly - far too many, and reduce salaries down to that earned by the PM. That would pay for the license fee subsidy.
They could even offer a reduce fee to match the subscriptions available as above, elsewhere or down to the cost of Black and White. Anybody want to join the debate?

Anybody want to join the debate?

What debate? And why do you seem to think the license fee is for people who watch BBC only? It's to license you for all live TV.

GoT is a Sky Atlantic programme although you still need a license (and Sky or NowTV sub).

They're changed it so that over 75's on pension credit can still get it BTW, not scrapped it entirely.

Cornucopia

Threads merged.