Do I need a TV licence?

pphillips

Some people genuinely think that it's okay to watch channels from other countries without a TV license because these stations are not technically broadcast to the UK public.

Interesting to think of what a TV license gets you on on it's own. It only gets you live TV, it doesn't get you access to BBC iPlayer and other catch up TV services as you need pay for broadband on top. Also it does not get you live sport on Amazon video, for this you need to have broadband and an Amazon prime subscription.

Cornucopia

pphillips said:

Some people genuinely think that it's okay to watch channels from other countries without a TV license because these stations are not technically broadcast to the UK public.

To be fair, the legislation supports some of that - particularly in terms of streaming. TV Licensing used to say that streaming from outside the UK & CI was permissible without a Licence, and then they simply changed that message. At the time (March 2016), I'm unaware of any corresponding change in the law. Therefore, there are only two possibilities: they were wrong previously and are correct now, and they were right previously and are wrong now. They don't seem to be very strong on logical analysis, though.

pphillips said:

Interesting to think of what a TV license gets you on on it's own. It only gets you live TV, it doesn't get you access to BBC iPlayer and other catch up TV services as you need pay for broadband on top. Also it does not get you live sport on Amazon video, for this you need to have broadband and an Amazon prime subscription.

Indeed, it's easy to get caught up in the legalities of the Licence without thinking about other practical considerations. A lot of it comes down to what equipment you already have and whether you have good broadband already. In practice, most people who live in large towns and cities will have adequate broadband without paying significantly more than the cost of a landline (which then leads into the discussion of whether a landline is required). It's not necessarily simple, and it looks as though the Government may be about to make it more complicated (or perhaps simpler).

onomatopoeia99

Cornucopia said:In practice, most people who live in large towns and cities will have adequate broadband without paying significantly more than the cost of a landline (which then leads into the discussion of whether a landline is required).

 Absent a good, stable 4G signal, how is the broadband getting to you without a landline?  

Cornucopia

onomatopoeia99 said:

Cornucopia said:In practice, most people who live in large towns and cities will have adequate broadband without paying significantly more than the cost of a landline (which then leads into the discussion of whether a landline is required).

 Absent a good, stable 4G signal, how is the broadband getting to you without a landline?  

Exactly - 4G, and now 5G.