Anyone escaped from the BBC licence fee?

MeteredOut

brewerdave said:

Listening to Tim Davie earlier this week, the Beeb are getting ever more desperate . Doesn't agree with decriminalisation ,or subscription models or advertising or funding from general taxation - implied that millions of  licence free households are using the BBC services (or watching live channels)....... I'm surprised he didn't outright suggest an enforced household levy to support his "totally" impartial BBC !!
Furthermore there was a "threat" in the press that the Beeb schedules would be full of repeats without more cash .

Does anyone really believe this is not the case? Perhaps not millions, but can't be far off.

It would be interesting to see the age split of TV licence holders (I strongly suspect it is increasingly skewed towards the older cohort groups). It looks like the BBC doesn't have this info though (this from 2023):

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/age_profile_of_bbc_licence_fee_p/response/2274495/attach/4/RFI20230280 Response.pdf

There is a general distrust of the BBC nowadays. That, combined with more people consuming mainly via streaming and thus deciding they do not need a licence, means they must be haemorrhaging holders. Down ~2.5M (almost 10%) since its peak in 2018.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_television_licensing_in_the_United_Kingdom

Farway

MeteredOut said:

brewerdave said:

Listening to Tim Davie earlier this week, the Beeb are getting ever more desperate . Doesn't agree with decriminalisation ,or subscription models or advertising or funding from general taxation - implied that millions of  licence free households are using the BBC services (or watching live channels)....... I'm surprised he didn't outright suggest an enforced household levy to support his "totally" impartial BBC !!
Furthermore there was a "threat" in the press that the Beeb schedules would be full of repeats without more cash .

Does anyone really believe this is not the case? Perhaps not millions, but can't be far off.

It would be interesting to see the age split of TV licence holders (I strongly suspect it is increasingly skewed towards the older cohort groups). It looks like the BBC doesn't have this info though (this from 2023):

It would also be interesting to see the breakdown by ethnic grouping, 

I guess those areas where the first language is not English would be reluctant to pay for something they will not get much out of,, and also the likely problems sending the TV licence folks around to check

Cornucopia

MeteredOut said:

brewerdave said:

Listening to Tim Davie earlier this week, the Beeb are getting ever more desperate . Doesn't agree with decriminalisation ,or subscription models or advertising or funding from general taxation - implied that millions of  licence free households are using the BBC services (or watching live channels)....... I'm surprised he didn't outright suggest an enforced household levy to support his "totally" impartial BBC !!
Furthermore there was a "threat" in the press that the Beeb schedules would be full of repeats without more cash .

Does anyone really believe this is not the case? Perhaps not millions, but can't be far off.

It would be interesting to see the age split of TV licence holders (I strongly suspect it is increasingly skewed towards the older cohort groups). It looks like the BBC doesn't have this info though (this from 2023):

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/age_profile_of_bbc_licence_fee_p/response/2274495/attach/4/RFI20230280 Response.pdf

There is a general distrust of the BBC nowadays. That, combined with more people consuming mainly via streaming and thus deciding they do not need a licence, means they must be haemorrhaging holders. Down ~2.5M (almost 10%) since its peak in 2018.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_television_licensing_in_the_United_Kingdom

The thing is that even the BBC doesn't (cannot) know the numbers.    It's also persistently confused evasion numbers with legitimately unlicensed numbers (again, partly because it cannot know the true proportion).

There are certainly millions of households that don't pay the Licence, but beyond that it's difficult to say with any certainty.   

brewerdave

Cornucopia said:

MeteredOut said:

brewerdave said:

Listening to Tim Davie earlier this week, the Beeb are getting ever more desperate . Doesn't agree with decriminalisation ,or subscription models or advertising or funding from general taxation - implied that millions of  licence free households are using the BBC services (or watching live channels)....... I'm surprised he didn't outright suggest an enforced household levy to support his "totally" impartial BBC !!
Furthermore there was a "threat" in the press that the Beeb schedules would be full of repeats without more cash .

Does anyone really believe this is not the case? Perhaps not millions, but can't be far off.

It would be interesting to see the age split of TV licence holders (I strongly suspect it is increasingly skewed towards the older cohort groups). It looks like the BBC doesn't have this info though (this from 2023):

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/age_profile_of_bbc_licence_fee_p/response/2274495/attach/4/RFI20230280 Response.pdf

There is a general distrust of the BBC nowadays. That, combined with more people consuming mainly via streaming and thus deciding they do not need a licence, means they must be haemorrhaging holders. Down ~2.5M (almost 10%) since its peak in 2018.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_television_licensing_in_the_United_Kingdom

The thing is that even the BBC doesn't (cannot) know the numbers.    It's also persistently confused evasion numbers with legitimately unlicensed numbers (again, partly because it cannot know the true proportion).

There are certainly millions of households that don't pay the Licence, but beyond that it's difficult to say with any certainty.   

And as more and more households move to streaming for all their TV services, it'll become ever more impossible and make enforcement a joke !

TheMissingNTLDR

$1B legal action coming up so may be soon!

MouldyOldDough

TheMissingNTLDR said:

$1B legal action coming up so may be soon!

Where will the funds come from to pay this "fine" ?

Considering the total BBC budget is around £6 billion - that's a fairly large lump of income gone !

TheMissingNTLDR

MouldyOldDough said:

TheMissingNTLDR said:

$1B legal action coming up so may be soon!

Where will the funds come from to pay this "fine" ?

Considering the total BBC budget is around £6 billion - that's a fairly large lump of income gone !

Yes exactly. No BBC, No Fee. As the OP's question was "Anyone escaped from the BBC licence fee?"