TV licence - to pay or not to pay?

Suzycoll

Hi all

I read an article in  DM yesterday where Boris Johnson said he is not going to pay his TV licence (I have no interest in why - something political!)

Anyway, it got me thinking.

I have no TV ariel & mostly watch bbc,ch4,itv etc apps (+Netflix ). I was of the understanding as I was watching BBC (signed in) I have to pay a TV licence?

However, this article took me back to a recent cruise, where I shared a table with strangers. For some reason the conversation turned to TV licence. More than half the table of 8 said that they simply don't pay it. End of

I'm just wondering others comments on this & what happens/happened if one stop paying?
Apologies if this has been discussed previously.

Thoughts 🤔

Baldytyke88

I was chatting to a friend yesterday, he has no TV and does not have a licence. He could not watch something on BBC iPlayer, which he and some of his friends were interested in.

It was a video on Newsnight. I do have a TV and a licence, I found it strange that for the sake of less than £200 he was willing to suffer. This is not the first time this issue has come up, he is not poor.

It seemed that it was the principle and not saving £200. I don't watch much TV, but the licence also pays for BBC radio and internet, which I also use.

Farway

It's an individual choice, I don't have TV licence and find ability watch live TV, or the beeb, legally, absolutely no hardship at all

strawb_shortcake

We've not had a TV licence for over 20 years. We only stream TV programmes. 
We get a letter every two years to confirm we don't need a licence. I think we may have had someone knock on the door once from TV licencing. But despite having a TV in full view of the window they were content we didn't need a licence.

Not being able to watch Newsnight I'd hardly call suffering, and this is a money saving site so paying £200 for a licence in case your mate wants to show you a video seems ludicrous 

twopenny

I thought about it a lot but still pay the licence.
I've found since using iPlayer I have a lot of good programmes to watch without adverts.

People pay to stream other channels without adverts but don't want to pay for better programmes without them. It's an odd idea.

From what I've gathered on research if you regularly use live TV or iPlayer they can follow your location.
This info came with my license 
"You must have pass to 400+ TV channels and any pay TV services, like sky or virgin media. Plus live TV on streaming services like Amazon prime video. "
I think BBC sounds also comes under this as it's not live radio.

Cornucopia

It's likely that the TV Licence will rise to over £180 in the coming months, so there's that much at stake in the decision as to whether to get one or not.   But despite the posturing, it is more a case of getting one if it is needed, rather than an arbitrary choice.

If you watch/record TV broadcasts or watch BBC TV on iPlayer, you need a Licence.   If you don't do either of those things (say you only watch commercial on-demand content) then you don't need a Licence.   You don't need a Licence for radio, or for BBC Sounds.

BBC/TV Licensing do have a database of all TV Licences and a database of all addresses.   They know who doesn't have a Licence, but they don't know whether they need one or not.   The entire enforcement system revolves around that question.   

As an individual householder it is up to you whether you wish to help them with regards to your TV usage at your address or not.    I personally regard them as a pariah, and think I should dissuade them as far as possible, but other people's mileage may vary.

There isn't any technical magic that they can use to find people who are using TV receivers outside of the terms of a Licence.   They have to physically make contact with them, and then ask them.   In the case of iPlayer, they have used email matching (between iPlayer accounts and ex-TV Licence accounts), and whilst this can provide a degree of suspicion, it is not robust enough to really do anything with.

There are various threads in the annals of MSE covering all of this in more detail.

HonestJohn

Compared to other paid services the BBC licence fee is a bargain. I can't imagine watching Sky etc and paying to watch ads. Not having a TV licence, if you need one, is a criminal offence.

elsien

I happen to think the TV license is value for money, and I have issues with not paying for something when I am watching the relevant programmes. 

Yes people may be able to get away with not paying, but as with anything if you don’t pay then eventually it’s going to vanish. Which I’m sure some people think might be a good thing, but not for me.

Baldytyke88

elsien said:

I happen to think the TV license is value for money, and I have issues with not paying for something when I am watching the relevant programmes. 

Yes people may be able to get away with not paying, but as with anything if you don’t pay then eventually it’s going to vanish. Which I’m sure some people think might be a good thing, but not for me.

Some people have different values. I listen to a lot of BBC radio, I would not feel right if I made others pay for it.

The BBC has helped to shape our society over decades, I would hate for GB News to take that roll. 

Cornucopia

Baldytyke88 said:

elsien said:

I happen to think the TV license is value for money, and I have issues with not paying for something when I am watching the relevant programmes. 

Yes people may be able to get away with not paying, but as with anything if you don’t pay then eventually it’s going to vanish. Which I’m sure some people think might be a good thing, but not for me.

Some people have different values. I listen to a lot of BBC radio, I would not feel right if I made others pay for it.

The BBC has helped to shape our society over decades, I would hate for GB News to take that roll. 

To be fair, it wouldn't be you making others pay for it, but the BBC and the government.

I'm not going to comment on the idea of the BBC shaping the UK... that way lies politics.

Newbie_John

Baldytyke88 said:

I was chatting to a friend yesterday, he has no TV and does not have a licence. He could not watch something on BBC iPlayer, which he and some of his friends were interested in.

It was a video on Newsnight. I do have a TV and a licence, I found it strange that for the sake of less than £200 he was willing to suffer. This is not the first time this issue has come up, he is not poor.

It seemed that it was the principle and not saving £200. I don't watch much TV, but the licence also pays for BBC radio and internet, which I also use.

I'm like your friend.
You need to see BBC and Live TV like another streaming channel. 

Imagine friends came to you and wanted to watch something on Apple TV, would you buy the license for them?