TV licence - to pay or not to pay?

Emmia

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.

I have to agree. Eventually it will all become subscription - so there won't be an option to watch anything for free or without ads. Less than £4 a week currently, is frankly a bargain. 

If course when it happens people will moan that they can't watch stuff for free anymore (and I can guarantee it will be more than £4 week then). As the saying goes,  you don't know what you've got til it's gone...

Cornucopia

I watch mostly Youtube premium - this is a paid subscription with no ads.   They've even begun to provide an easy skip function for in-video ad reads placed by Youtube channels.   The subscription is less than the TV Licence.

There are ad-free options with other streaming services, as well.  

It doesn't make sense for services not to provide ad-free options if customers are prepared to pay for them.  

Vitor

I could easily pay the BBC license but haven't for years on principle. I don't miss it and don't sneakily watch anything on iPlayer etc., there's far more interesting material on YouTube than I could ever hope to watch 

HonestJohn

The BBC could easily stop licence evasion by encoding their content but I guess the costs would be too high. They are looking to switch off their transmitters in the next 10 yrs and put all their content online. This has implications for those without an ISP so is getting some bad press .That would be a good time introduce a digital licence.

Baldytyke88

Newbie_John said:

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? 

I did have the password for Netflix for a while, but just for films I don't want to pay for it, no time to watch films until I retire.

£200 per year is a small amount for most people, I would happily pay £50 per year just for BBC Radio 4, I would guess it costs very little of the whole licence fee.

"funding is allocated to all national and local radio services as a collective group, which represented around 17% of the licence fee in recent years".

prowla

Suzycoll said:

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 🤔

If you watch any "live" TV and/or use iPlayer then you need a licence.

If you only watch on-demand streamed content then you don't.

As for "end of", that's not a justification.

Cornucopia

HonestJohn said:

The BBC could easily stop licence evasion by encoding their content but I guess the costs would be too high. They are looking to switch off their transmitters in the next 10 yrs and put all their content online. This has implications for those without an ISP so is getting some bad press .That would be a good time introduce a digital licence.

The issue is to what extent anyone would be excluded from receiving the BBC without additional expenditure.   

That question goes back to the original decision that Greg Dyke freely admitted to which involved removing an encryption card slot from the Freeview specification.

The only practical way around that for the time being (until Freeview is switched off) is to split the BBC's services so that some or all are available on Freeview with some or all on that platform having advertising; and the BBC's services on iPlayer and on other broadcast platforms would have the Licence Fee become a subscription.   People would be free to watch/record TV broadcasts from other broadcasters without payment to the BBC.

Personally, I think that solution has much to recommend it, especially because many/most households would have a free choice between ads or subscription, or no BBC, based on equipment they already own.    That seems very fair to me.

silverwhistle

This subject does the rounds regularly. Personally I think the DM and Boris Johnson (the epitome of truthfulness..) are just clickbait, and here am I indirectly succumbing!

Having never owned a colour television in over 40 years of home ownership I've only just realised I am suffering!;-)  There is far too much to do without one, and even then I don't do everything I'd like too, and in far too much danger of slumping on the sofa were I to have one. Of course there are good programmes out there but no FOMO on my part. 

I do watch football on television: my team if they are on and playing away, but that's what the local pub is for, and my visit helps to keep the place open as the stress ensures I have more than one drink! They seem to have all the pay for commercial channels which broadcast sport, which would also be a consideration watching at home, plus getting out of the house and socialising also has value.

Incidentally, any visitor can watch TV  based on their own licence, on their own portable device as long as it isn't plugged in.

OldishamI

May I comment on a related subject?
Since 2012 We have lived in sheltered housing latterly reclassified as retirement housing.
 In 2019 I queried with TV licencing whether we should be eligible for the reduced £7.50 rate. In a phone call from them I was advised that we were not so entitled so we continued to pay a tv licence as we have done every year since 1975 at our current and previous addresses.
When we applied to renew our licence in September 2025 a reply from TV Licensing advised that "our records show that your name was added onto the current Concessionary TV Licence (which is free of charge to residents aged 75 and over and £7.50 per year if under 75) at your address on 6 October 2025 therefore no direct debit has been set up. The TV Licence you had previously purchased was cancelled when you were added onto the concessionary licence and will be refunded shortly."

Martin_the_Unjust

Well we now have Disney+ free with my bank account, the good lady gets AppleTV for £5 through hers and we have Amazon Prime so, as we cannot remember the last time we watched anything on the BBC, and can see no need to watch live TV going forward we have cancelled our licence, so thats a few quid saved before the budget. 😁