TV license needed for live TV, but why?

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  • poppasmurf_bewdley
    poppasmurf_bewdley Posts: 5,909 Forumite
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    pphillips wrote: »
    I think this raises an important point with regards to the end of free tv licences for the over 75s. At the end of the day, they all need to be made aware of the different options available. Many of them who can't afford the tv licence or don't want to pay will need to be educated about becoming legally licence free and how to adapt to using catch up / on demand services instead.

    Yup. They can save the £3 a week licence fee by spending £7.50 a week on getting fibre broadband.
    "There are not enough superlatives in the English language to describe a 'Princess Coronation' locomotive in full cry. We shall never see their like again". O S Nock
  • Cornucopia
    Cornucopia Posts: 16,156 Forumite
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    poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »
    Yup. They can save the £3 a week licence fee by spending £7.50 a week on getting fibre broadband.

    If you're paying £30 per month in addition to your phone line rental for your Fibre, then you are paying way too much.

    Apparently, there are places online where you can go and seek money-saving advice from experts. ;)

    A lot of older people will already have Broadband. For many people, ADSL will be good enough for catch-up, up to HD quality.
  • pphillips
    pphillips Posts: 1,631 Forumite
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    Those who want access to even more BBC content without needing a tv licence will be able to get Britbox later this year for £5.99 a month, less than half the cost of a tv licence.

    https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2019/07/itv-and-bbc-to-offer-new-streaming-service-for-p6-mth/
  • wild666
    wild666 Posts: 2,117 Forumite
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    Cornucopia wrote: »
    On which basis, I think a mass campaign (as happened in New Zealand) is beyond the UK. I think the best we can achieve is to support each other in each making the decision whether to vote with our viewing habits (or not).

    I can see June 2020 as the date there will be a mass non-compliance to purchase a TV Licence by pensioners and that might turn into those under 75 joining them. I have been licence free since ditching BT in 2016 but from 1983 to June 2009 I only had a licence for one year to June 2009 to 2010, from July 2012 to end of July 2016 that's five years, and I hardly watched any TV.
    Someone please tell me what money is
  • silverwhistle
    silverwhistle Posts: 3,791 Forumite
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    edited 20 July 2019 at 4:51PM
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    Nick_C wrote: »
    I'm going license free at the end of the month. Not because I can't afford to pay the licence, I can, but because I think the BBC is bloated and wasteful. Very little of their output is public service broadcasting. Their news programs are often factually incorrect. The presenters can't speak English properly, and the whole programming is too PC. They play ludicrous salaries to Z list "celebrities".

    You sound like a slightly bilious retired Colonel in 1950s Cheltenham or Tunbridge Wells, but I think you've pretty well nailed all the cliches you hear from opponents of the BBC.

    As it happens I haven't had a licence since 1988, and that was a B&W one. The old TV went in the bin on the 1st October that year and I've never had a TV since.

    But if you think the news programmes are biased I can only suggest that you make yourself aware of the excesses of Fox News and their ilk.
  • pphillips
    pphillips Posts: 1,631 Forumite
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    silverwhistle wrote: »
    You sound like a slightly bilious retired Colonel in 1950s Cheltenham or Tunbridge Wells, but I think you've pretty well nailed all the cliches you hear from opponents of the BBC.

    Although no real mention of BBC controversies, such as the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal.
  • wild666
    wild666 Posts: 2,117 Forumite
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    JJ_Egan wrote: »
    Its a TV broadcast licence not a BBC licence .

    If its a broadcast licence then why does the BBC get the money?
    Someone please tell me what money is
  • Cornucopia
    Cornucopia Posts: 16,156 Forumite
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    edited 25 July 2019 at 8:39AM
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    wild666 wrote: »
    If its a broadcast licence then why does the BBC get the money?

    It dates from a time (pre-1955) when the BBC was the only broadcaster, and therefore got the money.

    The idea in more recent years has been that the BBC can provide ad-free content for the public good, which raises more questions than it answers.
  • wild666
    wild666 Posts: 2,117 Forumite
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    Cornucopia wrote: »
    It dates from a time (pre-1955) when the BBC was the only broadcaster, and therefore got the money.

    The idea in more recent years has been that the BBC can provide ad-free content for the public good, which raises more questions than it answers.

    If the BBC took on adverts, would those adverts rake in more money than the licence fees do? If they would then why doesn't the BBC take on adverts and scrap the licence fee?
    Someone please tell me what money is
  • Cornucopia
    Cornucopia Posts: 16,156 Forumite
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    wild666 wrote: »
    If the BBC took on adverts, would those adverts rake in more money than the licence fees do? If they would then why doesn't the BBC take on adverts and scrap the licence fee?

    The fear is that the BBC is so big that its advertising sales would crowd out other operators.

    I tend to agree with that (although I haven't seen any figures for the advertising sales capacity of the UK).

    Personally, I think a subscription model would be preferable and it would also allow for a relatively smooth transition as it would share similar practicalities to the administration of the Licence Fee.

    There is a small technical issue with Freeview in that the BBC altered the specification of set-top boxes to exclude the most straightforward encryption method. I think BBC Freeview could therefore carry a limited amount of advertising and sponsorship which would give viewers the ultimate choice as to how to access the BBC.
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