TV licence dodgers may no longer face prosecution

^^ I said that long ago.

Then you would not need to pay to watch VH1 on the Cable package you pay and BBC want you to pay even if you never watch their channels.

The last 3 licence I bought out of 19 years of doing so was to watch VH1/The Box on VM Cable for a few hours while formatting my PC each year.

I then thought to myself, WTF am I doing, I know I had to pay to even watch that music for a few hours but I can do without.

100's of computer generated letters. 3 visits to door where I opened it and a few where I did not.

Told the 1st guys the story and he said that is fine we will not bother you for a period of (not 100% sure but think 1 or 2 years) but the letters started again about 3 months later.

2nd guys, told them what I told 1st guys and they said no record of that, this was after the bad part of recession where all the big celebs like that big mouth Chef were crying about cuts in salary etc. (only getting £100,000 per year for 4month actual work/shooting now).

I told him I was not paying to watch PC crap/Repeats/Reality TV and pay for these celebs to bitch about cost of living and to cover up for Pedos. :)

3rd guy (on his own) Asked what he wanted, he told me he worked from the BBC License Board and I said you mean Capita, sucks to be you goodbye and closed the door.

I mean the letters make it sound as if you are criminal committing a crime.

I do not have the police or DVLA doing this to me in case I still am driving a car illegally because I once had one and paid all my dues same as I paid my TV dues when I received a signal.
 
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setter said:
Why dont they just scramble the bbc channels, if you want them you pay the licence fee. If you dont, then leave them scrambled. The ability to do so is there. Personally i do pay my telly licence, but theres only so much on the beeb i watch. Mainly science/natural history, which quite often i will end up buying on dvd/blu ray anyway so the bbc is still being funded.
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As they aten't a commercial TV channel. They have a charter. That is not focused around requiring advertising or customer paying.
Go that route and you have to get rid of the charter that caters to such a diverse range of programming.
 
But the beeb is payed for by the people, they even state in their own adverts that it is a service that is paid by you, ie the public. So if an opt out option was there, those that wish to buy into bbc programming can do so, those that dont have that choice without an annual tax/licence fee hanging over them. Or perhaps a pay per view service which allows you to subscribe to the content from the beeb that you like to watch.
 
I'm happy to pay my licence so long as David Attenborough is alive. I am quite happy to think I am (kinda) paying towards the wages of my hero :D
 
dougal1331 said:
My personal opinion:
I gladly pay the license fee, it's worth it for lack of endless tacky adverts, and the website and iplayer services are excellent. I use one or many of the Beeb's services on a daily basis and I have no problem with the fee. I probably watch more Beeb than any other channels.
It has to be funded somehow: taxes or otherwise. Or adverts for payday loans or betting shops/insurance etc... I know which I'd prefer!
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This, times a thousand. You only need to spend an afternoon watching TV in somewhere like the US to understand how fortunate we are to have the BBC.

World class content with no adverts. Its not broken. It doesn't need fixing.
 
setter said:
But the beeb is payed for by the people, they even state in their own adverts that it is a service that is paid by you, ie the public. So if an opt out option was there, those that wish to buy into bbc programming can do so, those that dont have that choice without an annual tax/licence fee hanging over them. Or perhaps a pay per view service which allows you to subscribe to the content from the beeb that you like to watch.
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:rolleyes:
The whole idea is that its not restricted to making cheapo rubbish that is popular. But rather a broad range of programming for everyone, regardless of whoever it would be cost effective or not. So no that wouldn't work in the slightest. Not while you keep the charter.

The easiest and best thing is to just take it out if central tax. Overall it probably wouldn't cost anyone any extra. Think how much is wasted in administration, courts, enforcement etc. And we can keep the charter.
 
The likelihood of this actually happening are next to zero. But at least people higher up are starting to talk about it

The problem is I use so little from it, I just watch Top Gear, The Musketeers, Sherlock (when it's on) and whatever nature programming David Attenborough is narrating. That's not a lot! I used to watch more but Have I got News for you is rubbish now as well Mock The Week. All comedies are a pale comparison compared to the Blackadder glory days. I don't even watch Dr Who anymore as it turned into a pile of CBBC rubbish :(
 
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Lmao, the "I don't watch TV but I refuse to tell the TV licensing people because MAH FREEDOMS" crackpots are a very special breed.

Maybe people should do some research on what the license fee is used for before they convince themselves that it all goes to the BBC. The idea that the BBC could have different subscription levels depending on how many of their services you wanted to use which would make it cheaper for the end user and not lead to a huge drop in funding (and therefore quality) is laughable.

We are not unique in having a TV license, I am more than happy to keep paying it because it is great value for what you get back. Taking it out of taxation would allow for more government influence than is healthy. As has been said before, the government are very happy to dip into the license fee pot when it suits them, and then still want to do the finger pointing whenever possible.

The BBC not having to answer to advertisers or keep commercial partners happy is exactly why it can get on and do what it does. You would lose an awful lot if it disappeared.
 
Caged said:
Lmao, the "I don't watch TV but I refuse to tell the TV licensing people because MAH FREEDOMS" crackpots are a very special breed.

Maybe people should do some research on what the license fee is used for before they convince themselves that it all goes to the BBC. The idea that the BBC could have different subscription levels depending on how many of their services you wanted to use which would make it cheaper for the end user and not lead to a huge drop in funding (and therefore quality) is laughable.

We are not unique in having a TV license, I am more than happy to keep paying it because it is great value for what you get back. Taking it out of taxation would allow for more government influence than is healthy. As has been said before, the government are very happy to dip into the license fee pot when it suits them, and then still want to do the finger pointing whenever possible.

The BBC not having to answer to advertisers or keep commercial partners happy is exactly why it can get on and do what it does. You would lose an awful lot if it disappeared.
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I'm one of these 'crackpots' and couldn't care less if the whole beeb shut down tomorrow. Don't be a doormat...
 
BBC with adverts and scrap license fee - they'd probably make better programmes as they'd have a bigger budget, or we are stuck with constant reality type tv and game shows, with the occasional good show now and then.
 
GOOD get rid of the BBC.

It's also a load of bull people get taken to court, its not scientifically provable, there is no such thing as 'TV detector vans', you cannot detect free moving radio waves going down an aerial into a TV.

Not bought a TV license for year or 2 now and do not watch live TV, best thing I ever did and now don't waste my life becoming a vegetable every evening.
 
The courts aren't "criminalising them for being poor". They are criminalising themselves for using some they can't afford to pay for. It just plain steeling.

You could argue that a TV licence is a basic human need. In which case the government should support low income families by subsidising them. However, last time I checked, the government already do this, and a TV licence is factored into what the money should pay for.

There's no excuses really. Most people dislike paying it.
 
oldbag said:
BBC with adverts and scrap license fee - they'd probably make better programmes as they'd have a bigger budget, or we are stuck with constant reality type tv and game shows, with the occasional good show now and then.
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Actually the total TV advertising spend in the UK is only about £5 or £6 billion a year from memory.
A BBC funded by adverts would probably result in much worse TV on ALL channels, with a lot of the other channels going bust (the likes of ITV, C4 and 5 would hate the BBC to be advert funded as it would slaughter their income, Sky would only like it because it would improve their sub numbers, but many of the smaller freeview/sky channels would got bust in short order).
 
Werewolf said:
Actually the total TV advertising spend in the UK is only about £5 or £6 billion a year from memory.
A BBC funded by adverts would probably result in much worse TV on ALL channels, with a lot of the other channels going bust (the likes of ITV, C4 and 5 would hate the BBC to be advert funded as it would slaughter their income, Sky would only like it because it would improve their sub numbers, but many of the smaller freeview/sky channels would got bust in short order).
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Wow, didn't think it was that low tbh.

Wonder what percentage of the license fee goes on salaries (staff and stars) and what goes on making programmes.
 
Sho said:
Good. Next abolish bbc license.
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....and make the programs a load of crap like ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5.

Maybe the poor should be exempt from paying car tax as well...

If I had no money the last thing i'd be worried about is the bloody television.
 
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robgmun said:
The likelihood of this actually happening are next to zero. But at least people higher up are starting to talk about it

The problem is I use so little from it, I just watch Top Gear, The Musketeers, Sherlock (when it's on) and whatever nature programming David Attenborough is narrating. That's not a lot! I used to watch more but Have I got News for you is rubbish now as well Mock The Week. All comedies are a pale comparison compared to the Blackadder glory days. I don't even watch Dr Who anymore as it turned into a pile of CBBC rubbish :(
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Says he watches so little of the BBC. Lists a load of BBC output he's watched.
 
Stretch said:
The courts aren't "criminalising them for being poor". They are criminalising themselves for using some they can't afford to pay for. It just plain steeling.

You could argue that a TV licence is a basic human need. In which case the government should support low income families by subsidising them. However, last time I checked, the government already do this, and a TV licence is factored into what the money should pay for.

There's no excuses really. Most people dislike paying it.
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There is also no excuse for "Steeling" :rolleyes:

I for one do not watch TV really since about 2001 when I got a PC.

I paid a licence still many years after that for watching little to no TV till.

I gave example above of when I did watch a hour or so or if a disaster happened and it was on the news.

I am not paying a license not for "Braveheart" reason but because I do not need one.

I do agree David Attenborough's shows are great but if I really wanted to see them I could legally watch at later date on iplayer on the WWW but I do not even bother with that after initially messing with it when it launched log ago.

Ok I would not have paid to see it but I did buy a license for 19 years and as I said hardly watched TV since 2001 so its fair and legal.

I always wondered what the special titles were for on OCUK but it seems to be the peeps with these talk the biggest load of nonsense esp. in this section.

Do not jump to conclusion everyone has to buy a license ,its a old BS myth same as the detector vans which wee full of dummy hardware.
 
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