TV Licence Super Thread

Nasher · 9 Jan 2022 at 19:51

BowdonUK said:
I wonder how it detected it though? The TV doesn't transmit anything, and surely if you're watching a dvd you're tv would still be receiving some signal? They might know you had the CRT on, but how detailed I wonder was the military tech?

They emitted cathodes which you could use to re-contruct the image. Or figure out what channel someone is watching.

But most devices do leak signals unintentionaly which can be tapped in to, sometimes even down the mains supply. It's all part of Tempest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempest_(codename)

LuckyBenski · 9 Jan 2022 at 20:15

Nasher said:
They emitted cathodes which you could use to re-contruct the image. Or figure out what channel someone is watching.

But most devices do leak signals unintentionaly which can be tapped in to, sometimes even down the mains supply. It's all part of Tempest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempest_(codename)

Nothing emits cathodes.

When a TV tunes to a particular frequency signal it has to generate that same frequency locally in order to blend the local and received signals, which cancels out the carrier frequency and leaves the baseband signal behind to be used.

tl;dr TVs use several frequencies of their own to demodulate and decode RF signals.

Infidelus · 9 Jan 2022 at 21:22

silversurfer said:
BBC could be run on the same basis as Ch4 I suppose and I much prefer their news so maybe it would improve them a bit competitively. The subsidy element of BBC is valid for the news possibly just the radio which is significant globally, that budget would be tiny vs the amount wasted on TV which could work vs adverts.

I may be wrong, but as I understood it Channel 4 is the BBC's commercial arm.

steve5424 · 9 Jan 2022 at 21:33

Infidelus said:
I may be wrong, but as I understood it Channel 4 is the BBC's commercial arm.

I don't think the BBC has anything to do with Channel 4.

LuckyBenski · 9 Jan 2022 at 22:02

Channel 4 are publicly owned but 100% of their funding comes from commericla sources i.e. advertising and sponsorship.

Infidelus · 10 Jan 2022 at 09:28

LuckyBenski said:
Channel 4 are publicly owned.

Maybe that's where I was getting confused. I'm sure I read (at some point in the dim & distant past) that they had a tie-in with the BBC, but it was a very long time ago that I read about it.

Shocky-FM · 10 Jan 2022 at 11:53

Parents are refusing to pay for theirs since the free licence ended for them, their choice and I don't blame them.

We need to pay as we watch a lot of live sports, and while they may be reluctant to go after the over 70's, I doubt they'll hesitate for anyone else.

steve5424 · 10 Jan 2022 at 12:41

Well you don't need to pay but the BBC make you think you must pay.

arknor · 10 Jan 2022 at 13:03

BowdonUK said:
I wonder how it detected it though? The TV doesn't transmit anything, and surely if you're watching a dvd you're tv would still be receiving some signal? They might know you had the CRT on, but how detailed I wonder was the military tech?

probably signals travelling along the neutral cable.

there was a thing where you can spy on keyboards like a keylogger just by tapping into the neutral wire the keyboard is connected too, the same messages that got sent to a pc go down that wire.

there was a way to do it with laptops as well but I can't remember how it was done but I don't think they even needed to be plugged in to the mains

Nasher · 10 Jan 2022 at 18:11

Shocky-FM said:
Parents are refusing to pay for theirs since the free licence ended for them, their choice and I don't blame them.

We need to pay as we watch a lot of live sports, and while they may be reluctant to go after the over 70's, I doubt they'll hesitate for anyone else.

A lot of old people are likely doing the same in protest. They can't visit them all, more people cancel than they can visit lol

Vulcan · 10 Jan 2022 at 21:31

steve5424 said:
Well you don't need to pay but the BBC make you think you must pay.

I'm not exactly sure what you're referring to, but if you watch or record live tv broadcasts you need to have a tv licence.

steve5424 · 10 Jan 2022 at 21:53

Longbow said:
I'm not exactly sure what you're referring to, but if you watch or record live tv broadcasts you need to have a tv licence.

That's what the BBC have you believe.

Surveyor · 10 Jan 2022 at 23:47

steve5424 said:
That's what the BBC have you believe.

The law requires you to have a TV Licence to watch or record live TV broadcasts but you're correct, you don't "need" one to actually do those things. Analogous to saying you don't "need" to tax your car to drive it on public roads.

steve5424 · 10 Jan 2022 at 23:52

It's an old and totally outdated tax. It needs scrapped and the BBC should have a monthly fee or advertising to pay for it now.

LuckyBenski · 10 Jan 2022 at 23:56

benjii said:
I love this thread, it's just a loop of the same arguments. Have there been any freeman arguments lately? Those are always great.

I feel like we're getting close

Surveyor · 11 Jan 2022 at 00:16

steve5424 said:
It's an old and totally outdated tax. It needs scrapped and the BBC should have a monthly fee or advertising to pay for it now.

Whatever you think should happen it's not how things stand now.

malachi · 11 Jan 2022 at 08:59

steve5424 said:
It's an old and totally outdated tax. It needs scrapped and the BBC should have a monthly fee or advertising to pay for it now.

It's an "Boomer" tax. The UK loves tax so they will not scrap it. Even as the younger generation move to watching TV online. They move the goalposts to include services such as iPlayer and demand pensioners to start paying the licence fee again.

Semple · 11 Jan 2022 at 09:17

malachi said:
It's an "Boomer" tax. The UK loves tax so they will not scrap it. Even as the younger generation move to watching TV online. They move the goalposts to include services such as iPlayer and demand pensioners to start paying the licence fee again.

That was hardly surprising as you can watch live BBC channels from iplayer.

There will eventually be a tipping point where the number of subscribers dips below the minimum amount needed to fund the BBC. Which means the only way they'd continue is:
a) requesting extra funding from the government - would seem unlikely to happen long term
b) increase the cost of a license - again unlikely, the government might allow minor increases, but at that point the general public are going to be more put off paying for it.
c) have to swap to a commercial model by way of adverts or start charging a subscription for iplayer etc

Vulcan · 11 Jan 2022 at 12:06

steve5424 said:
That's what the BBC have you believe.

It's the law. Presumably you don't have to pay taxes either right? It's all a smoke screen by HMRC maaaaann.

XeNoN89 · 11 Jan 2022 at 12:32

Haven't had a TV license for about 5 years now. No need. I just use streaming apps and gaming. I fill out their form to say I don't need it whenever they ask (every 2 years?) And I don't get any hassle in-between.