TV Licence Super Thread

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ken
  • Start date Start date
They should have set up as a subscription service a decade ago. They did absolutely nothing to get with the times and now that it's the last minute, they want it on council tax for everyone so that they don't actually have to think about how to run a business.
 
Last edited:
Nasher said:
They should have set up as a subscription service a decade ago. They did absolutely nothing to get with the times and now that it's the last minute, they want it on council tax for everyone so that they don't actually have to think about how to run a business.
Click to expand...
They know it would fail otherwise they'd have done it.
 
Quite an amusing thread, people get so raging :D

If you don’t watch the BBC or use live TV, just don’t pay..

I’m probably in the minority here but think the BBC is actually a decent worldwide service, good, unbiased reporting with some good TV shows and a good selection of movies on the app.

People think they’re too left, then think they’re too right but chances are, they’re just not saying stuff that you want to hear.

Only thing I disagree with is the harassment at peoples doors but until they’ve figured out how to cut you off when you aren’t paying (like Netflix etc) then they’re stuck in a hard place.

I do wonder how many people watching things like The Traitors (when it was all the rage) are actually paying their share.
 
shifty_uk said:
Quite an amusing thread, people get so raging :D

If you don’t watch the BBC or use live TV, just don’t pay..

I’m probably in the minority here but think the BBC is actually a decent worldwide service, good, unbiased reporting with some good TV shows and a good selection of movies on the app.

People think they’re too left, then think they’re too right but chances are, they’re just not saying stuff that you want to hear.

Only thing I disagree with is the harassment at peoples doors but until they’ve figured out how to cut you off when you aren’t paying (like Netflix etc) then they’re stuck in a hard place.

I do wonder how many people watching things like The Traitors (when it was all the rage) are actually paying their share.
Click to expand...

I don't pay, haven't for 5 years. But now they want to force us to even when we don't need to.

If they put it on council tax the house could be empty but still paying a TV licence, what a scam.
 
Last edited:
shifty_uk said:
Quite an amusing thread, people get so raging :D

If you don’t watch the BBC or use live TV, just don’t pay..

I’m probably in the minority here but think the BBC is actually a decent worldwide service, good, unbiased reporting with some good TV shows and a good selection of movies on the app.

People think they’re too left, then think they’re too right but chances are, they’re just not saying stuff that you want to hear.

Only thing I disagree with is the harassment at peoples doors but until they’ve figured out how to cut you off when you aren’t paying (like Netflix etc) then they’re stuck in a hard place.

I do wonder how many people watching things like The Traitors (when it was all the rage) are actually paying their share.
Click to expand...

It mainly that if you don't pay there's a lot of chat about it being made compulsory.
For many that will be a 200 pound or more extra cost a year for absolutely nothing.

For us there's nothing the BBC offers. I don't even use the radio.
There are. Some things I wouldn't mind paying for even though I don't use them.

But trash TV, reality TV, sport? No this should not be "tax" that's ridiculous.
 
Last edited:
shifty_uk said:
If you don’t watch the BBC or use live TV, just don’t pay..
Click to expand...
I don't watch so I don't pay. But the BBC still send me threatening red letters telling me my property is under official investigation because I don't want to use them.

I certainly don't want to be forced to pay for them in my council tax when I have no interest in what they broadcast (or any live channel). Their content is rubbish.
 
413x said:
It mainly that if you don't pay there's a lot of chat about it being made compulsory.
For many that will be a 200 pound or more extra cost a year for absolutely nothing.
Click to expand...
That I really don’t agree with, they’ll need to adapt to the times just like everywhere else.

Still, it would be a shame to see the service gone completely. Lots of people like their programmes and sport.
Hades said:
I don't watch so I don't pay. But the BBC still send me threatening red letters telling me my property is under official investigation because I don't want to use them.

I certainly don't want to be forced to pay for them in my council tax when I have no interest in what they broadcast (or any live channel). Their content is rubbish.
Click to expand...
Ah, I didn’t pay for a period of 5-6 years, declared I didn’t have a need(which I genuinely didn’t at the time), only received one letter and chucked it in the bin, easy done.

If people genuinely have nothing to hide ie don't watch a cheeky Masterchef episode every week or have all the TV’s in the house arial’d up, then I wouldn’t worry in the slightest.
 
shifty_uk said:
If you don’t watch the BBC or use live TV, just don’t pay..
Click to expand...

the trouble is that the BBC keeps expanding what live TV is, and making the lines even more fuzzy between what is and what isn't live, take Youtube for some channels on it you would need a licence and some don't and they making it harder and harder to tell what what
 
Hades said:
You will be forced to pay it. The councils already know what council tax band your house is in. You won't be asked to declare it. They want it on the council tax because:

1. The council collects it automatically. You have no option to opt out.
2. The councils already know what band your house is in, meaning they can target arguably more well off people with a much higher price.
3. Not paying it is a criminal offence that is far easier to prove than needing a TV licence.
Click to expand...

In theory it should mean the per license cost goes down because there will be many more people forced to pay for it. But I don't see the BBC riding the wave that way, they'll be expecting every household to pay the current price, which would bring in millions more through forced payments.
 
shifty_uk said:
If people genuinely have nothing to hide ie don't watch a cheeky Masterchef episode every week or have all the TV’s in the house arial’d up, then I wouldn’t worry in the slightest.
Click to expand...
yeah, I'm not worried about the letters. I'm genuinely not watching live TV. But I still don't agree that the BBC has a right to send me threatening letters. They can **** off. I'm looking forward to one day an "enforcement officer" turns up so I can slam the door in their face.
 
Btone said:
the trouble is that the BBC keeps expanding what live TV is, and making the lines even more fuzzy between what is and what isn't live, take Youtube for some channels on it you would need a licence and some don't and they making it harder and harder to tell what what
Click to expand...
Exactly this really. Why do or should the BBC get money for a live broadcast on another provider.

It seems fantastical to me that you could be in breach for watching a pre-recorded video, but livestreamed, of the latest PS State of Play for instance. Give over.
 
shifty_uk said:
That I really don’t agree with, they’ll need to adapt to the times just like everywhere else.

Still, it would be a shame to see the service gone completely. Lots of people like their programmes and sport.

Ah, I didn’t pay for a period of 5-6 years, declared I didn’t have a need(which I genuinely didn’t at the time), only received one letter and chucked it in the bin, easy done.

If people genuinely have nothing to hide ie don't watch a cheeky Masterchef episode every week or have all the TV’s in the house arial’d up, then I wouldn’t worry in the slightest.
Click to expand...

If you really do want to watch something, you can often just find it on youtube etc. Most of the stuff the BBC broadcast isn't their own work and is uploaded elsewhere, where you don't need a licence.

It's not like the old days where they made all their own content. When they actually made comedy and good shows.
 
Last edited:
Live TV on YouTube etc is absolutely ridiculous. And that it was allowed is desperate and shows how bad it is for the BBC.

Everyone knows subscription would kill the BBC immediately. The funding drop would be unmanageable. It would be horrendous for those working there.


Just keep it as is. If people value it they'll pay. Clearly they don't. So they don't pay. It's natural that things die Over time. We don't use horse and carts to get around now. The BBC had a place, and people valued it.
It hasn't adapted with the time and is now not valued.


Deciminalise the BBC but keep it as is. The revenue drop will be gradual. It will be able to make slow progressive layoffs and probably predict revenue etc.

Putting it in council tax? I'd rather pay an extra 200 or 300 for health not damn TV.
 
Isn’t their behaviour akin to the music industry where they too were scared of change?

I can understand why the BBC don’t want to change, who is going to say no to free money but given that more and more people’s habits are changing they do really need to wake up and move with the times.

When people mention the license fee of £174.50 per year it doesn’t sound that bad but that works out as £14.54 a month!
 
shifty_uk said:
Quite an amusing thread, people get so raging :D

If you don’t watch the BBC or use live TV, just don’t pay..

I’m probably in the minority here but think the BBC is actually a decent worldwide service, good, unbiased reporting with some good TV shows and a good selection of movies on the app.
Click to expand...
Well what a surprise, person who has his viewing habits subsidised by other people wants this practice to continue.
 
LuckyBenski said:
I was thinking the same... I think this thread has just become the I hate the BBC thread. Repeated links to GB News says a lot.
Click to expand...
I'm not so sure. I do not hate the BBC; it is just a service I do not use. There are legitimate grievances with its licensing policy, when it comes to limiting or restricting a consumer's ability to watch non-BBC live services, especially in the internet age where there is no reliance on legacy radio wave broadcasting and the associated costs of maintaining that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom