TV Licence Super Thread

sityeuropa · 1 Aug 2026 at 21:56

arknor said:
I just want the news without an agenda or framing behind it. let viewers think for themselves.
seems a hard thing to find.

Agendafreetv on Youtube

chaparral · 23 Sep 2026 at 23:57

I been seeing that the BBC has been looking into adding £11 per month to everyones internet service bill for the licence fee

The BBC television licence fee could be abolished but replaced with a new £11 monthly charge that will automatically be added to household broadband bills.

The plan, dubbed the "Home Internet Levy," would mean every home with an internet connection contributes to funding the corporation, regardless of whether anyone in the household tunes into live television.

TV licence fee could be abolished in BBC reforms - but replaced with £11 a month 'internet levy' under Labour

The Labour Government are exploring major reforms to the TV licence fee which could impact the future of the BBC

www.gbnews.com

413x · 24 Sep 2026 at 00:34

chaparral said:
I been seeing that the BBC has been looking into adding £11 per month to everyones internet service bill for the licence fee

TV licence fee could be abolished in BBC reforms - but replaced with £11 a month 'internet levy' under Labour

The Labour Government are exploring major reforms to the TV licence fee which could impact the future of the BBC

www.gbnews.com

Knew this was coming.
I'm not sure why many in the thread thought it wouldn't.

No political party will allow the BBC to naturally die unfortunately.

I wonder if it's worth getting mobile Internet for the house.

It would save 25 pounds a Month if this came in.

GIBURROWS · 24 Sep 2026 at 00:59

I cant see how they can enforce this, surely we all switch to mobile internet to get round it?

Bigpig · 24 Sep 2026 at 04:51

GIBURROWS said:
I cant see how they can enforce this, surely we all switch to mobile internet to get round it?

And then the just tax that

Btone · 24 Sep 2026 at 07:12

need to be fought in the courts, take for example my business, we can't watch tv at all never mins BBC, yet we have a internet connection, why should we be paying for tv

Armageus · 24 Sep 2026 at 07:27

chaparral said:
I been seeing that the BBC has been looking into adding £11 per month to everyones internet service bill for the licence fee

They can bore off with that one, I have 4 internet connections on site at work (and fixed connections at other remote sites for CCTV etc), why should I pay 4 times for something, that I begrudge having in the first place.

Nasher · 24 Sep 2026 at 07:44

413x said:
Knew this was coming.
I'm not sure why many in the thread thought it wouldn't.

No political party will allow the BBC to naturally die unfortunately.

I wonder if it's worth getting mobile Internet for the house.

It would save 25 pounds a Month if this came in.

It's cheap even now. 5g from Three is £22 for me and download speeds up to around 900mbit off peak. Unlimited ofc.

I think if the BBC force this through we'll see people dodging it on various technicalities and then they'll be crying about that next. What qualifies as "home broadband"? Probably only physical connections to a house, with a contract. Mobile broadband has no fixed location and if it's PAYG there is no contract. Or what if I register my 5G broadband account at a business address and then take the router home?

Anything to avoid having to make money themselves. Or changing the programming to something people actually want.

Jelly4mybelly · 24 Sep 2026 at 07:45

Any other company would be expected to reduce their costs if their income drops.
Put BBC behind a paywall and reduce expenditure accordingly!
The general public should not have to subsidise them

Tavis75 · 24 Sep 2026 at 08:18

The BB charge seems like a reasonable idea, spreads the cost out fairly. Would probably also need to apply to mobile broadband as that's an obvious workaround.
Could maybe stick a couple of quid levy on the streaming services and reduce the cost on the broadband connection, then it's even more spread out, so most people would end up contributing a little and it would probably pan out to a reasonable amount overall.

Nasher · 24 Sep 2026 at 08:20

Tavis75 said:
The BB charge seems like a reasonable idea, spreads the cost out fairly. Would probably also need to apply to mobile broadband as that's an obvious workaround.
Could maybe stick a couple of quid levy on the streaming services and reduce the cost on the broadband connection, then it's even more spread out, so most people would end up contributing a little and it would probably pan out to a reasonable amount overall.

But £11 will only be where it starts, they'll want to hike it yearly. Why should people pay for something they don't need or want?

This is like adding an unwanted subscription to Spotify to my account. Aka, a scam.

Tavis75 · 24 Sep 2026 at 08:22

Nasher said:
But £11 will only be where it starts, they'll want to hike it yearly. Why should people pay for something they don't need or want?

That's how societies work, I pay a shed load of tax for things I don't need or want, or sometimes that I'm even actively opposed to.

Nasher · 24 Sep 2026 at 08:24

Tavis75 said:
That's how societies work, I pay a shed load of tax for things I don't need or want, or sometimes that I'm even actively opposed to.

Yea for important things like healthcare and police etc. not for an entertainment company. Maybe they should stick Netflix and Disney on there too...

200sols · 24 Sep 2026 at 08:26

Nasher said:
Yea for important things like healthcare and police etc. not for an entertainment company.

Much more than just the 'important stuff' including many entertainment type things. Culture/arts, childcare, Nashers benefits, just to name a few.

Nasher · 24 Sep 2026 at 08:27

200sols said:
Much more than just the 'important stuff' including many entertainment type things. Culture/arts, childcare, Nashers benefits, just to name a few.

Lol I'm probably paying your benefits many times over. But the BBC isn't worthy of my money or time.

Tavis75 · 24 Sep 2026 at 08:29

Nasher said:
Yea for important things like healthcare and police etc. not for an entertainment company. Maybe they should stick Netflix and Disney on there too...

A lot of the BB companies already do, I think VM force you to pay for Netflix, as do a few of the others. Sky forces you to pay for about 4 streaming services if you want their TV now I believe, not sure what the situation is with their BB.

Malevolence · 24 Sep 2026 at 08:30

Tavis75 said:
The BB charge seems like a reasonable idea, spreads the cost out fairly. Would probably also need to apply to mobile broadband as that's an obvious workaround.
Could maybe stick a couple of quid levy on the streaming services and reduce the cost on the broadband connection, then it's even more spread out, so most people would end up contributing a little and it would probably pan out to a reasonable amount overall.

Being forced to pay for something I don't need or se is far from reasonable. What's next, will I be forced to pay VED despite not driving?

throwaway4372 · 24 Sep 2026 at 08:32

Rage bait successful.

Nasher · 24 Sep 2026 at 08:32

Tavis75 said:
A lot of the BB companies already do, I think VM force you to pay for Netflix, as do a few of the others. Sky forces you to pay for about 4 streaming services if you want their TV now I believe, not sure what the situation is with their BB.

They sell you a package, but you choose to sign up to that or go with someone else. You don't sign up and then a completely unrelated organisation tacks their fee on later, that's not legal.

Retro6 · 24 Sep 2026 at 08:53

Btone said:
need to be fought in the courts, take for example my business, we can't watch tv at all never mins BBC, yet we have a internet connection, why should we be paying for tv

Because having an internet connection allows people to watch BBC services like the iPlayer.