TV Licence Super Thread

drunkenmaster · 16 Jan 2017 at 16:32

I think you guys missed really what the OP's actually saying. Lots of "but if you don't use it just tell them" responses.

I believe the OPs post is to point out that you can just use BBC and watch live tv... and not pay. The only proof they can get is self incrimination. They can't legally enter your house, they can't use a magic van to tell that a specific house is watching live TV. The entire service is based around the home owner informing on themselves.

So if you don't pay and watch the services the only way you can get found guilty in court is if you let them in to see you watching live TV or tell them you watch live TV.

Personally my experience was I had a tv licence the first year at my last flat, I never used it. So I cancelled it online and never got hassled about it for the two years after that. I just moved into a bungalow and decided to pay as my parents helped pay for it and come down to visit more often(it's very near the beach) and they'll watch a lot more live TV than I do.

I did however refuse to pay exactly when I moved in because they don't offer you 12 month tv licence. They offer you the remainder of the month you buy a licence in and 11 more. Meaning if you purchase on say the 25th of November as I'd have had to, you get 11 months and 5 days for the price of 12. It's a small amount, but it's so utterly ridiculous they can't give you a full 12 months while charging you for the full twelve months it's the principal of the thing. I waited a week and paid for 12 months.

Something other people also need to recognise, as with delivery guys, Tv licence people are variable across the country. Meaning in one location a guy shows up, you tell him you don't watch and he goes away never to bother you again. In another area he turns up doesn't believe you don't watch live tv and shows up on your door twice a month lying about being allowed to come in and check and generally being a *****. Don't assume because you had no trouble(as I didn't recently) that it's the same for everyone.

tom_e · 16 Jan 2017 at 16:32

Jeps said:
Add in BBC news and shows like strictly, .

I'm sorry but you just nullified any good point you were making right there

Psycho Sonny · 16 Jan 2017 at 16:32

VincentHanna said:
I forgot it also partly funds Channel 4.

You just know there would be people who refuse to pay the 'TV License' cost if it was added to council tax, and then the councils are burdened with additional work they can't afford, trying to get people to pay.

How would they do that? Your direct debit or whatever you use to pay would increase by £5 per month. You would have no choice but to pay it if you owned a home.

Glaucus · 16 Jan 2017 at 16:33

Bantu said:
I believe they mean services like Amazon Prime and Netflix. Tbh those cost the same as a TV License and it's not like the quality of Netflix/Amazon shows on average is any better than the combined BBC TV/Radio/Independent channel shows.

I am a big supporter of the TV license.. at £13 a month i support fantastic documentaries on BBC4, great drama on BBC1, comedies on C4 and radio 4 and 6 music. There's a lot of fluff around too, but i find enough value in what is offered. Having said that the amount of live TV i watch is minimal, i get most of the shows on catch-up/streaming.

lol, how do they cost the same

one is £71.88 a year the other £79(also has free delivery, free music etc) both have far more and better series and a massive back catalogue of series and movies, compared to the £145.50 of the tv license.

Jeps · 16 Jan 2017 at 16:34

tom_e said:
I'm sorry but you just nullified any good point you were making right there

Haha i don't watch it I swear but you can't deny that it is popular and has very high production quality!

Bantu · 16 Jan 2017 at 16:35

Tefal said:
the quality is radically better.

the netflix original series alone destroy the bbc.

then theres all the films etc.

I think that's swings and roundabouts to be honest.. the only shows i watched on netflix in 2016 were:

House of Cards
Better call saul
The Bridge (which i watched series 1 on Netflix and series 2 on iPlayer)

I know there are many other critically acclaimed shows on Netflix (orange is the new black, stranger things and that one about the murderer to name but a few) but i haven't been able to get into them.

Ultimately it depends on what content you prefer.
I totally agree that enforcement of the TV license needs an overhaul as it is draconian, but i do prefer having it as it's own tax rather than appearing in council tax or general taxation. It feels fairer.

PiKe · 16 Jan 2017 at 16:35

When I moved into my house, 3 years ago, I declared I didn't watch live TV, they have never bothered me since.

VincentHanna · 16 Jan 2017 at 16:35

There's always going to be some smart arses that ring up saying "I'm going to deduct £60 off the bill you've sent me"

Pottsey · 16 Jan 2017 at 16:41

Jeps said:
I'd argue that the BBC puts out higher quality content then most others. Shows like Sherlock, Luther, The Night Manager etc. All feature A list Celebs at the top of their game and are some of the highest quality TV around. Then you have documentaries like planet earth which nobody else makes anything even close to the same. Add in BBC news and shows like strictly, graham norton and all the rest and its not that bad value wise. There is a lot of consistent high quality content there.

The decent BBC shows like Sherlock and Night Manager can be watched via Amazon/Netflix and Netflix/Amazon have far better broadcast quality ahead of what BBC do.. We get up to 4k, HDR, 60fps compared to the terrible broadcast quality BBC use. I would also argue Sherlock and Night Manager although good are pretty poor compared to the Amazon and Netflix produced shows.

I find its cheaper to buy the few decent things BBC make like Planet Earth then just stick to Amazon\Netflix for the rest.

Nasher · 16 Jan 2017 at 16:41

I'll be ending mine after this year. I just don't watch much live TV any more and iplayer is mostly rubbish :/

Anything worth watching is available from other (non-live) sources. So why am I paying £148 to watch maybe 2-3 shows which I can find elsewhere for half that?

The only reason the BBC is still able to survive with their business model is because they bully everyone in to paying up, like some kind of mafia extortion racket. It's a corporation, so it should have to fund itself like every other corporation.

Bantu · 16 Jan 2017 at 16:41

Glaucus said:
lol, how do they cost the same

one is £71.88 a year the other £79(also has free delivery, free music etc) both have far more and better series and a massive back catalogue of series and movies, compared to the £145.50 of the tv license.

sorry you're right. for some reason i thought netflix had got more expensive. My mistake. They are indeed half the price of the bbc. I use both of them AND bbc so have massive overlap in my movies. I can only speak of my experience and that is overall i prefer BBC and C4 content to Amazon/Netflix content.

Psycho Sonny · 16 Jan 2017 at 16:42

VincentHanna said:
There's always going to be some smart arses that ring up saying "I'm going to deduct £60 off the bill you've sent me"

Then they would be told see you in court and then if they don't pay at that point their home is seized, sold at auction for pennies, they recoup the costs and the owner gets the rest.

I'd like to see how many after that don't pay their full council tax bill. Too soft in this country.

The way it's currently done is a farce. Honest people pay the license cost so ****** can enjoy watching tv all day long.

Tefal · 16 Jan 2017 at 16:42

Bantu said:
I think that's swings and roundabouts to be honest.. the only shows i watched on netflix in 2016 were:

House of Cards
Better call saul
The Bridge (which i watched series 1 on Netflix and series 2 on iPlayer)

I know there are many other critically acclaimed shows on Netflix (orange is the new black, stranger things and that one about the murderer to name but a few) but i haven't been able to get into them.

Ultimately it depends on what content you prefer.
I totally agree that enforcement of the TV license needs an overhaul as it is draconian, but i do prefer having it as it's own tax rather than appearing in council tax or general taxation. It feels fairer.

im al for it just comming out of general taxation tbh

Glaucus · 16 Jan 2017 at 16:43

Tefal said:
im al for it just comming out of general taxation tbh

if we are going to keep it, then it absolutely should be.

Pottsey · 16 Jan 2017 at 16:44

Jeps said:
I'd argue that the BBC puts out higher quality content then most others. Shows like Sherlock, Luther, The Night Manager etc. All feature A list Celebs at the top of their game and are some of the highest quality TV around. Then you have documentaries like planet earth which nobody else makes anything even close to the same. Add in BBC news and shows like strictly, graham norton and all the rest and its not that bad value wise. There is a lot of consistent high quality content there.

Tefal said:
im al for it just comming out of general taxation tbh

That's completey wrong and unfair in my mind. It should never come out of general taxation. There is no good reason for that.

Psycho Sonny · 16 Jan 2017 at 16:46

Bantu said:
sorry you're right. for some reason i thought netflix had got more expensive. My mistake. They are indeed half the price of the bbc. I use both of them AND bbc so have massive overlap in my movies. I can only speak of my experience and that is overall i prefer BBC and C4 content to Amazon/Netflix content.

What about ITV content? or Sky Atlantic or Sky Sports? You need a license for them too you know not just BBC and Channel 4.

The way it is set up is a farce. The money goes towards those 2 yet you need it even if you don't watch those 2 companies channels.

I pay it but I don't agree with the way it is all done. It should either be for those 2 channels and that's it or for all channels then just banded into council tax.

It would be rare for any household not to watch any live tv so it should just be banded into council tax.

Pawnless Endgame · 16 Jan 2017 at 16:48

agnes said:
Don't have a TV service. Don't want to. Nothing but tripe.

This.

TV died in the late 1990s.

Youtube all the way for me. Before that, there was Newgrounds, Something Awful, break.com etc :-)

Psycho Sonny · 16 Jan 2017 at 16:50

Pottsey said:
That's completey wrong and unfair in my mind. It should never come out of general taxation. There is no good reason for that.

why not?

it would mean mostly everyone pays their fair share. only the ****** in their caravans wouldn't.

the current system is unfair where honest people pay it all and dodgers watch it all day long then spouting rubbish about rights like the OP.

it's the same as Vehicles Emissions Duty, every car has to pay it (albeit some are £0). every home should be made to pay tv license.

tom_e · 16 Jan 2017 at 16:51

Psycho Sonny said:
it's the same as Vehicles Emissions Duty, every car has to pay it (albeit some are £0). every home should be made to pay tv license.

It's nothing like that or by your model every vehicle would be paying the same rate regardless.

Bantu · 16 Jan 2017 at 16:52

Psycho Sonny said:
What about ITV content? or Sky Atlantic or Sky Sports? You need a license for them too you know not just BBC and Channel 4.

The way it is set up is a farce. The money goes towards those 2 yet you need it even if you don't watch those 2 companies channels.

I pay it but I don't agree with the way it is all done. It should either be for those 2 channels and that's it or for all channels then just banded into council tax.

It would be rare for any household not to watch any live tv so it should just be banded into council tax.

Again it's a personal thing. I don't like anything on ITV and don't have Sky. I do get your point though. I wonder if with the new generation of tv receivers it's possible to track exactly what a household watches and invoice them appropriately (seems horribly intrusive...)

I don't like the idea of it in council tax, but that's because i don't like council tax anyway! better separate land and services taxes, of which TV license could be one.