TV / television licensing MEGATHREAD

[happyhippy 11]

£5.50 a week is a rip off considering over the weekend it's a load of crock what's on.

 

It also pays for the websites, radio stations (local and national, not to mention worldwide), the money which goes to pay for (what's left of) terrestrial sport, the most influential and respected news broadcasts the world over, and God knows what else.

 

We're actually very fortunate. The few quid it costs per week to have the quality we have is a small price.

 

Then again, if you're that bothered, get your info from Fox News or internet blogs instead.

[miaowwoof 10]

It is alot when you pay for sky or virgin on top

of the license!

[llamatron 10]

no, if you have a tv thats capable of picking up a signel...even if you only watch dvds your supposed to have a license

 

being as we have had the tv licence people round and they agree with me, I know you are wrong. Read the website!

[llamatron 10]

You have to have a TV license if you have any equipment that allows you to watch or record TV programmes as they are being aired. It doesn't matter what the equipment is or whether you watch the BBC channels or not. So there is no 'buy it or don't buy it', you have to. It's not a business it's basically a compulsory television tax.

 

I have one even though I hardly watch live TV and have a media center PC not an actual television.

 

It costs £145.50 as well which isn't £5 a week

 

Edit - totally agree, LOVE Family Guy! Don't watch it on BBC3 though. Naughty me

 

untrue!!!!!

[llamatron 10]

It is ridiculously unfair.

 

Effectively were forced to pay money for receiving Electro-Magnetic Radiation, which we cannot choose not to receive, if we have equipment capable of receiving said Electro-magnetic Radiation. If we don't we face a fine or jail.

 

A referendum on the license would be welcome!

 

It's akin to shining light in a person eyes and charging them for receiving the light.

 

You might say, were born with sight (effectively inheriting it from our parents and ancestors), so its different. But what if you inherit a TV.

 

also untrue. Its very simple, you only need the licence if you watch live tv. Im not even sure whether you have to detune your tv, although its safer to do so!

[llamatron 10]

I have no problem with paying a TV license. After all, over the past year on BBC I have enjoyed QI, Have I Got News For You, Top Gear, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Mitchell & Webb, Marathon Man, Doctor Who, Being Human, and Ashes To Ashes (and a few other shows to a lesser extent)

 

If I was to estimate the cost of a season on DVD of any show, it would be around £30. So, I have at least gotten 9shows x £30 = £270 of entertainment for less than half the price...and that doesn't include the other half enjoying her soaps and Saturday night TV entertainment (you know, those "who will be the next Dorothy" kind of thing), or the fantastic entertainment and education that Cbeebies gives to my kids.

 

Personally I think the license fee is quite cheap for what the BBC offer from it.

 

not if you buy second hand dvds then its £2-5 per dvd.

[llamatron 10]

no wonder everyone moans that it is a tax. Read the rules.

[missflirtuk 10]

It also pays for the websites, radio stations (local and national, not to mention worldwide), the money which goes to pay for (what's left of) terrestrial sport, the most influential and respected news broadcasts the world over, and God knows what else.

 

We're actually very fortunate. The few quid it costs per week to have the quality we have is a small price.

 

Then again, if you're that bothered, get your info from Fox News or internet blogs instead.

Don't shoot me down for having an opinion please. It just goes through me that so many people are watching tv illegally with no licence and yet all us honest people are paying for those eejits to watch it without a licence.

[kenny gray 10]

the t.v. license is just another tax and should be abolished,when you hear of the saleries some of them are on its disgusting.they say they have to compete but why the money is guaranteed so they should provide a service .not provide a free service to multi millionaires to recruit new stars.the government should privatise them if they want to chase ratings

[ricgem2002 11]

when i first lived on my own i bought the black and white licence then when i thought about it never bought one since nearly 30 years of not owning one pity the people who did .thats the trouble with this country no backbone if we all refused this would soon be got rid of but like anything else people just do as authority tells them too and dosent question it

[Grandad.Malky 11]

Is everyone posting on this thread living in a parrallel universe ....

 

No they are just breaking the law.

[Tony 10]

No, you are required by the Wireless Telegraphy Act to pay a license fee if you have a set which is capable of receiving a television signal.

 

Not so though. As llamatron says you need a licence to watch a broadcast at the time it is being broadcast. That's the only rule there is. Your house can be jammed full of working equipment and you still don't need any sort of licence even if the 'detector van' shakes itself to pieces outside your window.

 

The misinformation and confusion is startling, but the BBC certainly don't hide the rule - people just don't read it properly and so continue to believe false facts.

Edited May 8, 2010 by Tony