TV / television licensing MEGATHREAD

[AJ sheffield 11]

Yeah, but i ain't dumb enough not to not pay for a TV licence .

 

Or smart enough to get away with it.

[mega_monty 10]

I tend to pick my fights these days. A few years ago you'd have caught arguing the toss on the doorstep about warrants etc I have a TV, I avoided paying it and got caught, fair cop really. In the scheme of things its not the biggest battle I have so I'll continue to be lax about renewing it and get caught again.

 

To be honest you dont even have to argue the toss with them, they have no legal right of entry into your home and not a lot of people realise this and your under no legal obligation to let them in. You can just shut the door in their face and there's nothing they can do about it.

 

The only time they can gain entry to your home, is if they have proven evidence of you watching tv unlicensed and have then obtained a warrant from a magistrates court. This is not a common occurence as this costs TVL to obtain the warrant, so their main tactics are sending out regular nasty letters "Pay up now or we'll send in the heavy mob" and being a nuisance by banging on peoples doors and shocking people into an on the spot confession.

 

The best advice by far is just say nothing to them and just shut the door.

[Tipex 10]

So...after 'avoiding' paying it for some time I finally got busted about 10 minutes ago. It's a fair cop I suppose, but I only watch Doctor Who on BBC and it seems an awful lot to pay for one show that's only on 12 weeks per year

 

Shouldn't they just stop asking for a license and get funding from advertising. I do hate adverts but to be honest I record most stuff and fast forward.

 

Is it worth £120 a year to have no adverts?

 

Who are you to avoid paying your tv licence? are your children going to steal a postman pat dvd because its not worth £7.99?

[carbooter10 11]

Is it correct that the TV LICENCE is for BBC tv and Radio Only ?

[colaroid 10]

Its not for the radio-only the tv. You have to have one if you recieve tv signals not if you own a telly for watching dvds or computer games. If you are asking about itv etc then yes you have to pay it

[colaroid 10]

just read the title-it all goes to the bbc yes-doh!

[piscosour 10]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/licencefee/

[dongle 10]

what a con it is too, you think if it was abolished that the likes of jonathon ross would be paid so much?

[carboy42 10]

they should not earn so much on the BBC, the prime minister earns less than him and he runs the whole country but unlike large companys he cant get millions in bonus's because its public money, just like tv license fee should be thought of too

 

the bbc do offer a lot of good educational programs and for that reason i agree with the user fee.

[dosxuk 10]

what a con it is too, you think if it was abolished that the likes of jonathon ross would be paid so much?

 

Yes.

 

If the BBC hadn't payed him (or Wogan, Chris Moyles, Graham Norton, or any of their other high payed stars) as much as they did, they wouldn't be able to guarantee that they only work for them. While you may not watch / listen to them, all of these people have a large audience who will follow them wherever they go, making it in the best interests of the BBC to have them working for them.

 

All of these people negotiate their fees (they aren't salaried staff remember), and pay large sums of money to the agents who get them the good deals. These agents are quite happy to go to BBC "ITV offered us this, what will you offer?" simply to push the "market value" of these people up. But now that nobody else in broadcast has enough money to be able to offer similar deals, watch the wages come tumbling on next contract renewal day. (Also look to ITV who can't afford these deals anymore, and are looking at letting people like Ant & Dec go).

 

At the end of the day, if you don't agree with the salaries, it's not actually the BBC's fault. It's the age of the celebrity, and for a few years, they had the power to charge what they wanted. The BBC is charter bound to produce programming which appeals to a large audience (while providing niche viewing for those who don't get services elsewhere). This means they have to jump on the bandwagon with all the other broadcasters. It's not any different to the extortionate amounts of money the FA can get broadcasters to pay for the right to show 22 men kicking bags of air around.

[foxy lady 10]

The TV licence is a tax, pure and simple. It is revenue collected by the government exactly the same as any other tax. Central government agree an amount of funding that they will provide to the BBC in return for them providing a broadcasting service.

 

The amount collected from the licence fee has no bearing on the amount of money given to the BBC. It is the same as the road fund licence having no bearing on the amount spent on our roads.

[colaroid 10]

I got rid of mine as soon as I saw I could get lovefilm for the same price!