Thorin Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 They have to pay a tv license to the amount of £12 squids per month? Every argument i have read against tv licensing in the UK says other country's pay pennies. A brief search would seem to suggest we're not the highest, but many countries are indeed much less. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licence Iceland €346.59 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havard Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 Scandalous is a bit strong. The BBC is a public service that is the envy of the world. Take a look at public service broadcasting from ANY other country if you think I'm wrong! The problem is that you do not have a choice but to pay the BBC even if you choose not to watch their stuff. I always thought that we lived in a democratic society where you could have a choice and pay for a service that you actually need..!! H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorin Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 The problem is that you do not have a choice but to pay the BBC even if you choose not to watch their stuff. I always thought that we lived in a democratic society where you could have a choice and pay for a service that you actually need..!! H. The license fee is no longer just for the BBC though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havard Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 The license fee is no longer just for the BBC though. True. I would like to see exactly where all this money is going...!! If it weren't for the kids I would get rid of our aeriel and just stick to DVD's and t'internet..!! H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiceRocket Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 Personally I think it's excellent value for what £2.70 (a pint) a week so that I can watch F1, Top Gear, live footy, MOTD, US shows like Heroes/Damages and the news advert-free . Maybe they should give in to product placement.... ...here's hoping it's on BBC HD next year. That'll be down to Bernie. The problem is that you do not have a choice but to pay the BBC even if you choose not to watch their stuff. This is the problem isn't it, it's not a tv license but a BBC license Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorin Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 This is the problem isn't it, it's not a tv license but a BBC license No it's a TV License. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 No it's a TV License. Do you have a TV? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorin Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 Do you have a TV? I do! I've recently bought a new one. It's a 50" plasma, I was going to mention it before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronttuk Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 A friend of mine is quite high up in a cable company one of thier customers got caught without a tv licience and he quoted the rules " a tv licience is to be paid to recieve radio transmitted airwaves to watch tv" as he paid the cable company for his tv and did not recieve radio transmitted air waves he did not require a tv licience, this was supposedly agreed in court he got off with the offence, the cable company was going to make a huge advertising campagne that u dont need a tv licience if you purchase your tv from them. the goverment kindly told the cable company that they didnt agree with the campagne and the cable company will not advertise it, so it was never advertised. i bet the rules have been quietly changed now as this was a cpl yrs back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martini Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 Does one just have to remove the aerial wire going into the wall - or do we have to remove the outside aerial. I ask because I live in a block of flats and have a big TV for my PS3 but it does not have an aerial connection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 Does one just have to remove the aerial wire going into the wall - or do we have to remove the outside aerial. I ask because I live in a block of flats and have a big TV for my PS3 but it does not have an aerial connection. Nah - just remove the connection to the TV. My flat has an external aerial, but the cable is shot, so while you can get a vague reception, it's barely watchable. I had the TV Licensing people come round one evening and they just had a quick look at the back of the telly, saw there wasn't an aerial connected, ticked a box on their form and buggered off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martini Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 Nah - just remove the connection to the TV. My flat has an external aerial, but the cable is shot, so while you can get a vague reception, it's barely watchable. I had the TV Licensing people come round one evening and they just had a quick look at the back of the telly, saw there wasn't an aerial connected, ticked a box on their form and buggered off. Awesome. There's some money saved. Did they randomly come around or do they contact you prior to arrange viewing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 They just randomly turn up. I'd been getting letters for ages and just kept ignoring them as you've to write to tell them you don't need a license and basically, I couldn't be arsed wasting a stamp, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkirby Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 stupid thing about the licence is the ability to recieve?? so if you have a clock radio then you "could" pick up radio 1 so you have to pay, same with a tv. i remember many years ago when i used to deliver tv's and a old woman who refused point blank to pay for it used to rent the TV and asked the installer to not tune in bbc channels and asked them to sign a piece of paper to say they had done this, she still got taken to court but she won Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevie_b Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 stupid thing about the licence is the ability to recieve?? so if you have a clock radio then you "could" pick up radio 1 so you have to pay, same with a tv. I don't think that's correct. It's the ability to receive TV signals that determines your need for a license, and TV signals are broadcast over a specific frequency range that couldn't be picked up by a clock radio. Edit: ah, I think you used the radio example as an analogy, in which case yes you're right, it's the ability to receive TV signals rather than whether you actually receive them. With the current infrastructure it would be difficult to do it any other way though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogmaw Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 Charging anything at all to watch what is often political propaganda served up in a dumbed down and condescending manner is wrong, IMO I'd like nothing better than to see the corporation killed off, together with its scandalous waste of tax payers money. You'd rather pay MORE to see Murdoch's political propoganda? Whatever way you look at it, all journalism is propoganda on behalf of whoever is paying the journalist writing the story. Political reporting aside, the BBC is world renowned for the quality of its reporting. Besides news reporting 90% of its output is not political at all, or do Top Gear/MOTD/Blue Peter count as political propoganda and a "scandalous waste of tax payers money"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevie_b Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 You'd rather pay MORE to see Murdoch's political propoganda? Whatever way you look at it, all journalism is propoganda on behalf of whoever is paying the journalist writing the story. Well said. The beeb does excel at making certain types of programming: Dragon's Den and The Apprentice are a couple that spring to mind for me. With no phone lines with which to tell Simon Cowell who you'd like to vote off this week, they're not as profitable to make as the "talent" (I use the term loosely) shows. Did anyone see a programme on ITV a year or so ago that was a bit like Dragon's Den, except the "ideas" that people came on with were not business ones but charitable ones (IIRC)? It had Duncan Bannatyne as one of the panellists. It was awful and excruciating to watch. I don't think it made it past a pilot. It was televised begging, designed no doubt to push the emotional buttons of a brain-dead audience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkirby Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 I don't think that's correct. It's the ability to receive TV signals that determines your need for a license, and TV signals are broadcast over a specific frequency range that couldn't be picked up by a clock radio. Edit: ah, I think you used the radio example as an analogy, in which case yes you're right, it's the ability to receive TV signals rather than whether you actually receive them. With the current infrastructure it would be difficult to do it any other way though. yeh thats what i meant Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snake Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Its worth the £12 to avoid 5 mins of adverts for every 12 mins of programme on virgin TV. what annoys me the most , are that the "adverts", are a lot louder than the programme you were watching on the cable channels. I thought this was not allowed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Well worth the fee this year. For all five series of The Wire with no ads... brilliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Its worth the £12 to avoid 5 mins of adverts for every 12 mins of programme on virgin TV. what annoys me the most , are that the "adverts", are a lot louder than the programme you were watching on the cable channels. I thought this was not allowed. Its not but they do it in a clever fashion. Most Uk broadcasts are now in stereo. When you swap over to mono the sound gets louder (try it). Most adverts are now broadcast in mono so that the volume is louder without breaking any laws. 11 mins for every 4 (and a bit) btw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian C Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 I haven't had a TV licence for two and a half years. I did my research, as I didn't like the idea of paying those tossers for the privilege of watching my DVDs on my TV in my house. So, info gleaned from the BBC itself, mainly through FOI act releases: You need a TV licence to watch broadcast television as it's broadcast. This covers all channels, Sky, cable, the lot. It does not cover DVDs, recorded shows, iplayer et al as the show has already been broadcast and you are watching an archived copy of it. The "Enforcement Officers" the threatening letters waffle on about are just normal joe punters like you and me. They have the same legal powers as you and I, and their rights extend to "knocking on your front door" like any other member of the public. You don't have to talk to them, you most certainly don't have to let them into your house. If you ask them to leave your property, they have to do so. The enforcement officers cannot easily get a search warrant. They need to present a court with legitimatly collected evidence of broadcast TV viewing by yourself. Looking through the window and seeing a TV does not count. Seeing an aerial on the house does not count. The only person who can get you convicted of watching a TV without a licence is yourself. Their entire business setup relies on you dropping yourself in it by a) talking to them in the first place, b) letting them in your house, and c) admitting to the offence. Some other stuff I've worked out: They don't have detectors. There are strict EU rules about emissions from electrical equipment, so signal overspill from a TV is nonexistent these days, especially as it's all now TFT and Plasma technology, not some huge vacuum tube/electron gun arrangement. Plus that would be expensive and inefficient. No, their 'detection' tool is a database of addresses across the UK and a field saying "has a TV licence? Yes or No". If it's a No, they file you under "criminal lawbreaker" as apparently it's unthinkable that someone doesn't want to watch the shite they pump out. The bullying threatening letters they send are stuffed with hilarious lies and misinformation. They used to send ones saying how they "prosecuted 14,367 offenders in the last month", the number was always different and ridiculously accurate, down to the nearest one. I worked out they reckoned they prosecuted about 200,000 people a year (that's fully prosecuted and fined according to them, not just suspected or investigated!) Ludicrous. They also mention nowhere on the letters about the circumstances where you don't need a licence, but they do put big red bold letters accusing you of being a criminal, the fuckers. I hate them and their tactics. I eventually had a TV licencing berk show up. Bear in mind I've got a satellite dish, cable box, and aerial on the house, and a big telly in the front room (cable is internet only, the rest are disconnected and the TV is detuned, but that's almost irrelevant). "Ah", say I, "You're the ones who send the threatening letters." Blokey says "have you got a licence?" "No, I don't need one". "Mind if I come in and verify that?" he asks (basically calling me a liar, like the letters do) "Yes, I do. Go away." "You'll still get the letters!" ohnoes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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