7 ms·

Isnt uk a country where citizens need a 'license' to own a tv ?

by Karishma1234fff 7y ago

heavenlyblue 7y ago
The “tv license” is actually an incredibly narrow concept in the UK
- ta999999171 7y ago
  Elaborate.
  - PaulRobinson 7y ago
    Not who you're replying to, but I've answered this in detail higher up in this thread.
cnorthwood 7y ago
Not quite. The license is to receive broadcast signals (or watch iPlayer)
PaulRobinson 7y ago
No, you can own a TV without a license. You must have a license to watch broadcast TV or use the BBC iPlayer (the online BBC-only streaming service). If you only use your TV(s) with a games console, to watch recorded content or streaming content over the Internet, you don't need to pay it. You are not required to provide access to an inspector from TV Licensing to confirm that your TV isn't hooked up to an aerial or satellite box, but it makes life easier if you do. The license fee costs £154.50 a year, or £52 if you only have a black and white TV (lord knows how given we're now 100% digital), but the government pays it for you if you're over 75 years of age. This produces an income of ~£3.5 billion a year, and broadly breaks down into 55% spent on TV broadcasting, 17% radio broadcasting, 10% for the BBC World Service and the rest of it goes on the website, various apps, collecting the fee itself and the transmitter network across the country used by all terrestrial broadcasters, not just the BBC. It also pays slabs of cash into the EBU who produce the Eurovision Song Contest, amongst other things... This results in nine national TV channels, 10 UK-wide radio stations, six national (i.e. England, Wales, Scotland, NI only), and 40 local radio stations. The BBC website, iPlayer, apps in the App Stores, etc. are all paid for through this as well. If you're outside the UK you will see adverts as it can't subsidise access for non-UK citizens, but inside the UK all this content is 100% free of all advertising other than to cross-promote BBC content. In recent months the Government have suggested that it's an unfair burden. There are two sides to this truth: 1. Most magistrate courts seem to spend a significant amount of their time dealing with non-payers, and there are people in prison for non-payment. IIRC, it's the most common crime committed by incarcerated women in the UK. For context, it's worth noting that the incarceration rate in the UK is about 1/5th of the USA's so the actual number is still quite low, but still... 2. Most people think scrapping it is a political move, because there are weird power dynamics between Downing Street, the execs in charge of BBC News and the rest of the BBC who seem to have problems with the News division and their friendliness with Downing Street and the PM in particular. As a result, I think most people would prefer that the license was cheaper, the penalty for non-payment could not include prison and that we keep it.
- lol768 7y ago
  > the government pays it for you if you're over 75 years of age. Also worth noting: from June 2020, this will only be the case if the individual is receiving pension credit.
  - iso1631 7y ago
    Not quite It used to be everyone paid a TV license if they watched TV. Then about 20 years ago the government offered a bribe to over 75s and said "we'll pay your tv license". This is basically was basically giving an extra £200 (in 2019 money) a year to every household with an over 75. This cost something like £750m a year - something like 20% of the BBC budget (a budget that has dropped 25% in the last 10 years) Then the government said "we don't need to bribe old people any more because brexit", and removed that subsidy. However they then said "The BBC will pay it", and old people lapped it up and blamed the BBC The BBC then said "ok, we will pay for over 75s who have low income, but we won't pay for a license for millionaires who are living off final salary pensions". This was apparently still outrageous. In parallel to this, the "left" of the country are rather annoyed by the BBC for their perceived bias towards the government and brexit, and thus they are saying "it's time to turn off the BBC" There is, and always has been, a fundamental unfairness in the license fee. Someone living on their own on minimum wage pays the same as a family of 5 on £500k a year. Worth noting that today it's easier than ever not to have a license fee, simply use the internet, subscribe to now TV for whatever junk is on sky. There are very few people consume no BBC services and only watch ITV.
    - PaulRobinson 7y ago
      > In parallel to this, the "left" of the country are rather annoyed by the BBC for their perceived bias towards the government and brexit, and thus they are saying "it's time to turn off the BBC" It's the right that are currently advocating for the removal of the license fee and therefore de facto, the end of the BBC
      - iso1631 7y ago
LandR 7y ago
I have a TV without a TV licence, but here is how not joined up the TV licence IT department is. I sent away to get a refund for my TV licence as I only had it part of the year, I filled in the form as to why I no longer require a TV licence. The TV Licence people agreed and sent me my refund. Next week I start getting the threatning letters that I have no TV licence... I've been getting these threatning letters ever since at the start of every month. Idiots.
- tomatocracy 7y ago
  It's not because they're not joined up. It's a deliberate policy to write to every household in the entire country which doesn't have a licence (for whatever reason - this includes empty houses, for example) like this. There's no point in responding to them because they won't stop writing to you. It must waste a huge amount of money.
dkdbejwi383 7y ago
It's not a licence in the same sense as a driving licence, it's the name for the voluntary tax we pay to fund the BBC.
- jinglebells 7y ago
  How is it not the same? They are both permits to allow you to do something. Lose your license, can't drive. No TV license, no TV for you.
  - dkdbejwi383 7y ago
    In the same way, is paying for a Netflix account a licence then? No Netflix subscription, no Netflix for you? Or how about your rent, is that a licence, too? Because if you stop paying your rent, you can't live there any more.
    - jinglebells 7y ago
      No because Netflix account isn't written into law. It's a criminal act to watch TV without the license. The definition of license is a permit to do something. It's a permit to watch TV, given to you by the government.
      - dkdbejwi383 7y ago
        You can watch TV without a TV licence, just not the BBC. Just like how you can watch TV without a Netflix subscription, just not Netflix. It's equivalent to buying a ticket for a film as another example. It's not permitted to watch a film at the cinema without a ticket. It's a permit to watch the film.
        iso1631 7y ago
        You can't watch a ITV without a license, unless you watch it on whatever ITV's iplayer equivelent it. Same with Sky, you can subscribe to nowtv, but you can't watch sky in a legacy OTA way.

Isnt uk a country where citizens need a 'license' to own a tv ?

heavenlyblue 7y ago

The “tv license” is actually an incredibly narrow concept in the UK

ta999999171 7y ago
Elaborate.
- PaulRobinson 7y ago
  Not who you're replying to, but I've answered this in detail higher up in this thread.

cnorthwood 7y ago

Not quite. The license is to receive broadcast signals (or watch iPlayer)

PaulRobinson 7y ago

No, you can own a TV without a license. You must have a license to watch broadcast TV or use the BBC iPlayer (the online BBC-only streaming service). If you only use your TV(s) with a games console, to watch recorded content or streaming content over the Internet, you don't need to pay it. You are not required to provide access to an inspector from TV Licensing to confirm that your TV isn't hooked up to an aerial or satellite box, but it makes life easier if you do. The license fee costs £154.50 a year, or £52 if you only have a black and white TV (lord knows how given we're now 100% digital), but the government pays it for you if you're over 75 years of age. This produces an income of ~£3.5 billion a year, and broadly breaks down into 55% spent on TV broadcasting, 17% radio broadcasting, 10% for the BBC World Service and the rest of it goes on the website, various apps, collecting the fee itself and the transmitter network across the country used by all terrestrial broadcasters, not just the BBC. It also pays slabs of cash into the EBU who produce the Eurovision Song Contest, amongst other things... This results in nine national TV channels, 10 UK-wide radio stations, six national (i.e. England, Wales, Scotland, NI only), and 40 local radio stations. The BBC website, iPlayer, apps in the App Stores, etc. are all paid for through this as well. If you're outside the UK you will see adverts as it can't subsidise access for non-UK citizens, but inside the UK all this content is 100% free of all advertising other than to cross-promote BBC content. In recent months the Government have suggested that it's an unfair burden. There are two sides to this truth: 1. Most magistrate courts seem to spend a significant amount of their time dealing with non-payers, and there are people in prison for non-payment. IIRC, it's the most common crime committed by incarcerated women in the UK. For context, it's worth noting that the incarceration rate in the UK is about 1/5th of the USA's so the actual number is still quite low, but still... 2. Most people think scrapping it is a political move, because there are weird power dynamics between Downing Street, the execs in charge of BBC News and the rest of the BBC who seem to have problems with the News division and their friendliness with Downing Street and the PM in particular. As a result, I think most people would prefer that the license was cheaper, the penalty for non-payment could not include prison and that we keep it.

lol768 7y ago
> the government pays it for you if you're over 75 years of age. Also worth noting: from June 2020, this will only be the case if the individual is receiving pension credit.
- iso1631 7y ago
  Not quite It used to be everyone paid a TV license if they watched TV. Then about 20 years ago the government offered a bribe to over 75s and said "we'll pay your tv license". This is basically was basically giving an extra £200 (in 2019 money) a year to every household with an over 75. This cost something like £750m a year - something like 20% of the BBC budget (a budget that has dropped 25% in the last 10 years) Then the government said "we don't need to bribe old people any more because brexit", and removed that subsidy. However they then said "The BBC will pay it", and old people lapped it up and blamed the BBC The BBC then said "ok, we will pay for over 75s who have low income, but we won't pay for a license for millionaires who are living off final salary pensions". This was apparently still outrageous. In parallel to this, the "left" of the country are rather annoyed by the BBC for their perceived bias towards the government and brexit, and thus they are saying "it's time to turn off the BBC" There is, and always has been, a fundamental unfairness in the license fee. Someone living on their own on minimum wage pays the same as a family of 5 on £500k a year. Worth noting that today it's easier than ever not to have a license fee, simply use the internet, subscribe to now TV for whatever junk is on sky. There are very few people consume no BBC services and only watch ITV.
  - PaulRobinson 7y ago
    > In parallel to this, the "left" of the country are rather annoyed by the BBC for their perceived bias towards the government and brexit, and thus they are saying "it's time to turn off the BBC" It's the right that are currently advocating for the removal of the license fee and therefore de facto, the end of the BBC
    - iso1631 7y ago

LandR 7y ago

I have a TV without a TV licence, but here is how not joined up the TV licence IT department is. I sent away to get a refund for my TV licence as I only had it part of the year, I filled in the form as to why I no longer require a TV licence. The TV Licence people agreed and sent me my refund. Next week I start getting the threatning letters that I have no TV licence... I've been getting these threatning letters ever since at the start of every month. Idiots.

tomatocracy 7y ago
It's not because they're not joined up. It's a deliberate policy to write to every household in the entire country which doesn't have a licence (for whatever reason - this includes empty houses, for example) like this. There's no point in responding to them because they won't stop writing to you. It must waste a huge amount of money.

dkdbejwi383 7y ago

It's not a licence in the same sense as a driving licence, it's the name for the voluntary tax we pay to fund the BBC.

jinglebells 7y ago
How is it not the same? They are both permits to allow you to do something. Lose your license, can't drive. No TV license, no TV for you.
- dkdbejwi383 7y ago
  In the same way, is paying for a Netflix account a licence then? No Netflix subscription, no Netflix for you? Or how about your rent, is that a licence, too? Because if you stop paying your rent, you can't live there any more.
  - jinglebells 7y ago
    No because Netflix account isn't written into law. It's a criminal act to watch TV without the license. The definition of license is a permit to do something. It's a permit to watch TV, given to you by the government.
    - dkdbejwi383 7y ago
      You can watch TV without a TV licence, just not the BBC. Just like how you can watch TV without a Netflix subscription, just not Netflix. It's equivalent to buying a ticket for a film as another example. It's not permitted to watch a film at the cinema without a ticket. It's a permit to watch the film.
      - iso1631 7y ago
        You can't watch a ITV without a license, unless you watch it on whatever ITV's iplayer equivelent it. Same with Sky, you can subscribe to nowtv, but you can't watch sky in a legacy OTA way.