Re: BBC wants to increase licence fee
 

Re: BBC wants to increase licence fee
 

I think you can still go to jail if you do not pay the fine for not having a TV license. Very civilised.

Re: BBC wants to increase licence fee
 

In the past 8 years I have been visited twice by TVL inspectors and on both occasions have been told I do not need a license. I have 2 TV's, one acts as my desktop monitor and the other has a NAS full of prerecorded films & TV series none sourced from the UK. There is no aerial in existance for linear broadcast.
I still get the extortion letters though.

Re: BBC wants to increase licence fee
 

Did they ask to come in and check; if so did you allow them to?

If not, what did they say?

I ask as i've seen some horrendous videos on YouTube.

It seems shocking that they do this, it would be like Virgin Media coming and saying that they had noted that you don't appear to be paying a subscription to them. Then, upon being told that you don't use or need their services, them saying that they wanted to come into your home to check that you weren't lying or were obtaining their services illegally!

Re: BBC wants to increase licence fee
 

Because we'll have nothing but 'reality tv', and trash import soaps. Quality drama and programmes like 'The Sky at Night' just wouldn't get made.

Re: BBC wants to increase licence fee
 

Yes they did and I allowed them, I was totally open and honest and asked if they wanted to try to check my internet history to see if they could find any instance of BBC iPlayer being used.(never have used it)

When they ask if I watch any TV I open Kodi on my desktop or the files on my NAS or Netflix account.

There's nothing they can do to me and have walked away both times saying I don't need a license.

Re: BBC wants to increase licence fee
 

It isn’t really like that, although a service provider can actually get a court order and send bailiffs into your house if you don’t pay them what you owe.

The BBC license fee isn’t a subscription. It has a legal status not unlike the Council Tax, which is a compulsory charge that pays for a range of services (whether you use them or not), that you have to pay by reason of occupying a house. The TVL is primarily a licence to operate a TV receiver, regardless of which TV services you choose to receive. It is backed by statute and the BBC is authorised by its charter to collect the fee and to receive whatever portion of it Parliament has determined.

The problem isn’t the TV licence - we live in a democracy and there are legal ways of campaigning for its abolition, if that’s what we as a country prefer - the problem is the large number of people who should be paying it, but are evading it, which is a criminal offence. That has given rise to a confrontational enforcement regime that then unduly affects the very small number of people who legitimately don’t have a TV licence.

TV is fupping expensive to make but the amount of money flowing into the industry in this country because of the TV license system is enormous and gives British producers international clout well beyond the natural size of the economy. It benefits many more people than just the occupants of Broadcasting House and their viewers.

Re: BBC wants to increase licence fee
 

Sorry to distract from the context in question but just wanted to point out you can go to jail for any unpaid fine.even for dropping litter. :)

Re: BBC wants to increase licence fee
 

If pay tv provided only reality tv, they would soon find that people were less likely to pay a subscription to watch it. I most certainly would not and in fact I find myself revisiting the value of pay tv more and more frequently these days.

Your argument falls really because we have no public service streaming operator, and yet the two big commercial services (Netflix and Amazon Prime) are providing many, many hours of quality programming without any real BBC competition. That is the future, and frankly, the Beeb will struggle to keep up.

The argument for having a public service broadcaster will diminish substantially as this transformation takes place and the broadcast scheduled TV channels close down.

Re: BBC wants to increase licence fee
 

There is no PSB operator doing exclusively on-demand streaming, however the BBC operates BBC Three as an on-demand streaming service - only a selection of its output on Three is then broadcast by traditional means. It is also increasingly promoting its regionally-produced material (mostly but not exclusively current affairs output) because it is always on iPlayer nationwide for 30 days after broadcast regardless of which BBC nation or region commissioned it.

Re: BBC wants to increase licence fee
 

This is true, but the very small amount of programming made available by this means is no match for Netflix and Amazon. The point I am making is that it is a bit of a stretch to say that the BBC is setting the standard for streaming services.

Clearly, it is not, and therefore it cannot truthfully be said that we need the Beeb to set the standard. Netflix and Amazon have done this entirely by themselves.

Re: BBC wants to increase licence fee
 

I agree but for just watching a box on the wall or stand...strange.

Re: BBC wants to increase licence fee
 

Not really. Programmes cost money. Most people do actually understand that principle, but the problem with the licence fee is that you are forced to pay it even if you don't watch or listen to BBC programmes but choose other channels instead.

Re: BBC wants to increase licence fee
 

What if you could have the BBC programes removed/blanked not usable from your TV. I wonder how that would stand up in a legal court... sorry I do not want it and why should I pay for it. It is a bit like paying road tax even if you do not own a car?

Re: BBC wants to increase licence fee
 

The fee is for watching or recording live TV as it's broadcast, that covers all channels, not just the BBC.
You don't pay road tax, you pay VED.