Cancelling TV licence

As everyone points out, though you do not pay to listen to BBC radio station, someone is paying for the content production and that is the TV licence. If that source of income dries up how will the stations exist? Would Radio 1,2, 3, 4, 4x, 5live, 5 sport, 6, Asian network etc all be full of ads? There would not be enough advertisers to fund all that so they would mostly disappear I imagine and only the money making ones exist. Is that worth giving up the fantastic choice we have when the cost is a cup of coffee a week?

I agree with BigBertha - my friend is planning to give up her landline and use WhatsApp for everything. You can’t WhatsApp your GP surgery and other organisations. I don’t know - it’s all so confusing.

Radio 4 and Radio 4 extra plus LBC radio are sufficient, I find. TV drama/soaps are just a trail of over-the-top sensationalist scripts, and The Archers has been going down that route for quite a while now.

Thank goodness TA isn't on the screen - it would be too much.

Gin

As everyone points out, though you do not pay to listen to BBC radio station, someone is paying for the content production and that is the TV licence. If that source of income dries up how will the stations exist? Would Radio 1,2, 3, 4, 4x, 5live, 5 sport, 6, Asian network etc all be full of ads? There would not be enough advertisers to fund all that so they would mostly disappear I imagine and only the money making ones exist. Is that worth giving up the fantastic choice we have when the cost is a cup of coffee a week?

Everyone who listens to the BBC radio channels, despite claiming that they do not watch TV, without paying the licence fee is sponging off those who do.

J52

Gin

As everyone points out, though you do not pay to listen to BBC radio station, someone is paying for the content production and that is the TV licence. If that source of income dries up how will the stations exist? Would Radio 1,2, 3, 4, 4x, 5live, 5 sport, 6, Asian network etc all be full of ads? There would not be enough advertisers to fund all that so they would mostly disappear I imagine and only the money making ones exist. Is that worth giving up the fantastic choice we have when the cost is a cup of coffee a week?

Everyone who listens to the BBC radio channels, despite claiming that they do not watch TV, without paying the licence fee is sponging off those who do.

So bring back the radio licence so those who only listen to BBC radio stations can pay their share. My husband's cousin who is blind is one of your spongers since she doesn't own a TV, but she'd happily pay a radio licence.

"A cup of coffee a week"......except you can't pay weekly. If you can't afford the £169.50 up front in one go you can pay monthly, except in the first year you'll pay £254.22, only reverting to £169.50 in the second year. That's quite a chunk out of some people's income, especially those that can never afford a coffee out of home. This is a charge you're required to pay even if you never avail yourself of any BBC offerings, only commercial stations.

I pay the licence so I can legally watch the few programs I've recorded, most of it not BBC offerings, but hugely resent the ridiculous salaries paid to some presenters. There is certainly room for the BBC to cut its costs.

Rosie51 Wecare constantly being told that thisnthat and the other should be free because some people would find it expensive. At that rate the wealthiest people in the country will be those on small incomes who will all able to leave their money in the bank or go on holiday, because evertyting else comes free because their incomes are small.

Do not get me wrong, I fully understand the problems of those on small incomes paying bills, but isntead of suggesting evrything be free, surely the thing to do is find ways to make things affordable. Weekly stamps, or special rates, or a segmented licence.

M0nica I don't believe I said or even indicated the TV licence should be free for anyone????? I merely commented that those saying it's only the cost of a cup of coffee a week dismiss those for whom that coffee is out of their reach, and demonstrates a complete lack of empathy for those on very tight budgets.
I also don't consider my husband's blind cousin a scrounger as J52 classifies her because she listens to BBC radio programs without a TV licence which is because she doesn't have a TV. It's not her fault there's no separate radio licence.

But not having a tv does not stop her buying a tv licence. Not that I necessarily agree with J52

I actually was referring to those who seem to delight in having avoided paying for the licence.
Those who I know who are visually impaired and registered blind get a 50% reduction in their TV licence.

M0nica

But not having a tv does not stop her buying a tv licence. Not that I necessarily agree with J52

No it doesn't, but why should she pay £169.50 to not be able to access any TV programs let alone BBC ones?
Do you think that everyone in the country should just buy a TV licence, because I doubt there are many people who never listen to any radio station at all, even if they don't listen to any BBC ones? In which case why not just fund the BBC out of taxation and be done with it?

J52 Those who I know who are visually impaired and registered blind get a 50% reduction in their TV licence. Presumably they are in possession of a TV that they use to access TV programs? His cousin is one of those few people with absolutely zero sight, not even differentiation of light and shade. If a visually impaired person lives with a sighted person they still get the reduction which seems an anomaly and verging on scrounging by the sighted person.

On the website to see if you need a TV licence the questions all relate to TV channels, whether you ever watch or record live transmissions or use iPlayer. They don't ask about radio stations.

crazyH

I agree with BigBertha - my friend is planning to give up her landline and use WhatsApp for everything. You can’t WhatsApp your GP surgery and other organisations. I don’t know - it’s all so confusing.

She can just ring her Gp on her normal mobile, or email them. We got rid of our land line, sick of scamming gits ringing us all the time

I despise people and organizations who give you something and then attempt to take it back - or want something back in return. There used to be a pejorative phrase "Indian giver" which descrbed this behaviour. The TV lisence used to be free for over 75s and they have a damned cheek going back on that. They had enough of my money in the past and they are not getting any more. Even when I lived on one of the toughest estates in Manchester I had a TV lisence. They had detector vans back then and I think I might have been the only resident who had one.

I believe we should pay our way and any 'freebies' should be dealt with through raising the basic pension rate and pension credit.

We are not children to be given vouchers to spend on fruit, to make sure we do not waste all our money on sweets.

I have mine as I do watch a lot of tv.

From what I read you don't need a TV licence to own a TV . But you do need a TV licence even if you don't watch BBC if you have netflix and the like you need a TV licence. I will keep paying mine I don't want to risk a heavy fine.

biglouis

I despise people and organizations who give you something and then attempt to take it back - or want something back in return. There used to be a pejorative phrase "Indian giver" which descrbed this behaviour. The TV lisence used to be free for over 75s and they have a damned cheek going back on that. They had enough of my money in the past and they are not getting any more. Even when I lived on one of the toughest estates in Manchester I had a TV lisence. They had detector vans back then and I think I might have been the only resident who had one.

You do know that back in the day, detector vans were all cadology?

Whiff

From what I read you don't need a TV licence to own a TV . But you do need a TV licence even if you don't watch BBC if you have netflix and the like you need a TV licence. I will keep paying mine I don't want to risk a heavy fine.

No you don’t

I read it on TV licensing under Do I need a TV licence?

You only need a license if you watch live tv programs, watch iPlayer or record live programs- not for streaming services

Whiff

I read it on TV licensing under Do I need a TV licence?

No that’s not right

This is from the TV Licence website

Yes anything live stream you need a license

You can’t beat the children’s programmes on the BBC, no advertising, reasonable decent programmes for children. Net flicks and the other streaming channels are pretty rubbish and I hate my DGC watching them, constantly being bombarded with adverts and constantly saying “I want that”!

Yep all full of box ticking adverts

sparkynan

You can’t beat the children’s programmes on the BBC, no advertising, reasonable decent programmes for children. Net flicks and the other streaming channels are pretty rubbish and I hate my DGC watching them, constantly being bombarded with adverts and constantly saying “I want that”!

Only get adverts on Netflix if you pay the cheaper rate