The TV Licence fee

I willingly pay for a state broadcaster, although see and read news from varied sources. I dislike advertising and won’t watch programmes if interrupted by mind numbing ads.

I believe that the BBC suffers from too much political interference from the government, but the right wing political parties hate the BBC so it must be doing something right!

I think the BBC is struggling because of reduced income but still occasionally manages to turn out excellent investigative programmes and drama.

As to news reportage, I find there is bias with news from many media outlets, and why it is important to obtain and read information from different trusted sources. There is so much drivel on social media I find (including here 😀)

Whilst they are still paying Huw Edwards I am reluctant to pay my license fee.

It is very strange that viewers on both the left and right of the political spectrum regard the BBC News services as biased🤔.
I am entirely thankful that I am able to watch programmes free from advertisement breaks and support the continuing need for a public broadcasting service that is able to produce at least some programmes for minority interests rather than only the crowd pleasers that satisfy the needs of advertisers. Until a better way of ad-free funding for the BBC is found, I am happy to pay the modest Licence Fee.
I also find it extraordinary that, even in these difficult times for the BBC, anyone can reject the entirety of their very varied schedules out of hand. There is surely something for everyone who has an open mind and wide-ranging interests.

From the TV licensing page

A TV Licence covers you to:

*Watch or record TV on any channel on any TV service (like Sky, Virgin Media and Freeview).
Watch live on streaming services (like ITVX, All 4, YouTube and Amazon Prime Video).
Use BBC iPlayer*
This applies to any device, including a TV, computer, laptop, phone, tablet, games console or digital box*

Sorry to be swimming against the current. I think we NEED a state broadcasting service and if it is partly funded by the public paying that gives us a voice in what it does. I do watch BBC 4, listen to The World Service and random others - would miss it direly if it all went pay per view - would be much more under pressure from extremists of all sorts.

henetha

I definitely don't want to cancel my licence thank you. I paid it happily for many years and now get it free.
I like the BBC and consider we are lucky to have better television than some countries in the world.

👏👏

I still pay but happy to do so.

I definitely don't want to cancel my licence thank you. I paid it happily for many years and now get it free.
I like the BBC and consider we are lucky to have better television than some countries in the world.

So wrong you need a TV licence watch or record something on ITV or sky. Hopefully they won't get away with it much longer. Apparently half a million opted out last year alone.

I object strongly to people like Gary lineker getting paid 1.4 million pounds per year. I also object that now the bbc offer no training to youngsters..my friend's daughter trained as a makeup artist with the BBC many years ago but that has all stopped now.if they paid d the so called talent less they could help younger people to learn a skill and contribute to society. And some if radio 4 is dire.

We have no TV/license equipment in our household or our workplace by choice and never will.

We've got no intention of keeping Ant and Dec and Amanda Holden and those like them in jobs!

We still get the threatening letters from the license mafia trying to intimidate us but we just laugh and burn them, we don't even bother opening them!

Definitely cancel your license!

I stopped paying our TV licence as a protest to the biased reporting of news by the BBC. I started getting demands for payment regularly, and was finally threatened with court action, so I grudgingly caved in and am now paying for a new licence. The BBC should be funded like other streaming services, then we could choose whether we pay for it (and watch it) or not.

i cancelled mine 2 years ago ,M0nica you only need one if you watch live tv and bbc i player on any device whatsoever. if you only watch streamed services, catch up tv you do no not need one and bbc programmes quite often find their way onto free streaming services within 12 -18 months

Quite simply, if you have a tv, you must have a license, that includes watching tv on a computer or any other device.

I'm with you WWM. I am keen to support a broadcasting service which has no ties to advertising. It keeps other channels on their toes, if nothing else.

I cancelled my TV licence five years ago as I never, ever watch live tv or stream anything that belongs to the BBC. I wrote to the BBC and they sent me a form and I filled in all the details. Every two/three years they write to me and I fill in another form and receive a letter telling me I will receive another letter in a few years.

I am not a live TV watcher at all, I prefer to watch them on catchup. I have not watched the BBC in any form for many years. They can come to my home and see that I don't have a terrestial aerial or am registered to the BBC. I watch all other programmes on catchup so I can make a cup of tea when the adverts start. I have Amazon Prime's Firestick for all the films and I get free delivery on anything I purchase from Amazon and that is quite a lot of purchases, even my grocery. Supermarkets charge £5 plus for grocery deliveries Amazon Prime charges nothing. There are enough programmes to watch without having to pay for BBC, it is about time they had a subscription service.

If you don't pay for a TV licence, Desdemona you won't have your BBC programmes cut off. In fact, very little will happen unless you are caught by the TV detector operation (is it even a 'thing' these days?) If you're caught watching live TV without a licence you will be prosecuted.

The licence is a licence for the device on which you receive live TV. Just as radio licences were back in the day.

It's a government fiction that the TV licence funds the BBC. It doesn't but that's the way the govt. keeps people paying it. I think it ought to be abolished. But I also think that the BBC is valuable (it doesn't have any bl**dy advertising, for a start) and should be regarded as an important public asset.

I wouldn’t equate paying with a state broadcaster at all. It should be free for the whole population (like ours). We pay for private things like Netflix and Amazon. The state broadcaster should be free and independent. I guess the British are like the Germans in their philosophy.

No tv tax now in France

I think that there is definitely a place for a state broadcaster and one that is not beholden to advertisers.

I watch and enjoy a wide variety of BBC channels and programmes.

43p a day seems a good bargain to me.

They should get rid of the fee like many other countries have. I wouldn’t pay it.

As Jaxjacky, says, it is not just BBC services which are covered by the licence fee.

This is the No Licence Needed declaration:

www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/telling-us-you-dont-need-a-tv-licence

Oh. I thought a license was only needed for watching BBC.

I do watch some live tv on other channels.

Oh well. ;( Thanks for both of your replies. x

You need a TV Licence if you:

watch or record live TV on any channel or service
use BBC iPlayer
You may be able to get a free or discounted TV Licence if you’re 75 or over and get Pension Credit, or if you’re blind or in residential care.
You do not need a TV Licence to watch:

streaming services like Netflix and Disney Plus
on-demand TV through services like All 4 and Amazon Prime Video
videos on websites like YouTube
videos or DVDs

I think you are correct, but I would google it for the most up to date Info.
You don't want debt collectors doorstepping you.

Wanting TO save money, sorry.