BBC licence fee

[i kne albert davy]

I think it’s a bargain compared to any other media including newspapers.

Actually, I think the BBC licence fee is value for money. Many won’t agree.

First time for ages the other week I bought an Evening News £2.20 won't be getting another anytime soon :-)

 

[blue by birth]

Why should people have to pay a licence fee to fund the BBC if they honestly don't ever watch any BBC programmes or listen to radio?
Why should anyone who only watches itv or C4 have to pay money to the BBC..it's ridiculous.

 

[normskih]

First time for ages the other week I bought an Evening News £2.20 won't be getting another anytime soon :-)

It used to be about Manchester that’s why it’s called the Manchester Evening News. I/my family always bought it at one time. Very few articles are now about Manchester. I, like you, won’t be buying it.

 

[i kne albert davy]

Why should people have to pay a licence fee to fund the BBC if they honestly don't ever watch any BBC programmes or listen to radio?
Why should anyone who only watches itv or C4 have to pay money to the BBC..it's ridiculous.

How many who dodge the licence fee never watch or listen to the BBC, not many I reckon. for the cost it's decent value.

 

[blue by birth]

How many who dodge the licence fee never watch or listen to the BBC, not many I reckon. for the cost it's decent value.

I never watch or listen to the BBC..easy to catch up on any goals from loads of places so don't need motd which would have been only prog I would have considered.
The been should be self funding like other channels..a few adverts and jobs a good un..even if it was free to watch i wouldn't watch it though.

 

[hampshireblue]

Genuinely don’t watch BBC, it’s shite in my opinion.

It's not just watching the BBC that you're paying for though is it-it's the ability to watch live TV?

 

[Blue Mist]

If anyone,whatever their interests, can’t find something worth watching or listening to on the 4 TV and many radio stations,.then they aren’t looking hard enough.Says more about them than the BBC.

"What does it say about someone who can't find something worth watching" etc. ?
I find soap operas, reality tv shows, quiz shows, diy/gardening shows are awful.
There is little I watch, it's crap. I do watch the news and few crime programmes, but I can't think of anything I'd record never mind stay in for so what does it say about me ?

Oh and I have a licence

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

Oh and I have a licence to be a ****…

 

[doots]

Cancelled my license a few weeks ago, don’t watch BBC woke infested dramas anymore so can do without it, dodgy box is fine for me. Got a knock on the door this week, lad trying to crane his neck to see if he could see my TV screen which he can’t. Answered the door, he said “your TV licence has expired” I said I was well aware and I don’t watch live TV or any BBC I Player programme’s. He said “but you need it to watch any live TV”. I said he wasn’t listening and I’d told him I don’t watch live TV, he just fucked off, there’s nothing they can do.

At least you got a knock on the door,they keep sending me letters asking me if I'll be in on such and such a date,which I usually am(unless I'm out hanging union jacks upside down on roundabouts or meeting my dodgy firestick supplier)but no fucker turns up.
It's just rude.

 

[denislawsbackheel]

Cancelled my license a few weeks ago, don’t watch BBC woke infested dramas anymore so can do without it, dodgy box is fine for me. Got a knock on the door this week, lad trying to crane his neck to see if he could see my TV screen which he can’t. Answered the door, he said “your TV licence has expired” I said I was well aware and I don’t watch live TV or any BBC I Player programme’s. He said “but you need it to watch any live TV”. I said he wasn’t listening and I’d told him I don’t watch live TV, he just fucked off, there’s nothing they can do.

You are nothing but a thief

 

[Ho Chi Man City]

If anyone,whatever their interests, can’t find something worth watching or listening to on the 4 TV and many radio stations,.then they aren’t looking hard enough.Says more about them than the BBC.

I have my playlist and music which means I don’t have to listen to waffle from over ego inflated DJ’s.

I don’t do soaps, fantasy programmes and the comedies these days are dire, the dramas are just generally shite.

Current affairs and news don’t interest me as I can’t influence anything.

In better weather I’m out a lot of the time, TV is a small interest and streaming on non BBC channels suits my requirements, if you want to be a couch potato crack on.

 

[Ho Chi Man City]

You are nothing but a thief

Better than being an ill considered know all but I’m not “thieving ” off anyone, apart from the dodgy box usage which I reckon has probably got a very high percentage of users on here.

 

[doots]

You are nothing but a thief

It's a fair cop guv

 

[Two Gun Bob]

It's a cup of coffee a day for all of the stuff they broadcast and it funds the radio channels too

It is if you decide to utilise their product. However Costa Coffee wont threaten you with intimidating letters and threats of enforcerment visits if you dont have a slurp of the brown.

For any one worrying about enforcement visits then please don't as you could make yourself proper poorly with worry.
They are not enforcement officers and have zero powers to enter your home. They will knock and ask to speak to the occupier ..ask who's asking and when they say TV licence close the door on them and go back to what you were doing. The only way a householder ever ever gets prosecuted is by signing their 178 self incrimination form.

TVL178 Record of Interview (Self-Incrimination) Form
The primary document used by TV Licensing to gather evidence for prosecution. It is typically completed during a doorstep visit and records details such as the date, time, and type of TV viewing observed, along with a statement from the occupant. Signing this form under caution is legally significant, as it constitutes self-incrimination and can be used as evidence in court.

Legal Rights: You are not required to speak to TV Licensing officers or sign any form. Refusing entry or declining to answer questions is a valid legal strategy. If you do not sign the form, no evidence of unlicensed viewing exists, and prosecution cannot proceed.

And prosecution cannot proceed: The end ...

 

[blueparrot]

"What does it say about someone who can't find something worth watching" etc. ?
I find soap operas, reality tv shows, quiz shows, diy/gardening shows are awful.
There is little I watch, it's crap. I do watch the news and few crime programmes, but I can't think of anything I'd record never mind stay in for so what does it say about me ?

Oh and I have a licence

No science, no nature, no documentaries, no dramas, no art, travel worth watching all programming on some BBC. channel. Yes not looking hard enough.

 

[Two Gun Bob]

As for warrants:

TV Licensing has never successfully enforced a warrant of entry in practice, despite the legal authority to do so under the Communications Act 2003.

• Warrants are extremely rare: TV Licensing (contracted to Capita) applies for search warrants only in exceptional cases, typically when there is strong evidence of live TV or BBC iPlayer use without a licence. According to available data, fewer than 150 warrants are issued annually, compared to around 180,000 prosecutions for non-payment.
• BBC policy prevents forced entry: Even if a warrant is issued, the BBC’s official policy is not to force entry.

 

[Herbert Andrews]

Better than being an ill considered know all but I’m not “thieving ” off anyone, apart from the dodgy box usage which I reckon has probably got a very high percentage of users on here.

No it isnt

 

[Blue Mist]

No science, no nature, no documentaries, no dramas, no art, travel worth watching all programming on some BBC. channel. Yes not looking hard enough.

Certainly not dramas, I can't think of one. Science, if its that Brian fellah, the one whose lips dont move :- ) I will watch him. Art !
Travel, Michael Portillo, ergh maybe, the trains and the one in Spain was good.
Documentaries, no, can't remember the last one I watched.
Rarely, imo, is tv worth watching. The one about the bent bastards running the post office was very very good, if they were all like that, I'd watch every night.
I'm currently at my caravan, (7 days) the tv's not come out its box.

 

[hampshireblue]

Certainly not dramas, I can't think of one. Science, if its that Brian fellah, the one whose lips dont move :- ) I will watch him. Art !
Travel, Michael Portillo, ergh maybe, the trains and the one in Spain was good.
Documentaries, no, can't remember the last one I watched.
Rarely, imo, is tv worth watching. The one about the bent bastards running the post office was very very good, if they were all like that, I'd watch every night.
I'm currently at my caravan, (7 days) the tv's not come out its box.

There's a war on, City lost, it's getting colder this weekend....

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

You are nothing but a thief

Legally speaking this is incorrect. For a theft to occur the perpetrator has to dishonestly appropriate property belong to another with the intention to permanently deprive them of it.

There is no property here to appropriate, dishonestly or otherwise.

I don’t think it’s fraud either, as there is no dishonest representation in merely not paying for your TV license [sic].

To fail to pay for your TV licence whilst using a TV receiver is simply an offence contrary to section 363 of the Communications Act 2003 which carries the maximum sentence of a £1,000 fine,viz:

363 Licence required for use of TV receiver

(1)A television receiver must not be installed or used unless the installation and use of the receiver is authorised by a licence under this Part.

(2)A person who installs or uses a television receiver in contravention of subsection (1) is guilty of an offence.

(3)A person with a television receiver in his possession or under his control who—

(a)intends to install or use it in contravention of subsection (1), or

(b)knows, or has reasonable grounds for believing, that another person intends to install or use it in contravention of that subsection,

is guilty of an offence.

(4)A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

(5)Subsection (1) is not contravened by anything done in the course of the business of a dealer in television receivers solely for one or more of the following purposes—

(a)installing a television receiver on delivery;

(b)demonstrating, testing or repairing a television receiver.

(6)The Secretary of State may by regulations exempt from the requirement of a licence under subsection (1) the installation or use of television receivers—

(a)of such descriptions,

(b)by such persons,

(c)in such circumstances, and

(d)for such purposes,

as may be provided for in the regulations.

(7)Regulations under subsection (6) may make any exemption for which such regulations provide subject to compliance with such conditions as may be specified in the regulations.

* Please carefully note the spelling of ‘Licence’ under the section heading everyone. It really isn’t complicated or challenging to anyone with more than four brain cells.

Looking at this section it’s not been amended since it was brought into force over two decades ago, over which time period the way we watch television and obtain entertainment/information has changed beyond recognition. The section was enacted in a time before social media as we know it today was conceived of.

And I’d say therein lies the issue. An anachronistic offence with a maximum sentence so low as to provide no meaningful deterrent Is plainly not fit for purpose, but the legislators are left with an overarching issue that to make the punishment more severe is electorally unsustainable.

Not sure what the answer is, but certainly the status quo isn’t working and the way the BBC is funded needs to fundamentally change if it is going to survive, which for all its manifest and multifarious faults, I hope it does.