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[regiment]

  to get free tv licence back all oap should go on strike

[Colin Bishop]

But we haven't got jobs Gordon...

Colin

[BrianB6]

As mentioned before you could always move to Oz since we don't have license fees or death duties.   

[warspite]

But all of them - day in day out - sat in a deck chair outside parliament obstructing the bottom feeding politicians could be seen as 'being on strike', a 'sit on', have the salvation army playing the same tune constantly would annoy the politicians as well - or Vera Lynn

[jaymac]

Man up guys just don't collect you pension

[Circlip]

Fees paid to Crapita, the company that the British Bu*****t Company pays for them to knock on your door, last year was 9.6 MILLION pounds. This equates to 60,377 'Free' septuagenarian licences. Don't forget Regiment, of you're state registered as blind, you only pay half the tax fee. 


  Regards   Ian.

[roycv]

Hi Brian86, I have seen Oz TV they would'nt have the nerve to charge for the 'service'. 

The best TV programme I watched was during the last American administration called Planet America.
regards
Roy

[Baldrick]

    If I remember correctly it was a tongue tied Oz newsreader who referred to the Beeb as the " British Broadcarping Castration " ,  at least they are Ad free ,if not Fee Free .  most of the adverts on commercial channels require the ability to mentally obliterate the channels output for their duration on screen
.

[BrianB6]

Maybe free in UK but there are ads on the BBC News on my laptop.   

[warspite]

AAHH!!!! - you forget - free for the UK only    all others pay cash 

[jaymac]

Live tv only for daytime viewing  news quiz what ever . Evenings  all prerecorded as I record or download all series that I follow from  catch up though never BBC as they do not  do  Dolby surround on  catch up.  ITV don't count they don't even broadcast it. Adverts you can zip through though the majority they are already removed.
I

[Fastelectrics]

I read that there are still over 200,000 active black and white TV licences in the UK. Any B&W set will now be over 30 years old and would not be capable of picking up anything without a set top box. I think that some people are just buying them to keep the authorities off their back!

[Circlip]

On some sets, you can revert to Black and White by turning the colour off    and before someone jumps in and says ' yes but it has the capability to be used as a colour TV, yes, but so does my 40" Samsung smart TV presently used as a MONITOR. Three connections to it.
    1. RGB for DVD player.
    2. USB for stick.
    3. HDMI for laptop connection.
 And recording live TV to watch later doesn't work anymore for not paying the Tax.


  Regards   Ian.

[RST]

I read that there are still over 200,000 active black and white TV licences in the UK. Any B&W set will now be over 30 years old and would not be capable of picking up anything without a set top box. I think that some people are just buying them to keep the authorities off their back!

I googled the number and I believe that was the figure back a little after 2000, the figure today according to TV licencing is apparently a bit more than 7,000.  Still, that sounds like 7,000 not very real licences unless they are old ones still running (some folk don't check their DD's)?

The elephant in the room for me is the "Dave" TV channel according to wikipedia...

"Dave is a British Television channel owned by UKTV, a subsidiary of BBC_Studios."

...So why are we paying to watch BBC content in the UK on a channel which includes adverts?  And why is some BBC programming now available through Netflix without having to click to acknowledge you have a TV licence like you would have to if you watched through iplayer?  If I watch a BBC programme on Netflix, I'm paying my licence fee for the programme to have been made, then paying Netflix to watch it later?  I used to passionately support, but now hate the BBC these days amongst other reasons but also because I think it's poor value for the licence fee charged.

[Circlip]

As explained on the TV Licensing website, which is the group which manages the licence, people need a licence if they watch or
record programmes on a TV as they are broadcast. This includes all channels such as Channel 4, Channel 5, ITV etc as well as all channels. People will also need one if they watch or stream programmes live on an online TV service on any device.Examples of these include ITV Hub, All 4, Amazon Prime Video, Now TV, Sky Go. Britons also need one if they download or watch BBC programmes on BBC iPlayer live, on catch-up or On Demand. This applies to any device or provider a person uses, including a TV, desktop computer, laptop, mobile phone, tablet, games console, or digital box.However, people do not need a TV Licence if they are watching things on catchups that are not being shown live, although it is needed for watching BBC iPlayer.

There you go, straight from todays renditions. Don't hold your breath however, i'm sure further loopholes will be sealed. Wonder how long it will be before a radio tax is reintroduced now that administration can be given via websites??
  Regards  Ian.

[RST]

We pay for BBC to be advert free as it is but "Dave" and now "W" are joined to the elephant in the room.  They are BBC but with adverts and they keep getting away with it because nobody challenges it!

[phil_parker]

We pay for BBC to be advert free as it is but "Dave" and now "W" are joined to the elephant in the room.  They are BBC but with adverts and they keep getting away with it because nobody challenges it!

Assuming Dave and W make a profit, they are subsidising the advert-free version of the BBC. Take them away, and either programming is cut, or the licence fee goes up faster.

Having said that, I've watched advert-free TV in both Australia and Canada. Both are horrible, but every time I see a discussion like this, I think that aggressive, inaccurate and nasty TV is precisely what the British people deserve. We can't have nice things in this country, we don't deserve them.

[kinmel]

Even the BBC accepts their products are poor quality and poor value for money. Why else do they refuse to use a subscription model, where those who want it pay the full costs ?
The U.K.'s  television ownership tax is the equivalent to having to pay Tesco £154 before being allowed to shop anywhere else.

[Tug Fanatic]

To me the argument about the BBC is similar to that about Royalty. Neither is perfect but we would be less well off without them as the alternatives are worse.

Like Phil I have seen advert free TV elsewhere and it is awful both in terms of quality of programming and bias resulting from its funding sources.
As for the likes of Dave etc this is a non argument. The BBC has always sold programming overseas and without it we wouldn't have some of the more expensive series - the natural world programmes and historical dramas being cases in point. Dave is simply a way of generating income from programmes that are past their sell by date on the main channels. If they make a profit that can be used to make programmes or hold the licence fee down then I am all for it.

With the exception of the FT none of the press even try to be neutral observers. Some are barely newspapers at all but rather propaganda sheets and without the BBC I fear that TV broadcasters would go the same way.

[jaymac]

Nowt to do with programmes it's the fact that you are paying them to watch live on any channel.tv service or streaming service,or use  bbc I player This applies to any device, including a TV, computer, laptop, phone, tablet, games console or digital box.

[Tug Fanatic]

I am really pleased that we have a BBC that is relatively politically and economically untied from outside interests. The licence fee is the only way that I can see that reduces the possibility of political or economic meddling. How well it succeeds is open to debate but in general I still believe that it does a better job than anyhone else.

I see a universal licence fee as an unfortunate necessity.
To me a better debate is regarding what the licence fee money is spent on but then if they didn't generate audience numbers with programming the quality and objectivity of what they did would be irrelevant.