Do you pay your TV licence fee?

But you shouldn’t have to do this to avoid being hassled. You didn’t write to Sky, Netflix, Disney + to declare you’re not a customer therefore they shouldn’t send you bills I assume…

What annoys me is the BBC hides behind the “TV Licensing” brand when sending this nonsense out. If they really think this is an acceptable way to behave why don’t they send these ridiculous letters out on BBC headed notepaper?

Sorry yes that is the anomaly, its the only on demand streaming service that you need a licence to watch. Even though the licence is only for live TV.

In my case it’s not just that I don’t use the BBC - I don’t watch any UK broadcast TV.

I just watch YouTube, Netflix, Disney+, etc. I don’t even have the other channels’ catch up services…

It’s nearly verbatim. It definitely used the words “under caution”. What they mean is that they’ll have body cameras and will warn me when I open the door that they are recording and could use it in court. As usual the language they use is designed to make it look like the door steppers have more power than they do - which is basically, zero.

Each of their questions will be blanked and I’ll ask them the same question in return, because I have no more obligations to them than they do to me.

“What’s your name?”
“I’m not going to tell you. What’s your name?”

Etc. I recognise that this is dick behaviour and it’s very unlike my usual way of behaving, but their whole approach to this annoys me - including their blatant disregard of the law.

Suspect this post will not sit well with many of the posters on here.

They should listen to the first part of this, just call me a lefty luvvie, but in my opinion there's a lot of quite reasonable points made. First part, roughly up to 15 mins.

https://youtu.be/4k_KNjSfH7s?si=5Ci5DvjvhgIL7qhN

Having said all that was quite amused by a revelation on another edition discussing W1A, and Marina's husband was reported as admitting that BBC staff were bewildered as to why viewers were laughing at W1A as "it's just our normal day!"

Pay licence fee, happy to do so, have lived and travelled in other countries and recognise that BBC is both outstanding, and simultaneously infuriating sometimes the latter dependant on the strength of personal political opinion, and that applies from both left and right. As are other broadcasters especially in USA.

Cue usuals going "but Lineker."

Let there be sensible discussion moving forward to 2027.

some good points but they were just stared without any evidence, examples or reasoning, with the basic premise "you;d be stupid not to realise this"

rather reflects the whole problem imho

Cancelled mine last year. The bbc does some great stuff but it also has some big issues. I really hate the way it's used mainly to fund the bbc and yet its hidden behind a licence and with certain conditions to use it. Why should someone pay to fund the bbc if they only want to watch live streams of whatever on YouTube. It's not right. The bbc has major problems coming down the road it either needs to move with the times or it's going to struggle to survive anything like it is now. The bbc own attitude really doesn't help itself either.

Could have posted the podcast instead, there is no irony except in your mind. Just that the funding model for YouTube and that podcast is different to the BBC, it all has to be paid for somehow.

Then complaining about paying to watch TV that they haven't made which you can't watch unless you pay? You mean like the streamers Netflix , Sky etc.



Then compare the cost of some of the streamers with their very narrow production portfolio with the wide range of programmes that the BBC makes and is legally required to make. All for the cost that doesn't cover more than a few months of Sky for example. Still if you're anti BBC that's your opinion and fair enough, it's an opinion. BBC certainly isn't perfect and neither is the licence fee and the way it's imposed and enforced.

Because its a license for a TV. Not the BBC funding. Not at all.

It's nuts isn't it and folks are getting more and more fed up with it and they can walk away in the modern world.

I do wonder if or how they would catch anyone breaking the rules. You would have to have a warrant or be able to go through personal data with your ISP I would think.

I believe in most cases they rely on you confessing when the enforcement officers turn up, otherwise they can't prove anything. Think it'd be a massive grey area if they went through your ISP, as you say they'd probably need a warrant but then it could get even more complicated if you use a VPN.