Iplayer to need TV licence from 1/9/2016 - full fee required

[chris watton]

Welshbeef said:

But with the exception of a handful of countries globally they all have a "tv licence".


We all pay the 3G and 4G licence directly to our suppliers but we don't notice it if BBC stopped guess what Mr Govt would do? Sell rights to Internet and cable and sky and ariel tv, to think otherwise when we're in a big deficit is a bit naive.

That is true, even Italy had a TV tax, and there's nothing even remotely redeemable with any of their output! I have no problem paying the fee, it is nothing. It is the bias that I do not like, and makes most of their output in news and current affairs unwatchable, as it does seem to be very one-sided. I fully understand why left leaning, eco-nutters and public sector/union folk love it, though. Because of this deeply ingrained bias, given the choice, I would not pay. I would pay for quality content, either by a pay per view system, or buying the DVD/BR when available.

I have said this before, if you come away from BBC news and current affairs content for any length of time, and then dip your toe back in, the bias is much more apparent. A little like being in an abusive relationship, and not realising just how bad it was until you end it, and look back at what you suffered.

[Hosenbugler]

I've let my BBC license lapse. After the TG debacle, there was just no reason to watch live broadcasts. I can stream what I want and don't get enough time to watch what I do want to see.

People can go on about how good the BBc is, but fact is, they produce little or nothing I want to watch , so to me, irelevant . Just means that the £145 they would have gort from me will pay for Prime and give me enough change for a blitz on Netflix.

[Hosenbugler]

Welshbeef said:

But with the exception of a handful of countries globally they all have a "tv licence".

Because the BBC were the first kids on the block and they followed the BBC funding model.

[technodup]

Welshbeef said:

The best drama most certainly doesn't come from the US I'd actually say it's the Nordics as I like my crime thrillers to be dark multilayered complex. Then again you enjoy American Dad to your hearts content

I suspect most of the world will disagree with you there. Have a nosey on IMDB and tell me Breaking Bad, The West Wing, The Wire, The Shield, OITNB, Game of Thrones, Suits etc etc don't feature above your special interest foreign language muck.

[chris watton]

technodup said:

suspect most of the world will disagree with you there. Have a nosey on IMDB and tell me Breaking Bad, The West Wing, The Wire, The Shield, OITNB, Game of Thrones, Suits etc etc don't feature above your special interest foreign language muck.

Yep. A couple of decades ago, it was true that most US based output was terrible cheesy crap, and UK stuff was more adult/sophisticated. The tables have turned quite significantly since then, both for comedy and drama (with just a few notable exceptions). Hell, even drama on ITV can be miles better than BBC stuff (again, with a few exceptions)

[FredClogs]

I'm a sucker for a good US funded drama series (the actual talent in many big budget TV is global), Breaking Bad, The Wire, GoT, Sopranos, Walking Dead etc... (which if you've ever tried to watch in their original broadcast format with adverts every 10 minutes you wouldn't last to the end of the episode) I've seen them all. Yes the Americans do it well, they end each episode on a cliff hanger and it's like crack to your slightly weary evening... But it's not a marker of quality. It's hamburgers and fries, we all like it but it's not quality. Because of the (not so) unique way the BBC is funded and because they have a charter to provide important and cultural diverse programming that seeks to not only fill you up with simple carbs and send you to bed, they provide what no one else can or will provide. Yes it might not be popular but that doesn't mean it's not good.

[Pesty]

FredClogs said:

If you have sky and a sky dish you have the ability to watch broadcast TV and for that you need a license, if you just have a sky box with no dish and use the sky box for just the downloaded content you may not need a license but you are an idiot because you're paying sky a full subscription and only receiving 1/3 of the service.

The ability to has nothing to do with it. Do you work for capita by the way scaring old ladies saying because they have an Ariel they need a license.

[MaximumJed]

All that jazz said:

I don't see anything changing. Those without licences will continue as normal and those that legally watched iPlayer will simply continue to do so, albeit now illegally. What are the "licensing officers" going to do if they turn up on your doorstep?

"Do you have a PC or device that is capable of streaming live BBC broadcasts or iPlayer?"
"Yes".
"You need a TV licence for that, sir".
"Er nope. Anything else? No? Good day".
"Actually sir, if you use that device to watch live or recorded BBC broadcasts then you do need a licence....yada yada".
"Thank you for the info, I will bear it in mind. Now if there's nothing else I'll bid you a good day".

<closes door>

Slightly different with iPlayer though, it shouldn't be difficult to show that iPlayer was being streamed by the IP address registered to the house at the time. Of course, you could argue it was someone driving past connected to your wifi etc...

[GCH]

If they modified it so you had to put your TV licence number in before you could actually watch it online, I might be able to watch it (legally I might add - I pay for a UK licence) without having to go via a VPN regardless of where I am in the world. Ditto with my sky account. Would be a hell of a lot easier.

[technodup]

FredClogs said:

Because of the (not so) unique way the BBC is funded and because they have a charter to provide important and cultural diverse programming that seeks to not only fill you up with simple carbs and send you to bed, they provide what no one else can or will provide. Yes it might not be popular but that doesn't mean it's not good.

The BBC: Uniquely out of place in a consumer driven market economy.

We'll give you stuff nobody wants to watch, but we think it's good and hey, you're paying for it anyway.

[Welshbeef]

technodup said:

Welshbeef said:

The best drama most certainly doesn't come from the US I'd actually say it's the Nordics as I like my crime thrillers to be dark multilayered complex. Then again you enjoy American Dad to your hearts content

I suspect most of the world will disagree with you there. Have a nosey on IMDB and tell me Breaking Bad, The West Wing, The Wire, The Shield, OITNB, Game of Thrones, Suits etc etc don't feature above your special interest foreign language muck.

I really suspect your wrong.

A billion people in India
1.4billion in China

To name but two - what's that 40%+ of the global population don't watch US TV.

Now add in the BRIC countries and then I'll let you lob in Africa too. Also I'd wager the shows which I enjoy from the US wouldn't go down well in any Middle East country

[Impasse]

Welshbeef said:

Olympics
Wimbledon
6 Nations - don't like the way ITV ruin coverage with advert breaks
Diamond League
Commonwealth games
London Marathon
New York Marathon
Great north run
British Open
World Cup football or Euros etc.

F1 is gone
Rallying is gone


Good shows you say?
Wolf Hall
Planet Earth
Frozen planet
The office
Top Gear
The Royal Family
London Spy
River
Doctor Foster
Missing
Peaky Blinders
Line of Duty
War and Peace
Abused - the untold story
The night manager
The people v OJ Simpson
The hollow crown Henry Vi Part2
The Tudors

technodup said:

Breaking Bad,
The West Wing,
The Wire,
The Shield,
OITNB,
Game of Thrones,
Suits

The only one of these that has any appeal is Top Gear and they comprehensively stuffed that up. None of the rest are of any interest to me.

[All that jazz]

MaximumJed said:

All that jazz said:

I don't see anything changing. Those without licences will continue as normal and those that legally watched iPlayer will simply continue to do so, albeit now illegally. What are the "licensing officers" going to do if they turn up on your doorstep?

"Do you have a PC or device that is capable of streaming live BBC broadcasts or iPlayer?"
"Yes".
"You need a TV licence for that, sir".
"Er nope. Anything else? No? Good day".
"Actually sir, if you use that device to watch live or recorded BBC broadcasts then you do need a licence....yada yada".
"Thank you for the info, I will bear it in mind. Now if there's nothing else I'll bid you a good day".

<closes door>

Slightly different with iPlayer though, it shouldn't be difficult to show that iPlayer was being streamed by the IP address registered to the house at the time. Of course, you could argue it was someone driving past connected to your wifi etc...

There are a myriad of ways to circumvent that issue but an IP does not prove who was actually watching the content at the time of the offence anyway. If there were 5 people in the household and Capita identified that it was their (internet connection to property) IP that was watching content without a licence, who are they going to issue the fine to? It's a complete non-starter. As I said, nothing will change and people will just carry on as they currently do.

[technodup]

Welshbeef said:

I really suspect your wrong.

A billion people in India
1.4billion in China

To name but two - what's that 40%+ of the global population don't watch US TV.

Now add in the BRIC countries and then I'll let you lob in Africa too.

Fair point. But I'm pretty sure they're not watching Borgen either.

[Hudson]

I can't fathom how people get in to so many issues with the TV licencing stasi. Last year we both unanimously decided broadcast TV was ste so i went on the TV licence website, told them as such (politely of course) and not only did i get a polite email confirming they had cancelled it, i also got a partial refund.

I chucked my TV aerial cable in the bin and that is literally the last i ever heard of it. No harassment, no people knocking on my door accusing me of treason for not paying for the beeb, nothing.


However if they go down the route of locking out iPlayer unless you put in a licence number, i'll get one purely to sell to Americans for twice the price!

[VolvoT5]

Long term I don't see how the licence fee model of funding the BBC is going to be viable. How can they enforce this anyway, it is already possible to stream pay per view TV like sky sports free.

[JagLover]

FredClogs said:

I'm a sucker for a good US funded drama series (the actual talent in many big budget TV is global), Breaking Bad, The Wire, GoT, Sopranos, Walking Dead etc... (which if you've ever tried to watch in their original broadcast format with adverts every 10 minutes you wouldn't last to the end of the episode)y 10 minutes you wouldn't last to the end of the episode) I've seen them all. Yes the Americans do it well, they end each episode on a cliff hanger and it's like crack to your slightly weary evening... But it's not a marker of quality. It's hamburgers and fries, we all like it but it's not quality. Because of the (not so) unique way the BBC is funded and because they have a charter to provide important and cultural diverse programming that seeks to not only fill you up with simple carbs and send you to bed, they provide what no one else can or will provide. Yes it might not be popular but that doesn't mean it's not good.

Well first of all The Walking Dead is not in the same league as the other shows you mention.

Of the remainder The Wire, GOT, Sopranos are all HBO shows so wouldn't have had advert breaks in original broadcast format.

Personally I think BB, The Wire and GOT are massively better than any UK made drama and to their number I would add a few other shows like The West Wing.

I recognise tastes are different but never thought I would see someone claim The Wire only gave us cheap thrills. Watching this for the first time at present (1/2 way through season 2) and sometimes I am amazed just how good it is.

[Funk]

All that jazz said:

I don't see anything changing. Those without licences will continue as normal and those that legally watched iPlayer will simply continue to do so, albeit now illegally. What are the "licensing officers" going to do if they turn up on your doorstep?

"Do you have a PC or device that is capable of streaming live BBC broadcasts or iPlayer?"
"Yes".
"You need a TV licence for that, sir".
"Er nope. Anything else? No? Good day".
"Actually sir, if you use that device to watch live or recorded BBC broadcasts then you do need a licence....yada yada".
"Thank you for the info, I will bear it in mind. Now if there's nothing else I'll bid you a good day".

<closes door>

Say nothing and close the door once they've identified themselves. Really, silence is the best way to handle them.

Do not talk to them.

[Welshbeef]

VolvoT5 said:

Long term I don't see how the licence fee model of funding the BBC is going to be viable. How can they enforce this anyway, it is already possible to stream pay per view TV like sky sports free.

I've asked lots of times on here about this legal ability to stream pay TV for free - no one has given instructions on how his is done. We want to share this info to Martin Lewis Money saving expert to save many people lots of money legally.
Why will noone here - who have already stated they do stream and watch all the stuff I watch & pay for - post up about how you do it.

I don't know how you can get to see a film before its gone on DVD /blue ray release - for free. Simply how is that possible? Surely if everyone did that no one would make any films ? Is that the reason there is no one confirming how it's done - or is there a nudge nudge wink wink rolled up trouser leg initiation/ or there is no fight club there is no fight club you will not talk about fight club?

[AJL308]

technodup said:

FredClogs said:

The TVL people don't need to prove your guilt they just need to prosecute you and provide the evidence.

Yes, of someone watching live TV.

FredClogs said:

200,000 prosecutions in 2012/2013, over 3500 a week - do you really think anyone is going to take the time to listen to your bull st theoretical excuses.

I'm not sure I believe the numbers tbh.

It was reported just the other day there were 15 in Scotland last year. 15.

And from everything I have read over the years, in virtually all of the cases the 'evidence' presented is in the form of a confession from the person prosecuted. Almost none of it is the evidence of a BBC inspector stating that he saw the person doing a licensable activity without a licence.

Regarding possession of a TV needing a licence; I'm stunned that anyone still thinks this is the case.