No TV licence, what do you lose?
No TV licence, what do you lose?
Author
Discussion

Ari

Original Poster:

19,755 posts

238 months

Wednesday 16th December 2020
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I'm seriously considering ditching paying for a TV licence. I watch very little TV and I really don't feel I want to voluntarily fund the BBC anymore.

But I don't actually know what I physically have to do (unplug the TV aerial, remove the TV aerial?) and what I can then watch (can I have a satellite dish and watch Sky for instance? What about internet streaming like Amazon or Netflicks?).

Also, can I use a question mark within brackets, and since it marks the end of a sentence normally, should the following word start with a capital letter? What about the full stop I put at the end of the paragraph above - superfluous since it immediately follows a question mark or does the presence of a close bracket after the question mark render it necessary?

So much I feel I don't know this morning. (Like why is everyone now talking about The Third Wave - when was the second!?)?!

anonymous-user

77 months

Wednesday 16th December 2020
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I haven't had a tv license for years, I just watch things on catch-up, Netflix and Amazon. I find I watch more things I like rather than just sitting down and scrolling through Sky hoping I'll find something I can tolerate

dxg

10,111 posts

283 months

Wednesday 16th December 2020
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Literally nothing.

Sometimes there's the odd live news story that I wish I could track. But then I remember that those things just run on a 20 minute repeating cycle and there's actually more insight to be gained by reading the story in the next day's newspapers.

Put it this way. I got rid of the licence and live TV about seven years ago. About two years ago, I got the inkling that a new TV would be a nice addition to the house as those Samsung QLED screens look incredible! Still haven't bought it. Can't quite see the point of even that.

Spare tyre

12,029 posts

153 months

Wednesday 16th December 2020
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Don’t have one, it’s amazing how much time you spend watching the tv because it’s there

Have a physical tv in lounge with google plugged in, mostly YouTube creators on it

dxg

10,111 posts

283 months

Wednesday 16th December 2020
quotequote all
And an added benefit is a great reduction in the amount of advertising in your life!

(Although Youtube's starting to really get on my tits for that...)

Spare tyre

12,029 posts

153 months

Wednesday 16th December 2020
quotequote all
dxg said:
And an added benefit is a great reduction in the amount of advertising in your life!

(Although Youtube's starting to really get on my tits for that...)
The advertising on YouTube is a weird one. On the iPad it’s frequent, streamed from the iPad to the tv is rare

LordGrover

34,035 posts

235 months

Wednesday 16th December 2020
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According to this it's needed for Amazon Prime, Now TV, Youtube and others (live): click.

Miguel Alvarez

5,151 posts

193 months

Wednesday 16th December 2020
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Spare tyre said:
dxg said:
And an added benefit is a great reduction in the amount of advertising in your life!

(Although Youtube's starting to really get on my tits for that...)
The advertising on YouTube is a weird one. On the iPad it’s frequent, streamed from the iPad to the tv is rare
I was talking to the missus about this at the weekend. I’ve noticed a lot more adverts when connecting YouTube to the tv then say a month ago. Not sure why.

QuartzDad

2,761 posts

145 months

Wednesday 16th December 2020
quotequote all
Ari said:
I'm seriously considering ditching paying for a TV licence. I watch very little TV and I really don't feel I want to voluntarily fund the BBC anymore.

But I don't actually know what I physically have to do (unplug the TV aerial, remove the TV aerial?) and what I can then watch (can I have a satellite dish and watch Sky for instance? What about internet streaming like Amazon or Netflicks?).
Looks comprehensive, don't watch or record anything live and don't use iPlayer:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/broadband-and-tv...

Bathroom_Security

3,774 posts

140 months

Wednesday 16th December 2020
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Thought you weren't allowed a TV without a license? What do you do disconnect the coaxial and tell the debt collectors you don't watch terrestrial despite having a big flat screen on the wall?

I watch DMAX and QUEST sometimes to get my fix of watching Dave dig for gold nuggets or Bazza catch some crab on his trawler but thats it. Occasionally watch ITV/BBC catch up though for a series.


Evolved

4,059 posts

210 months

Wednesday 16th December 2020
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LordGrover said:
According to this it's needed for Amazon Prime, Now TV, Youtube and others (live): click.
It’s spuriously worded. I think what’s being said is; if you stream any of their services to those devices (as they do have apps you can download), you’ll need a license. The way they word things and subsequently chase and bully is so annoying, it makes people think they ‘have’ to have one of they’re breaking the law

red_slr

19,921 posts

212 months

Wednesday 16th December 2020
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You can’t watch live tv or use any bbc I player services.
You can use other online services though like itv player, YouTube, Netflix etc however you can’t use those services to watch live broadcasts if they offer that facility. I.e sky news live on YouTube.

You can keep your antenna the regs were updated a few years ago it’s now the act of actually watching rather than being able to do so.

Miguel Alvarez

5,151 posts

193 months

Wednesday 16th December 2020
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Agreed it does seem intentionally grey.

Mr Whippy

32,175 posts

264 months

Wednesday 16th December 2020
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I only pay for CBeebies for the little ones.

Also BBC 2 HD (among a few others) is good (on Freesat with really high bit rate) for recording films without adverts. Near Blu-Ray quality but for 'free'

Then they're all put on the server as free/legal copies.

Rojibo

1,747 posts

100 months

Wednesday 16th December 2020
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Getting rid of our TV licence was one of the best things I did a few years ago.

No adverts, no crap constantly spouted, and arguably nothing of any value lost. Haven't missed it at all smile

red_slr

19,921 posts

212 months

Wednesday 16th December 2020
quotequote all
Bathroom_Security said:
Thought you weren't allowed a TV without a license? What do you do disconnect the coaxial and tell the debt collectors you don't watch terrestrial despite having a big flat screen on the wall?
Those were the old rules, own equipment capable of receiving a tv signal.

Now it’s just you can’t watch bbc or live tv. So there is no law against owning a tv and just watching Netflix on it.

Also when you buy a tv the retailer is required to take your address. If it’s a ftf sale just say a made up address, saves the nasty tv licence letter.

If it’s online they use the delivery address. I get tv licence letters all the time at work as we had TVs delivered there over the years. Been about 15 years now and still no visit...

craigjm

20,449 posts

223 months

Wednesday 16th December 2020
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I can understand not being able to watch live streaming of BBC online and not being able to use iPlayer etc but why would I ever need a TV license to watch say Sky TV live through now TV or use my Netflix subscription etc? I would like to see that tested in court. I think it’s spuriously worded because they know millions of people would disconnect their antennas and stop paying because viewership of BBC services is dying. It really is time to just make it a commercial enterprise

red_slr

19,921 posts

212 months

Wednesday 16th December 2020
quotequote all
LordGrover said:
According to this it's needed for Amazon Prime, Now TV, Youtube and others (live): click.
Link not working where I am. Can you post which bit you think states that ?

red_slr

19,921 posts

212 months

Wednesday 16th December 2020
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craigjm said:
I can understand not being able to watch live streaming of BBC online and not being able to use iPlayer etc but why would I ever need a TV license to watch say Sky TV live through now TV or use my Netflix subscription etc? I would like to see that tested in court. I think it’s spuriously worded because they know millions of people would disconnect their antennas and stop paying because viewership of BBC services is dying. It really is time to just make it a commercial enterprise

Because tv licence covers all live broadcast tv does not matter if it’s over the air or over the web. However watch any other content as much as you like just not the live stuff.

LordGrover

34,035 posts

235 months

Wednesday 16th December 2020
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red_slr said:
LordGrover said:
According to this it's needed for Amazon Prime, Now TV, Youtube and others (live): click.
Link not working where I am. Can you post which bit you think states that ?


Note it's only live content, so Netflix doesn't count.