TV Licence

[pwv]

A poster in the scammers thread mentioned this.  Do you need this to buy a TV or what?

[Slartibartfast]

Not where I live (US), but I believe it's a special tax in the UK.  We just have to pay extra as part of our cable bill each month for those of us who have cable - but there's no cost to just own a basic TV and not get service to it.  (DH and I have a TV we use for gaming and Netflix, for example.)

[katycoo]

Not in Australia.

We have several free-to-air channels which are accessible to anyone with a TV.  There are a few subscription services to get additional channels, pay per view and the like but you don't need one to watch the freely available channels.

[jedikaiti]

Yep. If you just want basic local channels that come in over the air, then all you have to do is buy a TV.

If you want to watch anything else, you have to subscribe to cable or satellite service, which has a monthly charge, plus (usually) equipment rental fees, sales tax, etc.

[Bluenomi]

In Aus the major networks are free to air so you just need a tv. We are in the process of converting from analogue to digital so if you've got the wrong type of TV when the switchover happens in your area you're in trouble. We had years of notice and constant ads for 6-12 months before the change over and people still got caught out 

There is also pay for view tv (what the US call cable). Certain things legally have to be shown on free to air (usually sporting events)

In the UK you need to pay for a tv licence, basically that's how the government funds the BBC. I can't remember the exact details but I'm sure a UK poster could explain.

[Bright]

I'm in the UK. I've not had a television, or a TV License for years, not since the digital switch over.

"You need a TV License if you watch or record television programmes as they're being shown on TV - online, on a TV, or on any device (even a laptop)"

It's £145 a year and the money goes to fund the BBC. I believe there's now a selection of freeview channels most people get, which are funded by advertising as well as the BBC channels. Anything fancy though you need to pay extra. And it doesn't matter if you don't watch BBC, you still have to pay the license. 

I don't like the TV License company since they treat people who don't own televisions like criminals. 
 They assume everyone with a postcode has a television and send threatening letters. I'd huge difficulties getting them to accept that I don't own a tv.

[kherbert05]

The UK is the only place that I've heard of having a TV licence. My understanding it is funds commercial free tv on BBC.

In the US, the people own the airwaves. They are "loaned" to the broadcast TV people and those stations must meet certain requirements about news, educational tv, and have restrictions on language, scrabble related activities.

PBS is commercial free. It is funded by grants, and donations.

"basic cable" has more freedom about language and scrabble. They pay fees to the broadcast stations to rebroadcast them*. You have to pay a fee, usually based on Tiers.

Premium stations cost and and pretty much have no restrictions.

* These rebroadcast fees are why the broadcast stations are suing Aereo and similar companies. I am a cord cutter. I tried a digital antenna but had problems getting certain stations. Aereo came to Houston. I pay $12.00 a month to rent a remote digital antenna and DVR. I can record 2 shows at a time up to 60 hours storage. I use that Hulu, netflix, and amazon instant to get my TV. I use a roku to get my shows on my TV via the internet. So far the broadcasters have lost their suits.

[cicero]

The UK is the only place that I've heard of having a TV licence. My understanding it is funds commercial free tv on BBC.
[\quote]
Nope - we have iut in Israel too. It's approximately 100$per year. You have to pay it if you own a TV, doesn't matter if you use it or not, or if you use you TV only to watch DVD s.

It funds our public TV station, channel one, which is supposedly commercial free but no it exactly as they use it for *government* and *NGO * clips. I don't own a tv- since *everyone * has cable/sattelite it's impossible to get anything but snow on a regular TV set ( although by law it,s  suppised to be availablke asnd i think that you can get a box for the three free stations), and I don't' want to get cable/sat. So î never bothered.

[Ereine]

We used to have tv licence in Finland, I that it worked pretty much the same as in the UK. The money went to funding the national broadcasting company and you had to have a licence to watch tv and they had inspectors (usually off-duty policemen) you would visit people who didn't have a licence (so that some people would only open the door for people who knew their secret doorbell code). They couldn't enter the home but if they saw or heard the tv they could fine you. I'm not sure how much it cost because I've never had a tv licence (or a tv, because I didn't want to pay for it). This year it was changed into a tax that everyone has to pay, even if they don't watch tv (I still don't have one but don't mind paying it because I think that public broadcasting is important), I think that it got too difficult to monitor with new technology. 

Edit: I realised how contradictory I sound. I didn't want to pay for the licence because it was pretty expensive and most of the time I couldn't afford it, the tax isn't as much (it's based on your income).

[scotcat60]

I don't like the TV License company since they treat people who don't own televisions like criminals. 
 They assume everyone with a postcode has a television and send threatening letters. I'd huge difficulties getting them to accept that I don't own a tv.


 A friend of mine had the same trouble. So many people have TVs, mobile phones and computers these days that you get looked at as odd if you don't.

[Another Sarah]

The TV license fee goes to fund the BBC which is classed as a public service.
In its charter it is supposed to dedicate a certain amount of its broadcasting time to public education, objective news reporting, and quality entertainment.

This is quite amusing if you live in the UK.

(although we'll always be grateul for Doctor Who)

[jedikaiti]

Just keep exporting Doctor Who and Top Gear over to BBC America and I'll be happy.

[Katana_Geldar]

I thank the BBC for QI and Stephen Fry.

[cicero]

I thank the BBC for "keeping up appearances". and gordon ramsey.

[shadowfox79]

I don't like the TV License company since they treat people who don't own televisions like criminals. 
 They assume everyone with a postcode has a television and send threatening letters. I'd huge difficulties getting them to accept that I don't own a tv.

They also do it the other way round. I got a threatening letter after buying a TV, despite the fact that our address does have a TV licence - just in DH's name, not mine. The woman on the phone was able to fix it in two seconds, so it's not like they didn't have the information already.