The threatening letter British people don’t take seriously
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- Опубликовано: 4 июн 2022
- What do you guys think? Are they gonna arrest me?
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I once saw a tweet from someone in Scotland that said a TV licence person had shown up at their neighbors house and pointed out they must have a TV because they have a satellite dish, and their neighbor replied "An I got milk in the fridge, dunny mean I got a cow out back" and that's hands-down the greatest response I've ever heard 😂
Scottish logic wins.
I'm so using that next time they visit me
I got them tell me I have a tv as I have an Ariel on the chimney stack, I told them I got a chimney but not a coal fire. Bottom line shut the door don’t communicate it sterilising them and there investigation.
Oldest joke in the book
@@evi6199 Surely there were jokes around before satellite dishes
My nan got so scared of those letters she started paying the TV license even though she doesn't actually own a TV, nothing I say will convince her it's safe to quit the bill and save the money.
Same thing with my parents. They are scared that people will come round and do something even tho these people have no rights at all and you can just tell them to piss off lol.
My mother actually believes that they have those detector vans that go around and pick up what you're watching on TV haha
@@Janus-yv8zm To anyone who doesn't know, that used to actually be a thing.
@@Janus-yv8zm that used to be the case with analog tv’s but not with digital.
@@BaldMancTwat those vans never worked to start with.
As a technician I know of various technical issues, why that entire charade is just another scam used to fool gullible people.
TV Licencing got an earful when I reported my father had died. After telling them his house was empty, they asked me to confirm that there was nobody there to watch TV. I told them that the output of BBC-1 was so dull, my father died rather than watch any more. For once, they deviated from their threatening little script.
I also asked if they could send the enforcement officer round on a specific day as I needed a hand with disposing of an old television set.
It is sad but funny at the same time 😂
This the actual reason why you’re parents tell kids to not open the door to strangers
I guess your parents never told you the difference between "you're" and "your".
@@pioruns Your point? English may or may not my first language, either. Now what?
@@Anvilshock Im getting sick of where this thread is going. To all those complaining about spelling or punctuation GET A LIFE. You kind of lose the argument when you fail to see the point. It just makes you look ignorant to other peoples points of view and pretty childish too.
@@alansharman3644 "You fail to see the point" - Mighty bold of someone to say this while exactly failing to see that making such comments isn't an indicator of seeing or ignoring people's points at all, just like having lunch doesn't mean one is ignorant of breakfast. Plus, it's exactly not childish. What is childish, however, is becoming disproportionately defensive and taking such comments as attack at one's person when it's addressing nothing more (and nothing less) than that person's CHOICE of performance. Worse yet, when it's someone's as valiant as uncalled-for white-knighting "defense".
Just tell your kids that if a stranger says their a tv licence officers then they are kidnappers, tell them no and close the door, the door is magic and will stop them trying to grab you, saying no activate the magic protection the door has 😂
Years ago they advertised that a TV detector van was operating in your area. People actually believed that they could detect what you were watching on TV 🤣🤣
It was actually the army that brought that scam to its knees because the armed forces contacted the TV licensing board stating that technology would be really useful to us don't suppose you want to share it, and when they were told they were bluffing the armed forces exposed them.
@@24magiccarrot Interesting.
They could, certainly back in the days of analogue. When TV licensing enforcement used to be the remit of the GPO (now Royal Mail and BT) my dad used to have to do "TV visits" and they would knock on people's doors and tell them what they had been watching just before they got up to answer the door.
@@raithrover1976 That's because they could usually see or hear it through the window. 🤣
@@raithrover1976 Only by listening for the TV audio. There was absolutely no way they could "detect" it any other way.
At my first year of university, we were getting these Draconian letters sent to our HALLS residence. Hundreds of panicky foreign students being told they were getting fined a £1000 if they didn't pay a licence, and almost none of them had TVs
Yeah I had these sent to me in private halls that were 99% foreign students
I remember thinking that I had to pay for a TV licence to watch TV through my Playstation , yet I managed to go through the entirety of my first year streaming with no letters from TV licence
Places like halls of residence are exempt, they have one tv license to cover the whole building. BBC/ Capita know this fine, but they send letters anyway in hopes that some students won't know, they'll just panic and pay up. It's just greed, plain and simple.
@@tankie9997 very interesting. i’m amazed they’re so hammer-fisted in their approach to be honest.
@@samuelmcdonagh1590 I see what you did there! 😂 🤣 But yeah, most sickening is how they target the elderly, they do it to retirement homes as well I think.
If they knock at your door and "ask" to come in, you're legally allowed to deny them entry, and there's nothing they can do about it
Even if they bring a 🐖 👮♀️ along.
@@stubones
They try that one after you tell them to go and do one.
However the presence of plod is to "Keep the peace" not to inforce corparate robbery. You just have to ask "In what capacity are you here kuntstable!"
Before informing both they have no business there.
True but I’m a complete walk over . I’m
fortunate my husband is more
gobby and confident . Not sure what I would do if he wasn’t around …
I’ve had these letters in our new rental, literally the next day after we moved in? They soon piled up in 4 months . One actually had a window cut out on the envelope and it did scare me it said “we are coming on the 24th October” . But when I opened the letter it revealed “we are coming on the 24th oct but are you going to be available?😂😂. After this I completely ignored them.
I remember in one property 10 years ago my husband let them in . I didn’t like it just feels like they’re infringing on our privacy with our toddlers around . But yeah they saw we had a TV set to use for my in law with dvds . And for videos games .
We have one in my in laws still it gives her a sense of day and night . If we didn’t do this for the 3 hr increments I wasn’t there she would
Sleep then all night she would stay awake . So yes she has a license but because of her age she doesn’t have to pay . So no threatening letters for her, plenty for me ;)
@@stubones you only have to start talking about the BBC being a p.eedòring then watch how uncomfortable they both become before dispersing 😄👏👍
They do try it on pretty hard these days as it's run by capita now
I remember as a naive 20 year old who’d just moved into my first house, I spent an age sorting out the usual utilities etc but never thought of this. The Tv licence guy showed up at my house in his van and actually read me my rights, “whatever you say may be taken into evidence” etc 😂
Honestly some of them they think they’re so hard 🤣
Would be worth it just to say "Nah I'm alright" and close the door on someone reading you your rights.
@@LabradorIndependent I would do it now if it was regarding a TV licence 🤷♀️ but then I was no more than a kid who was excited to get her first house. He scared the shit out of me!
@@clairelovescats7175 exactually the same thing happened to me. Scared me so i payed up.
British authorities are some of the least threatening on the planet. Except for the SAS, they're terrifying.
I paid for years until 2017 when I realised the only thing I watched BBC for was Eurovision. I told them that I didn't watch TV and luckily the day that someone came to check was the day we brought my newborn son home from the hospital. I said it wasn't a good time for him to come in and the enforcement officer said I'm going to be busy enough with a newborn and I won't need any more stress, so he would put on my account that he had been in and seen we didn't have a TV. We haven't had any letters or visits for the past 5 years.
Eurovision is free on RUclips nowadays :3
Besides, nowadays, people watch from their phones or laptops. Television is dying and the only purpose it serves to display stuff from your phone (like a steaming app) on a larger screen.
@@parkchimmin7913 I dont know if thats true or not for families. You arent having a family sit and watch tv together on a smartphone. And I presumed the only people watchign stuff on their smartphone are kids using it for ticktok. But then again I just assume people have PC's or smart TV's so dont really watch crap on their tiny phone. Who wants to watch a beautiful movie on a phone :S
@@IncubiAkster You can connect your phone to the TV. It works on most TVs as long as you have an adapter (although, I think most TVs are smart TVs nowadays. So it comes with that function).
I have written to them from almost every property I've lived in. They always say "Thanks for letting us know you don't need a TV licence, we may still send round an agent to confirm".
1. They rarely actually come (I have never had a visit over 6 properties).
2. They are the same agents they send for non-payment. You can say no and close the door. They aren't government agents with elevated powers of entry, they are people from private companies. They can do one.
The people who come out and who are on the phone are all Capita Employees :D
Just pay the license fee you thieving gimp
@@dragonflopus6425on commission nonetheless.
I'm British and an OAP (Ordinary Aged Prick) and haven't paid a TV licence for years. The last letter I got from them stated that someone would be coming to my property on the 3rd of November. Nobody turned up. This is the fifth similar letter I have received this year.
You should've sent them email or something saying.. hey I brought cakes had the kettle on you never turned up,,,
Please turn up, I've got a little of tea and we can watch some RUclips shorts.
I am international student in recommendation. The warden stop the ‘Tv guy’ at the front entrance😂😂
The letters are shocking. Imagine we got letters in every month saying "YOU BETTER NOT BE DOING DRUUGGGS"
Sorry I couldn't help but laugh 😂🤣
🤔
In Denmark the tv license was made into a media license and was recently put under tax collection instead of it being a separate thing to pay. There's basically no way of getting around it here because if you have a smart phone you have access to everything you do on your tv.
People forget that the infrastructure to watch air based or line based transmissions costs money... 99% of the time... the tax payer. It's just done differently everywhere. UK should just do what Denmark is doing and put a small tax if needed on normal tax to maintain the media infrastructure. It then should charge for streaming BBC services like every other company.
Same in Sweden.
Frankly, I think we should do that here in the UK. I don't want to lose the BBC, or the other channels it supports.
Same in Norway.
That's actually a smart idea
I had a house I was renovating. It was completely empty for 5 years. The letters started turning up. Initially, I would log on to their site and say not required, and they would leave me alone for 6 months. Then to declare you didn't need one, they changed the online form so now you have to put in your name and personal details. I stopped responding and started getting these letters, that start off in white envelopes and then the envelopes turn red when it gets "serious". I ignored them until the cycle of white and red started again. They never turned up. They'd be welcome to look round and see there isn't even a bed. Twats.
I've been getting those letters for twenty years, they came in really useful when I had a wood burning stove.
same they make great fire lighters
TV licencing is utter bollocks. The worst that ever happened to me in 20 years of not having a licence was someone came to the door while I was at work and left a note that they'd called. And if you happen to answer the door, just tell them to piss off as they have no legal power to enter your property. Good video mate 👌🏻
Got a friend who doesn't have a TV. They keep sending him letters. He doesn't reply.
It's been 20 years now. They've never turned up.
I deliver the letters, probably one every two weeks to the same places (quite a few of them), for the time I have been on this current route about ten years. So last month I cancelled my licence because it's obvious they never follow up on their threats. Being a postman I sent the letters back with my name on as "gone away" so they send "the occupier" ones now, which I just bin.
@@jaybe2908 Here's something I don't understand. Whatever happened to the word "occupant"? "Occupier" makes me sound like an invading army that's conquered my own home! 😂
@@berniethekiwidragon4382 thats all we are to them
@@just_saw_dust I wish I could do that, but unfortunately not, still they will be sending them in a festive red envelope soon, something to look forward to.
@@jaybe2908 Best thing is they can't take "the occupier" to court
As someone from Germany (where you literally have to pay for TV licensing just cause you’re car is capable of using a radio and they CAN and will use law enforcement if you don’t pay) I actually needed assurance by my British friends that they literally cannot fine me for anything in the UK 😂
Wow, and I thought the Nazis were purged ages ago. Sucks to live in a state like Germany.
They can't. The police needs a warrant to search your home. The same for the TV License "Authority". They are not even a government department. My ex-housemate turned one of their inspectors away, not letting him in or giving his name. Nothing they could have done.
Yep, a lot of these videos, and the people commenting on them, clearly don't know that lots of countries have a TV licence. Some, like France, make you pay it for just owning a TV, even if it is unplugged and behind the sofa, and they include it with the property tax forms so you can't just ignore it.
What if your car doesn't have radio capability? Something pre-war or a racer for example?
You can literally tell them to fuck off and nothing will happen
Many years ago my ex hubby contacted the licensing people to ask could he pay monthly or three monthly because we didn’t have the money to pay a years bill in one go. (This is before the monthly came in years ago)
They said no…and if you don’t cough up immediately we’ll take you to court and you’ll pay a thousand pounds fine inside the next 7 days. I’ll never forget how upset he was because he’d been honest about it.(he was very innocent) So we unplugged the set.
No telly from there onwards but the kids learned to play chess, read and actually talked to each other. I took up sewing. It was interesting to see how quickly everyone adapted to no screen in the corner of the room. It wasn’t missed.
I remember hearing about an estate agent who was viewing an empty property and a tv licence inspector showed up and tried to sell him one. Another one was a friend in work was clearing out his parents house after they moved to a retirement home and guess what? 😂 They don’t even know if a house is empty, just licensed or unlicensed.
I think comparing the TV License to streaming sites like Netflix and Amazon Prime misses the point. at its heart the TV licensing system, for all its flaws, is based on the principle that broadcast media should be a public service whilst streaming services are fundamentally based on viewing their content as a product to be sold for profit. whether one is better than the other is up to people's individual opinions but they are ultimately different things which aren't interchangeable.
Thiiiiiiiis.
Indeed this is why they can afford things like shows for minorities like knitting shows for the elderly. I don't watch that sort of thing but I respect that these shows exist for those people, as there isn't a hope in hell this could afford to exist on Netflix as it's not profitable.
Errr it's basically the same thing though. Plus the licence is a sham, we all know that. It funds the BBC yet the BBC make money from advertising which it was never meant to do, they claim it's also for C4 / ITV etc but they're advertising based funding. It's all just another tax to make the Gov richer.
Whatever your views on the validity of the TV Licence (personally I loathe the BBC and pretty much everything they produce), what is undeniable is that the bully boy tactics used by third party so called 'enforcement' agencies is disgraceful.
@@damionyates4946 yup. TV shows like springwatch or educational content like GCSE Bitesize programming, etc all of that would be sacked off in an instant.
After my husband and I got our own place we genuinely didn’t have a TV and didn’t think to let them know and someone came to our door at like 8pm when I was home alone and said something like “I’m here to check if you have a TV” and I was like “Absolutely not.” Creeped me the hell out tbh and made me wonder if there were people who weren’t legit and using this to scare people into letting them into their homes? Idk, might be a stretch but I was super uncomfortable the rest of the night.
We also lost my dad right before the pandemic and couldn’t go and empty out his house for months because we couldn’t travel. By the time we got in there we could barely open the door for threatening TV license letters. Obviously they couldn’t have known but still quite upsetting to see his name of several threatening letters.
I’m all for public domain broadcasting but the way they go about it really doesn’t sit right with me.
Public TV doesn't mean Public domain
Check what the Australians do; much more civilised.
The BBC are a bunch of vile bullies. Do not pay them.
@@petergersbach7355 yeah in Australia we don’t have the Conservative party sending threatening letters demanding a license fee to sustain the ABC. Instead they have been pushing for privatization by underfunding the public broadcaster (death by a thousand cuts) so that public interest and support for it is eroded and so there’s no opposition when they eventually sell it off to Rupert Murdock or some other rich prick who will repurpose it for some kind of propaganda
IF YOU PHONE AND TELL THEM YOU DONT HAVE A TV, THEY WILL COME ANYWAY, IT SAYS SO IN THEIR THREATENING LETTERS.
Few days after arriving in the uk I had my first visitor in the shape of a tv licence inspector! I happily opened the door to him as I was very new to the uk and literally friendless, but he wasn’t friendly and pointed at my little tv and said “ do you have a tv licence “ I said “ what is a tv licence “ he said he’ll need my name and I gave him my name and few days later I received a court hearing letter! So just like that I became a criminal few weeks after my arrival in the uk ! Had to pay for a lawyer and ended up paying a fine and that was my welcoming ceremony in the UK in 1983!
That's rough, if you'd known better you would have just said no thank you and shut the door, you can have as many TVs as you like as long as you don't use them to watch live TV as it's broadcast or BBC iPlayer, back in those days however virtually everyone needed a TV licence, although a TV could still have been connected to a VCR, computer or games console even then without requiring a licence. Did he see the TV on? If so and it was live TV you were screwed, but it was a waste paying for a lawyer in my opinion since the fine is on average only £150 if you just plead guilty and a lawyer would cost much more (the maximum is £1000, but it's barely ever given), not sure what it was back then.
I am so sorry they were allowed to do that to you
So sorry jupiterthesun, I hate to hear people who move to GB being treated so disgracefully.
The UK makes episodes of the Twilight zone look normal.
Who knocked on the door after that Agent Smith from the Matrix?
I heard this story from my dad, probably happened around the 1960s-70s: My grandfather's coworker was a huge guy, built like a tank. He'd been getting harassed by the BBC to pay for a TV licence for years, which he always refuted with "I don't have a TV, I don't need a licence." One day, one of their thugs showed up at his door again, and he'd had enough. Apparently he grabbed the guy by the collar and dragged him around his house, showing him every room, asking the idiot to show him where the TV was. He then threw the guy out on his ass and wasn't bothered by them again.
legend
yea, I envy black privilege. Neighbor out a knife to the mans throat and politely told him never to return. If I had done that I would be under the jail still.
I haven't paid for a TV licence in years (only watch on demand streaming services). Made the mistake of talking to the TV licensing goons on the doorstep once and they deliberately misconstrued what I said and I got fined for it. Social anxiety and naivety combined to stop me from reading the situation correctly at the time.
If they ever come round again I'll very politely tell them to get bent.
They can fine you based on your words? Is a police officer present when they visit? Can't believe that would hold up in court.
The only words you say to them are "no" and "bye".
How exactly did they fine you?
@@samconroyy They get you to sign their form after they have spoken to you, in hindsight in should have carefully read the form, but like I said anxiety clouded my judgement and I didn't. They used the form to take it to court, I initially considered pleading not guilty but was warned that if I was found guilty then they could increase the fine, so I opted to just pay it and be done with the stress.
@@beeurd No judgement mate, I'm the same. Even people I'm expecting at the door I sometimes fumble my words, poor delivery drivers must think I'm special.
I understand that watching live TV without a licence is a criminal offence. However I don't know of any other crimes where you have to write to a government agency every year to tell them you haven't done it. Maybe I *should* write to TV Licensing listing all the murders and robberies I haven't committed? You know, just in case.
Or you could just ignore them.
You don't *HAVE* to write to them every year, or indeed at all.
there are some taxes where you have to make nil returns every year
@@theotherside8258 The TV tax isn't one of them.
Supposedly, life doesn't exist without a tv. No one gets chased for not having an alcohol licence, fishing licence, driving licence, shotgun licence, betting licence, etc.
The letters escalate more and more to scare you into acting, but even if you get to the "We will visit your property on x date", nobody shows up and then they sort of reset and start sending the same letters again. What's even worse is that if you rent a place for a fixed period and then think to extend your rental, even if you tell the people "no I don't watch live TV or any of the things you assume I'd do in current year", they'll only leave you alone for a year at most; or they don't even remember that you told them "I don't watch TV, sod off" so you can't truly escape this waste of paper piling up at your front door..
I used to do this when I was at uni but no-one ever came but I was ready to tell them to get stuffed if they did. The worst part of it is they are charging the elderly when they are amongst those getting hit hard by this cost of living crisis.
if you're over 74 (or live with someone who is) or receive pension credit, you can get a free one
The debate around keeping/scrapping the license - essentially, the debate around publically funding the BBC or not - is a complex one (and really significant to a small island whose main exports are creative arts ones, such as TV shows... :-s ) One thing I would point out, Evan, is that people focus on the "no ads" thing of the BBC like it's about convenience, but it's actually about independence from advertising money. There are some well-known examples in the U.S. of things that couldn't be aired or had to be cut from TV shows because companies objected to their commercials being broadcast next to those shows - the BBC is currently not influenced by other corporations in that way, it's celebrated as an independent media platform for that reason. It's something that deserves protection from privatisation, but it's difficult to fight for when so few of us are watching enough live television to justify paying a license fee, as you say!
I agree that adverts should not be introduced but why not pay through it nationally instead of these stupid letters and licenses!?
As an almost exclusive watcher of BBC channels and content for these reasons, perhaps the advantages appeal to me far more than others, I agree. I personally hope the BBC stays publicly funded and free of influence of advertisers.
Completely agree. As a teacher, we also use so many of the BBC teach videos and resources and the BBC ‘school’ schedule throughout lockdown was so helpful. Also, being Welsh, we have so many regional specific shows that air on BBC Wales which just wouldn’t get made if it took on the same format as something like Netflix i.e. it’s not just about the ability for TV shows to get made in the UK, it’s about the regional specific shows that we just wouldn’t see if we didn’t have the platform for regional TV that the BBC gives. Yes, we have S4C but that is a predominantly Welsh language channel so not accessible to everybody.
I’m sure it’s the same in other regions across the UK too but I feel it’s particularly important to us as a smaller country, allowing us to produce/consume our own forms of discrete entertainment that are important to our culture/identity (it wouldn’t be the 6 nations without Scrum V on BBC Wales). Anyway, that’s my input- I’ll save BBC radio/BBC radio Wales for another discussion 😂.
@@thegreypenguin5097 Totally agree the threatening letters are unnecessary. Same as Evan, I own a TV but it's not plugged in and I don't watch live TV or BBC iPlayer. There is a way to go online and declare this (the website should be mentioned in the letters), which then means you only get a letter once a year/every few years, where they ask you to confirm if your TV situation is the same. Maybe Evan's not noticed, or it's different in his region of the UK...? If they made citizens pay for it through a national tax instead of a license then people like Evan and I would have to pay despite not benefiting from it as TV viewers, so in my view the licensing situation is appropriate.
@@amyw9940 That's a really good point - the regional stuff that gets made, and the educational resources! In a comment further down I discussed the writers development programmes and mentoring schemes and opportunities for screen/radio writers that are provided by the BBC and will likely all disappear when the funding gets cut. There are lots of reasons to support the BBC and the licensing. I know I'm a hypocrite as I don't currently pay for a TV license, but I'm on low income and don't watch TV or use iPlayer - if I could afford to, I would pay it even if I knew I wouldn't watch much telly because there are other ways a person can benefit, and I know it's important for others out there.
What I find insane is that I lived in halls of residence at university last year, where a TV license for our living room TV was included in the rent. However, because each of our individual rooms were under their own tenancy agreements, we constantly got letters telling us that we would be getting an enforcement visit because there was no license registered under our bedroom’s address, despite having a license for the TV in the room literally next door to my bedroom
Halls of residence rent can only provide cover for a tv license in a communal area it can't provide a license for a tv you have in a bedroom which is classed as a separate address.
lmao same. they kept sending letters adressed to flat 308 but we each had our own room with a letter after it like 308A so I just ignored them
I used to get them while living in hostels.
You have to be a bit of
a wiley ol' scallywag to do the English hostel circuits
so avoiding TV licencing wasn't a problem.
It's impressive how most people's TVs would turn into out of place looking houseplants overnight.
A tv license person came to my grandpa’s house to get him to pay his tv license, after A Lot of letters, and actually went in. He had so many instruments in his living room there was no room for a tv.
I lived in the UK for 8 years and watched TV on a flat screen tv mounted on my wall. I never paid for 1 month of the tv licensing and ignored the letters. They eventually stopped. If you live on the ground level, just make sure your curtains are closed.
Can pay, won't pay.
I disagree on the argument that Netflix or Apple will be a good enough substitute to BBC. Both a) make the content appealing primarily to US users, and will overlook topics more relatable to British culture and society b) have no obligation to keep filming in UK. Corporations come and go, but the state will likely stay and keep running programs to fund British filmmaking, profitable or not.
C) Private companies have no cultural or social obligation. They'll make whatever brings money even if it's utter rubbish.
@@silviasanchez648 so true
There's All4, you can pay but also option for free too! Just has ads but eh that's what you get watching it on TV too 😅
@@silviasanchez648 we can see this in Netflix currently. Some of the shows on it are ridiculous for commercial product placement.
D) Boomers can't exist without BBC
My main concern around these things is that the TV license doesn't just fund the TV arm of the BBC, but so many other incredible things.
The BBC already struggles with funding, which is such a shame. Although I don't watch a huge amount live telly, I watch BBC funded doumentaries and films, I use (and criticise) BBC News, BBC Bitesize helped me through school, Good Food is my go to place for recipies, and I do watch a decent amount on iPlayer.
Maybe I'm just all sad because they announced the end of CBBC which was literally my childhood
I just think people take the BBC for granted a lot of the time
(although i agree tv licensing letters are disgusting in the way they try to scare people. students did you know you probably don't legally need a tv license!)
They are ending CBBC!!!!!
Excuse me, what? They announced the end of CBBC?!? :O When did they do that? When will it end?
@@joewatson3386 they aren't ending it, they are just moving it online
@@BassBanj0 oh I see, still
I agree! I think so many people don't realise how much the BBC offers us and how much it invests in the UK cultural sector. Everyone complains about the threatening letters but they literally provide a link to stop receiving them if you don't watch TV (it's what I did as a student when I couldn't afford a tv license!). Whilst I agree the TV license is an outdated method of funding the BBC, I fear what will become of UK television without proper funding / if it becomes privatised.
Remember tv licence officers have the same authority as the Avon lady
Fun fact you can have 500 Televisions in your home just so long you only watch catchup services and watch none live broadcasting you do not need to buy a TV licence, you also are not required to talk to the BBC tv licence. Just ignore them
I'm in Scotland, once a year the TV licensing sends me an email asking me if I still don't watch TV. I go online and fill out the form and then I don't hear from them again until next year. I started not paying/watching as a boycott in 2014, then realised I didn't miss it and I was paying for a service I didn't use. Returned my Virgin TV box and now I stick to RUclips and streaming services.
Also from Scotland. Most of my life, my dad got at least one of these letters a month, but we never had iPlayer or anything like that and they have never been to our door. Even now, we still get these letters despite downgrading to a basic package and we stream just about all of our shows now. I'm not too sure of the specifics about payment though.
Shhhh the lizards will boycott you
That process means they leave you alone for 2 years. I know because I do it.
You still need a TV licence to watch RUclips and streaming services.
@@me-myself-i787 Nope, you need it to watch channels that are broadcasting live content. Including watching paid streaming services that broadcast live content. (Like BBC iPlayer.)
Check the form you need to fill in to say you don't require a TV license. It spells it out in a series of questions. (You don't need a TV License if you never watch live content on any channel, pay TV service or streaming service, or use BBC iPlayer*.)
I don't have an aerial, I don't have a set top box, I don't have freeview, I don't pay for any streaming services and I don't watch live content, and I don't miss it.
They keep changing their wording to frighten you into thinking you can't go online without their license - which is a nonsense.
Before watching let me guess, TV license?
Bang on, I recognised the document instantly
Literally guessed before the video loaded 🤣
Ayy knew it
Never ever ever let them physically check your tv ,they will attempt to plug it in and stich you up
They're not allowed to touch any of your equipment, not even the remote. They can ask you to plug it in or switch it on, but you can refuse.
I haven’t watched live tv in 16 years (my entire adult life) out of principal because of them sending me these pissing letters all the time. My pettiness knows no bounds.
I think you are missing a huge point here: This license money is the main funding for the whole of the BBC, not just TV. Perhaps most importantly their news division. In a country that is increasingly struggling with news monopolization as fewer and fewer owners(hip groups) control an ever higher percentage of outlets the media becomes much easier to control. More fundamentally: It is a huge problem for a democratic society for only media company owners interests to be presented in media. Public broadcasting can be a valuable asset to make sure a variety of views are represented publicly which is vital for a thriving democracy. The best example for the problem of an (almost) completely privatized media system is of course the US, where we can see the window of represented opinions a lot smaller than in other democratic industrial countries. This is of course not the exclusive fault of the media system but few observers would deny the impact. That is the state of affairs the Tories seem determined to emulate.
Exactly! I've always paid for my licence, and I am happy to. The idea of losing the BBC is abhorrent to me. Whether I watch it live or not isn't relevant.
This!
I thing you are the one missing the point of the video, it is not about whether or not the bbc is good or bad, its the way they go about getting people to pay for a licence, with lies and threats which is clearly the wrong way of doing things. I would pay for a tv licence if they didn't try to go after me and accuse me of a crime i didnt commit
That's true, but BBC needs to change. The price compare to another services is unreasonable and the way they demand the payment is close to fraud.
If the payment would be symbolic like £2 a month and the rest of the tv would be funded via commercials and government funding. You can't expect people to pay £15 s month or what ever is the price now for just BBC.
And people in BBC are overpaid anyway.
crazy thought: the bbc should have adverts like every other channel
TV license enforcement is an aged concept. The license itself is one of the most valuable parts of the UKs public TV structure.
This one payment per household, per year, gives us news, radio, narrative, sports, game shows, panel shows, children's TV AND educational web resources.
And it's all made specifically for the people watching and funding it. The BBC is so important because unlike every streaming service or third party tv package, its not made for direct commercial benefit.
If they just collected the cost as a tax, instead of with a pseudo-official threat squad, then I'd have no problems with it that i can think of.
You can get those without legally needing a license and changing an optional tax to a mandatory one is a disgusting idea for those that don't watch the BBC, watch live tv or record tv. We should stick with the same system but make it illegal for the BBC to lie and intimidate people into paying it.
The biggest issue with this argument, is that not paying £159 per year does not stop you accessing any of those services.
(For now) I don’t have to pay a license fee to watch publicly owned content on All 4, but I can pay a small amount if I chose to go ad-free. I don’t think I’d object to the BBC moving to a similar model, and putting live tv behind a similar paywall. £13 per month (ish) would balance out the TV license, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they struggled to make up the full £3bn per year without threatening people into paying
I appreciate the BBC as a public media source that is not beholden to advertisers. But I'm becoming increasingly more disillusioned with MSM. BBC is also a news source, and an incredibly biased, agenda-ed one. I don't want to give my money to them anymore; but if they were to make the TV licence a tax I'd have no option but to pay it.
@@miniaturesteamnick That issue is of their own making, they made it so every home with a tv has instant access to the BBC so they have an excuse to intimidate and threaten people to get a TV license.
How about hiking up the price as all the people who watch the BBC seem to like it so much to the point they want it to be a forced tax even for those that don't use it so they can pay the fee to keep it afloat themselves.
Private TV stations could and are doing all if not most all those same things, plus they could compete and wouldn't settle for mediocrity. What matters is who's working at the public networks and who they hire for production. Just 'cause we paid a license and some through our taxes doesn't mean that it will always equate to good content.
I didn't watch TV for about 10 years, and I got loads of threatening letters. One more or less called me a liar and a criminal. I wish I had sued them, as I genuinely didn't have or want a TV then.
Just never engage with their goons, say no thank you and close the door no matter what they try to say and they will have no option but to toddle off to bother someone else in an attempt to earn some commission.
@@pjcnet Nowadays I would look to suing them for defamation of character, which is what it amounted to. I think they are a bit more careful with what the reminders they send out now.
@@OLDCHEMIST1in speech its slander, in writing its liable
@@AquaFan1998 Yes, true. Libel is writing something untrue about someone, which is actually or potentially damaging. Forgive my old school language nerdery, "liable" is responsible for something, e. g. : "He was responsible for the accident, he is liable"
One thing I'd like to add, some times the Licensing lot that come knocking on your door, will have a police presence, just to try and intimidate you into getting into to your home, but the police literally have no power of this, they are usually only there as a mediator and will not get involved.
I'd be tempted to argue that that is a waste of police time and make a verbal complaint.
The cops are there to prevent a breach of the peace and usually accompany bailiffs calling to collect the fine for not paying for a licence. The police only attend if they believe there is a likelihood of a BotP, i.e. the homeowner has forcefully told the Crapita official to do one, previously.
It’s worth remembering the indirect effect the BBC has on entertainment in general. The BBC doesn’t directly make all the shows it airs. It’s commissions go to companies that end up making huge shows both for the BBC & others.
The production company behind Netflix’s Sex Education, almost all their content has been for BBC/Channel 4. The Crown was made by Left Bank Pictures who were the first British media company to receive investment from BBC Worldwide.
A chunk of Netflix’s (UK) content is shows originally made by or for the BBC/Channel 4, paid for by their funding.
It’s just not as simple as “we’ve got other options”.
BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC turns over a £1.5 billion profit or so every year roughly.
That seems like an argument for the BBC being redundant. We can cut out the middle man and just have companies like Netflix fund the shit instead.
@@peacemaster8117 Not really because the aims of the BBC are not aligned with the aims of 3rd party companies.
Companies like Netflix don’t have it written into their mission statement to support learning, to reflect the UK’s cultural & community diversity, to creative content uniquely British distinct from that made elsewhere and to reflect UK culture and values both internally & internationally, putting the UK into an international context to aid our understanding of the world & our place within it.
Throughout its history the BBC had made shows other platforms just would not have made because they wouldn’t have been profitable or didn’t fit current trends. The BBC’s unique position allows it to take chances where a commercial business could not and this is incredibly important for art and creativity. Not just for its own programming, but in terms of what it chooses to find in other areas as well.
I did a post grad in media policy, and I researched funding for public broadcasters. Public broadcasters are still incredibly important, regardless of whether they are profitable. They are independent, and independent from commercial interests. They can fund projects that would struggle to get Netflix’s attention, but still important for British audiences to see. TV licenses are not perfect, particularly because it results in irregular funding, which makes it hard to plan for projects, which means the quality of projects isn’t as high, as they don’t have the funding guarantee to allow for riskier projects. Having a well-funded public broadcaster is essential in a functioning, accountable democracy, and as such, are more important and relevant than ever.
Utter bull the BBC report what they are told to report along with the interest of the media barons......left/right its all just a show Parliament is nothing more than a Cartel looking after the interest of the rich.....the only reason we was given the vote on the EU was just a show and will have been fixed to leave even if remain had won.......why to save there tax loopholes and havens. And they never reported on that new law coming into effect for the EU before or during the vote. BBC,Media,banks,oil firms,,,,all part of the same cartel running the world
Why the lockdown world wide.....Banks have crashed again....big talk of that happening before the out break of the virus and bailed out during lockdown.....gone quite on the source of the virus....was it eating bats or was it the USA funded lab in Wuhan.....funny how the virus broke out just after the world military word games in Wuhan China.....would the worlds people allow the banks to be bailed out again so soon after 2008
Why? I watch no tv and manage to function ok, and keep up with news. I don’t need to pay to watch old football matches on a Saturday night for example. What do you think I’m missing exactly?
Bollocks. BBC is owned by a massive media organisation who also own everything and any thing else you can think of in the world. BBC is one part of media that continuously providing miss information and lies to the public day in day out along with our government lies, of what is truly going on in our country and around the world. For instance If no one had a TV then there would not have been any covid threats and lies affecting people's daily lives. This is how TV media is used to brainwash people into a false reality and control their lives with Threats and lies.
They are not independent from government propaganda, it is the mouthpiece of the government
@@fanfeck2844 my sentiments exactly. I'm quite capable of informing myself about domestic and international goings on without the BBC... And over the years I've discerned the fact that I'm able to source far more accurate and truthful narratives through interdependent journalists and media, often these independent sources inform me of what's going on in front of our eyes and behind the scenes long before the patently propagandist and corrupt MSM attempt to divulge their drivel narratives.
Excellent presentation, well done, much appreciated.
I'm so forgetful that I haven't paid TV licence in 30+ years 😬
lol
If you don’t want to receive those letters in the post anymore, you can just go online to the TV Licensing website to tell them that you don’t watch live TV at your address and then you won’t need to tell them ever again until you move house. That’s what I do and I’ve lived in my flat in England for 3 years with no letters from them :)
They apparently still harass people even if they declare it like this
I just let my kids to play with it.
Came into the comments to say the exact same thing
I did that but they started asking me again a few years later. I don't see why I should be compelled to contact them to tell them that I don't watch TV. If you have evidence that I'm breaking the law, take it to a judge. If you don't, you're just extorting people with threats. It's not my job to argue my own innocence when you haven't even got a case.
@@gdclemo I also object to being falsely accused of illegal acts (and in a rude and threatening manner as well). @chrissiemar prepare to start getting letters againt soon - they aren't permanent.
I remember in my first year at uni one of my flatmates picked up a tv on Freecycle. Had it plugged in to the wall in the communal area and watched it a fair bit. Came home one day to find the aerial cable was missing. Turns out one of the girls in our flat had her parents come for a visit, neglecting to tell the rest of us that her dad worked for TV licensing. When he found out we didn't have a licence he confiscated the cable. Goddamit Becky.
What a jobsworth! He wasn't even working!
Becky was probably not well-liked for the rest of the year 😅
Looks like you should have organised some frieghtners
It’s hard to enforce taxes or license without any kneecaps
One knocked on my door once. I told him get the F**k Off my property. He said oh OK & left.
I had the issue where my flat sat on two different postcodes and TV license would send me threatening mail to one the other postcode with my address and refused to acknowledge it was a single flat. Their harrassment is endless and nonsensical
That would be even better. In both postal codes you tell them no TV's here. LOL
I had no TV at all for 10 years. I got a stack of those letters and visits from the enforcement people every couple of years. They absolutely will not believe you don't have or watch TV if the property is occupied.
Then you can absolutely refuse to cooperate with them. You don't even have to tell them your name.
I don't even think being unoccupied is enough either 😂
Maybe I've been lucky, but my experience has been different (I also don't have a TV). Eventually the licensing people did accept that I didn't have one and left me in peace, apart from the fact that I have to send them a letter (which can be online) every couple of years or so saying that my circumstances haven't changed and I still don't have a TV.
except for the times when they do believe you and leave you alone
@Occam's Hammer Thanks. It doesn't really matter for me now because they've accepted that I don't have a TV and I don't use my computer to watch live TV broadcasts (though I do use it to listen to live radio broadcasts, which is permitted).
I'm afraid your argument that Netflix and Apple make content in the UK doesn't work. Yes they film here but they are not making programming that feels British or has a primarily British audience. US funded shows and films tend to have a very different feel even when they use UK talent.
An example I can give is that a few years back Nickelodeon made House of Anubis, a TV series set in a UK boarding school, with a largely British cast, and was filmed just up the road from where I live in Liverpool. I watched it. I enjoyed it a lot but none of the characters acted much like British people, they used American words and talked about doing American things. It was clearly made with an American audience in mind even though it aired here too.
But it still had uk employees. Which makes your argument contradictory and void...? It doesn't matter who its shown to they still got employed . THATS WHAT AN ACTOR IS....
It's a nice idea for to have it dedicated to making shows for British people but British people includes young people which the BBC clearly doesn't care about.
The problem is 95% of young people in the UK don't watch TV with any regularity and creative people in the UK don't want to make retirement programming. All the talent is leaving the BBC because the BBC isn't interested, they didn't give an opportunity to Charlie Brooker who had to go to Channel 4 and then Netflix to make Black Mirror. Where's the great British talent? It's not with the Beeb.
I've had the option to watch TV while looking after my Grandad and there's NOTHING on there that is appealing to me. It's endless nostalgia for a time decades before I was born and I'm not that young, I'm in my 30s! It's gameshows, chatting, cookery programs, antiquing, repeats, ancient old movies and traditional sports. Even scrolling through iplayer there's so little worth watching and the little that is most is available on other streaming services that I'd be far more likely to get as they're better value for money than a TV licence fee.
House of Anubis may not be the most incredibly British show but at least it exists and actually tries to appeal to young people.
Nore dose the BBC, they don't make program's for English people anymore.
As soon as I saw the title I instantly knew it was about TV licenses, I've lost count of how many letters they've sent me.
Just a correction: TV License doesn't automatically give you all the channels, to have all the channels you still have to pay out the same way as in other countries, with TV License you have the license towatch live (Broadcast) tv, either the free channels that everyone gets, or the ones you pay for to watch specifically (To another company, so at that point you're paying 2 fee's 1 for tv license and 1 for additional channels)
Evan, listen to “Proud of the BBC” by Mitch and just listen to the amount of services that they provide. I think the beauty of it is that there’s services that don’t make profitable sense - the shipping forecast is an easy example of this, but there are hundreds of services they provide.
BBC Bitesize is an invaluable resource to school children.
The fact that CBeebies and CBBC don’t have advertisements to children is a huge benefit.
Scrap that, the fact that none of the BBC’s services have adverts (when viewing from within the UK) is something I think we would be at a huge loss to lose.
And there’s talk about a subscription service, for example, but the way the license fee is currently done means the BBC gets funding to do a lot more than just television programming… if they went to a subscription model then I highly doubt the same quantity of people would pay the same equivalent amount.
Maybe it’s just my anxiety of change and me being a little patriotic about the BBC (I feel I’m a dying breed in that matter at the age of 22), but I really quite like the current system in the grand scheme of things.
I do however agree that the letters ought to be a little less threatening and deceptive
As an addendum to this; I think a lot of the problems here are due to government cuts on the issue.
The free tv licensing has been reduced significantly in the past few years, meaning it’s a greater financial stress on people with lower incomes.
The big problem of tv licensing is one that’s been manufactured over the recent decades by the government. The BBC are receiving less funding and it’s already been announced they’re going to be cutting their services; a lot of valuable ones too.
Having a national broadcaster that is independent from the government that doesn’t rely on appeasing corporations is something I think we’ve come to take for granted.
It's coverage of coronavirus has been a disgrace
@@neilg4208 What do you mean?
@@shadowcat4529 They never gave anything about the age and health demographic of those at serious risk... almost exclusively those in extreme old age or with comorbidities.
Those people should have been 'shielded' while the rest of us got on with our lives.
The BBC has almost entirely ignored the Great Barrington Declaration, preferring instead to parrot the government line
The biggest issue here is, that we are witnessing a huge contraction in opinions and biases due to the massive concentration of publishing houses. They do like to quote how many different titles there are and that everything is well, but most of the publications have the same articles written by the same staff. The pandemic caused huge losses in ad revenue for ad financed publications (here in Switzerland up to 80%) and it is causing an acceleration of the process. Small papers either die, get bought up by a big publisher and filled with the same articles their other papers get filled, or they get bought up by wealthy people with an interest to disseminate their opinion (that generally means wealthy older conservative right wing millionaires/billionaires - in Switzerland's case, Christoph Blocher already owns 38 papers - he should be a known name since he's the "Father" of the Swiss People's Party and most people will be familiar with the fearmongering adcampaigns they launch).
At the same time big publishing houses do not primarily make their money through publishing anymore, but rather through the divested classified ads that do not need a publication filled with news and information to get eyes on them.
And in this time we have constant attacks on public broadcasters and attempts to get rid of them. Their deliberate setup keeps them away from most influences and they can't be bought out. This includes the financial setup with fees instead of tax money as politicians have control over taxes and budgets and could use this lever to influence the public broadcasters.
There is a huge issue with switching to a subscription:
We live in democracies. In democracies, everyone needs access to information to make a political decision and vote accordingly. With the switch to a subscription model not everyone needs to pay and thus not everyone will get access to the information necessary for their participation in political processes. And that even counts for people not watching public broadcasters - the information they provide is used by other media they may consume. If this is removed, who is willing to spend the money to do research? Research is expensive and it is much easier to just fill the paper with soft news (information not relevant to political processes, i.e, "The ten cutest kittens", "Princess X seen sunbathing") as they are cheap to produce and gain reach (akin to Reality TV in the entertainment sector). Additionally, making it a subscription only also means a lot less money available for research, especially on more local and regional levels.
The best part is IF you do let them in, they then have to get permission to take photos of the TV etc. I read about this guy who got a B&W licence and when the officer came over to look, it was just a flat-screen TV that had the colours desaturated 😂.
I'd have put hentai porn on it and refuse to switch it off
I used to tell them online that I didn't need a licence, and I think that stops the letters for a year or two. My partner had been doing the same. Then we moved in together and BOTH continued to have to tell them that we didn't watch TV because while you can merge an existing licence for two people, you can't merge the declaration that you DON'T watch TV!
Outstanding video sir. TV liscencing has to be one of the biggest jokes to have ever been run in the UK, anyone coming over here to stay. Just don’t worry about it, it isn’t likely to come to anything. In my entire life i have never had these “Enforcement officers” knocking and as stated, they’d be laughed away from the front door.
I wonder how much it costs to send all those letters out 🤔
Fuckall compared to the wages of the parasites who work for TV Licensing. I bet there's some twat at the top on like 200 grand.
The BBC is still the UK's premier television producer (and plenty of shows are co-produced by them too). But because their news coverage wasn't glowing enough to the tories, they cut off the money used to fund the free licensed for over 75s (before immediately expressing 'shock and anger' when the BBC cancelled those free licenses due to having almost a billion pounds less funding a year for it), then eliminating the TV license (ending the assinine enforcement procedures is a good thing though), and then announcing the forced privatisation of Channel 4 which had record profits last year I believe. Whether any of their goals coincidentally align with a good outcome, it's pretty clear these actions are taking place punitively. Toe the party line, or get the axe.
Spot on
This, exactly.
The free licence for the elderly was never funded by the government... so the government couldn't take that money away, as you claim.
It was funded from the licence fees paid by others...and it was the BBC itself that ended it.
Recent years have shown how politically biased the BBC is...global warming, coronavirus, Brexit, BLM etc.
If you want a proper news service you have to look elsewhere
BBC is simply an outdated model. needs to be subscription based, they wont do it...they will go bankrupt over night with the amount of dodgy dealings the public knows about.
I had not heard about Channel 4 thing. I personally think the BBC should be scrapped, the talent would still exist but would be absorbed into the private sector.
It must cost more to send threatening letters and staff than simply scrapping the fee
My mum's paid for TV license the last 7 years and our TV doesn't even work.
I've always paid for my TV license because I support not having ads. Even though I only watch things on iPlayer occasionally, I'm okay paying the £100 or so a year for it. TV licensing accounts for something like 3/4 of BBC funding and if me paying means they won't charge people who would have more difficulty paying (over 75s etc) or start running ads then I'm fine with it. Granted I'm part of the DINK gang so paying for it probably doesn't impact me as much as others.
Completely agree, but over 75s already get a free tv license
I thought they scrapped the free TV for over 75s?? They re-instated the paying again. Not sure if they've gone back in that or not as folks were appalled by it. Just as folks are appalled that the OAP freedom pass now has a curfew again (they can only start using it after 9.30am)
@@rripley86 it's not all over 75s anymore I believe, but yeah my point was those less able to pay 😊
@@khwezik3894 it was just an example of those who may have difficulty paying - I believe they were planning to change it to only be free for over 75s receiving some kind of benefit (can't remember what it was specifically or if it was reversed)
Whats the DINK gang?
Saw the title, ah bet this is TV license. it was 😂
One of the only videos this year I will be sharing with my dad and a couple of others, very well Evan, brilliant!! 😁
I once got visited by tv licence enforcers while I was literally moving into my flat. I had a box in my hands while they interrogated me. I'm usually pretty polite, but unfortunately, I did ask them if they were "fucking blind". That being said, iPlayer is very decent, and the amount of incredible TV shows that are funded by the BBC is amazing. Also, as you pointed out, you don't actually have to pay for the licence if you are not using it. The bureaucracy is a little slow (15 years ago, anyone who said they didn't watch TV was almost certainly lying), but it can improve.
A very good point. I actually lived next door to an old lady who was in the Brethren church who don't have TVs. She got so stressed by the harassment that she used to buy a licence even though she had no TV.
That’s so sad
Key to know: our seniors used to get their TV licence for free. A couple of years ago, this was rescinded and our seniors are now held ransom to this TV service, even if they don’t watch. That’s when they lost me. We can literally put people in jail for watching TV. It’s disgusting. I cancelled my licence and urge everyone else to do the same. You don’t need one. Screw them.
Free hotel accomodation for foreign thugs and all sorts coming illegaly into Britain but old folk born and bred in Britain gotta pay for EVERYTHING. Disgrace.
@@seedubyu Is France really that bad that they need to risk their lives to escape?
@@seedubyu it's because those foreign thugs have no papers and are essentially free people they've not been registered yet, people are investments your birth certificate is a slave bond, it's estimated how much tax you'll pay in your entire life time then your bond is sold on the stock exchange nobody knows where their taxes really go, what a beautiful world be live in where people have been stupified and tricked right down to their language, *soldier* 'sold_dier'
one who is sold and ready to die.
Forcing seniors to pay for tv licenses is disgusting, as is your comment. Stats show that migrants are less than half as likely to commit crime than British citizens are, on what basis are they thugs? They’re as human as you, they’re as real as you, they love their families and Britain as much as you, if you weren’t up to your eyeballs in privileges for shooting out of the right vagina on the right piece of land you wouldn’t live in fear that someone was going to take it from you. I know, I know, I’m wasting my breath, it gets you all hot under the collar to punch down and lick up, doesn’t it!
Because they know we don't watch TV, so they target the elderly with scary letters. Just go online abd say don't watch TV as it states in the letter and they leave you alone.
I went online to tell them I don't use anything that requires a TV license and I only get a "check up" reminder every 2 years now. Bliss!
I haven't watched TV in 10+ years or maybe even 15+ years. if it wasn't for the older generations, we wouldn't even have TV now.
My parents kept getting threats and visits from TV licensing to their very empty house that was being renovated. 🤦🏻♀️
I had two visits and not a single time did they then put my name on the letter after I’d given it both times 🤣
There is a similar yearly fee for tv/media in Switzerland. Every household with a tv or a radio, or any other media that has access to tv channels or the radio (HINTHINT smartphones and pcs/laptops with internet access) is required to pay that fee. There is a great debate as well in Switzerland about the use and amount of that fee (right now it's 365 Swiss Franks I believe), but one strong argument for said fee is that it pays for news/reporting that is independent from any free market. Said fee, down the line, avoids such issues like a Fox-News like channel, or any of the other big players in the US (MSNBC, CNN, and so on) that have their own biases and overton windows that a citizen would need to rely on if independent reporting wasn't funded. It allows for more objective reporting and information. And every citizen or resident of a country does need that, whether they have an actual TV in their livingroom or not.
I totally agree with you and that’s why I’m happy to pay
the BBC and unbiased, fair reporting - never the twain shall meet
@@john_dx And it's not even impartial or even professional. Its coverage of coronavirus has been a disgrace
@@john_dx The ofcom rules only state that an individual or organisation needs to be portrayed fairly, need to be given time to respond on the issue and that their comments and contributions can't be used out of context or cut unfairly so their statement is altered. It doesn't need to be impartial. Also, already the selection process of what to cover is introducing a bias and not covered by ofcom rules.
Also, ITN is the production company for ITV News, C4 and C5 news, there is no editorial independence between the channels. Sky News is owned by Comcast.
Stating the TV license isn't doing anything is completely disregarding the media concentration process.
Incredibly about 4 years after I got rid of my last TV in 2003, after many, many threatening letters I actually had a visit from TV licensing! I lived in a maisonette - spare room, bedroom and bathroom at street level, downstairs the kitchen and large lounge/diner where the TV actually used to be. I invited the guy in said “Spare room here, bedroom here, bathroom …” and he then said “It’s OK, I’ve seen enough thanks” and left!
I could have had 20 TVs downstairs and he would not have had a clue. I mean - what on earth are they playing at?
Now, we just bin the letters, no matter how red they get and they never come. What a waste of people’s time and paper and the poor posties having to carry the things.
Regarding privatisation: The government have sold off basically everything the UK called it's own... rail, security, energy, water and sewerage, big industry like steel, the post office and Royal Mail and large amounts of the NHS,.. it's part of the reason the UK is on it's arse. Things that were doing well and profitable were attractive sales to generate instant buckets of cash that have inevitably long run out so now we outsource and buy back at inflated rates from Tory PM's friends.
I really enjoyed this American perspective on our BBC TV Licence.
I'm a British OAP (old age pensioner) and I've been getting these computer generated threatening letters all my adult life (apart from four years in the 1990s when I was the first person to live in a barn conversion and the TVLC didn't have the address). It is a disgraceful system that targets a minority of non-television owners. They don't know my name so the letters are addressed to "The Legal Occupier" (no one here by that name!). I haven't actually opened one of these for some years now but I save them up in case they become evidence of harassment in the future.
When a man turns up to check me out, I wind him up by saying things like, "No-one here wants a TV Licence," and even, "I have a very loud scream" (old women can get away with this Lol!). It's important never to tell them your name and, most of all, don't take them seriously.
I truly hope you can be compensated for the total grief these unscrupulous people have inflicted on you. Good on you for holding your letters as they are definitely evidence of harassment if you asked them multiple times to stop. A lawyer who would be willing to file a class action lawsuit would be the next best step.
I'm sorry Evan, you're often right but BBC iPlayer is hardly "boomer Netflix" 😂. it's arguably the best *free* at point of use services that the BBC offers now and also, the Tories clearly seem to have a bit of a vendetta against public service broadcasters they cannot control so I'm more than hesitant to agree with them on this at all (I think falling into that would be terrible).
As a 20yr old british born citizen, the BBC has honestly provided most of the entertainment I adored as a kid, along with many programs now, radio, presence at media events (festivals etc) with recordings of glasto/reading and they still produce great *pure* british shows. Ted Lasso is a fine mention for being filmed here but it's not about that and instead about our UK companies commissioning/making shows as opposed to US giants like AMazon,Netflix and Apple. This is also why the Channel 4 proposal makes no sense because Ch4 is known for investing in local production of new content.
The BBC is obliged to make content for everyone without the pressure of competing for subscrribers/advertisers and I think it does so well
It’s not free. It’s biased and the quality of its programming has decreased to ludicrous levels. They bully seniors and anyone incapable of fighting back. Screw them.
I love the beeb too. I'm 43 and it's been major to my whole life too. Tbh I only pay my license fee for the radio/podcasts really (via bbc sounds), even though that is a tiny part of the cost of the BBC, I don't have a TV just laptop and rarely do I use iPlayer. But for me its worth it. I think having the World Service and all the language desks is Vital.
I hear alot of Conservatives saying the BBC is biased to the Left for the last few years, but interestingly my very Leftist friends also vehemently tell me it's biased to the Right, too.
My take is the beeb is neutral reporting economically actually - e.g.. look at all the Times and Telegraph journalists that regularly are on R4 if you are worried about it being too Left.
But, I do think it is Socially liberal/left - which suits me fine, live and let live and all that: but I see how could that be offensive to more Socially conservative people.
Imagine living in a society where investigators working for Netflix come to your door to see if you have a valid subscription, when in fact you couldn’t care less about it? Then you find out that they are empowered by the state to do so? Do you not think that would be a bit dystopian (for lack of a better word)?
I haven’t had a TV since 1993, and yet, I had someone from the TV license turn up last week. I’m all for people like yourself loving the BBC and finding good quality entertainment. But I shouldn’t have to have someone come to my door using governmental authority. Let the BBC use the same subscription idea like Netflix and Prime. Why should it be law?
@@mandarkastronomonov2962 as I said, the fact that the BBC relies on the public makes it a servant to the public (whether you think so or not, financially it's true). in my opinion, the Tories want to make it private so that it truly can be controlled and no longer has that mandate to serve the public
When I first moved into my flat, I never had a TV & I got the monthly letters. At first I was stressing, because the letter is so intimidating but eventually I just learnt to ignore them. Don’t give them any of your details, just ignore them.
I told them eleven years ago I didnt have a TV, and they requested I tell them if the situation changed, to which I agreed. Since then I have had probably 50 'threatening' letters from them, all of which I ignore. I've told them once out of courtesy but I'm not going to be repeating myself every year.
Oh my gosh, these friggin letters! As an american young adult who moved into an apartment in the UK with exclusively other international students while in University, these letters got on my nerves. So shortly after we moved in and received the first of these letters, I messaged the landlord to ask about it since no one in the house knew anything abt it, and they said to ignore it… but I have to say the increasingly threatening letters that kept arriving would always make my anxiety spike despite being told not to worry about it. I mean no one in my house uses a TV anyway, we were all uni students, but I really could have done without that extra bit of stress every month or two for the entire year I lived there.
That’s my exact situation right now. Every few months all 6 of us living here get the same threatening letter that no one bothers opening, such a waste of paper too
In Germany we used to have a very similar system, but now it’s just a fixed fee that everyone has to pay, regardless of whether you have a tv or not.
Not that I watch a whole lot of classic TV, but I do watch the news/use the app of the main news programs both regionally and nationally, and I do appreciate those sources being publicly funded and not dependent on advertisers‘ interests.
The shift from a per-tv to a non-debatable fee also means that there are now also publicly funded youtube channels, where they do shorter, documentary-style videos which many young people do watch. So they are at least making an effort to reach out to younger people as well, given that they are paying for the service either way.
They even renamed it from "Gebühr" (fee) to "Beitrag" (contribution), because apparently asking for a fee is only legal if you are actually using the service it pays for, but there's no such requirement for a contribution.
Yes Germany, says it all really.
I've been telling them for 6 years I don't need one and they've never bothered coming to check. Yes I get a letter every year or so asking if anything has changed but I don't have to do anything unless it has changed.
I used to get these letters too. I had two run-ins with TV licensing:
When I moved from Tower Hamlets (Mansell Street) to Clapham Junction, I used the TV Licensing Automated Phone System to transfer my TV license to the new property. I then received a threatening letter at Clapham Junction even though I transferred a valid TV license to the new property and didn't even have a television at the property yet. The TV licensing people told me that their automatic system does not work!?!
Four years later, I moved to Abu Dhabi, I wrote TV licensing that I wanted a pro-rated refund of my TV license. I received a bill for a new TV license! I sent an email to TV license telling them that I no longer lived in the UK. I own the property but the tenant is responsible for the TV license on the property especially since I rented the property without a TV. I also told them that they were welcome to investigate the property, but if they committed any damage, I would be more than happy to sue them.
I think this is where Evan shows his difference because the TV license is an important part of uk culture. The programs made by the BBC that aren’t always profitable but they deserve to be made. Programs like educational shows for children, local language programmes and the marginalised programs that sometimes even channel four won’t make.
Not too mention the niche artists allowed to experiment before they became commercially viable, people like Charlie Brooker, Rich hall or James Corden( even if I don’t like him very much)
It also gives the much needed break from the commercial format all other tv production companies use so people can tell more complete stories without a break every 12 mins for an Ariel advert or for people to be reminded that Coors exist.
In my experience the TV licences is the perfect metaphor of because I don’t directly use it it shouldn’t exist when in reality it has a lateral effect on the art you consume.
Anyway love for you Evan but I think you’re wrong on this one.
Or the model of paying for your public broadcaster is outdated, unenforceable, and in need of change to maintain its existence long term
@@evan Well for example bbc I player is so much better then all the other iplayers as no ads and they do have good shows on them, it would be a shame to have to watch ads plus a lot of good shows are funded by the bbc and it would be a shame to not have them. Losing the bbc would not be good, its about more then paying a fee.
It's not just the programmes though the BBC build and maintain the infrastructure for Radio and TV in this country it's not just the programmes you watch but the organisation behind it they cover live music organise concerts like the jubilee. There are the fundraising evenings for children in need etc. As well as their online education content like bitesize.
@@evan The enforcing process is messed up but I happily pay my licence fee. I do watch some live TV, but even if I didn't I still use BBC services such as news, recipe websites, iplayer etc. I'm also conscious that the BBC fund a whole variety of cultural events in the UK, and even have their own orchestras - would that be sustainable if they switched to eg a subscription service? I suspect not.
@@evan Thing is, we can only start thinking about reform once we have a left-wing government in power. Until then, scrapping the licence fee is code for privatisation. They've already scrapped LW Radio 4, new broadcasts on BBC 4, and moved CBBC online, costing the BBC thousands of jobs, and they've frozen the BBC's funding for the next two years. They're deliberate cuts aimed at destroying one of the only British institutions I'm proud of.
Many others have pointed out that the license itself is not an issue but the intimidation tactics are.
I grew up in a house with a TV and my mam always paid the TV license and still does because she uses iPlayer and my stepdad uses the TV a fair bit. I left home over 10 years ago now, have never owned a TV myself and I don't use iPlayer, but the intimidation from the BBC does get overwhelming at times. I once naively let them check my flat because I didn't own a TV and I thought that would settle it, but they tried claiming my PC monitors were counted at TV's (which they're not, easy to argue against) and we went through a whole argument over the fact that my flat had a socket for an aerial. I had to spend a long time explaining to them that there was nothing plugged in, it was a rental flat so the socket was already there and I had no authority to remove it. In the end there was no evidence to fine me but it was a stressful time. I since learned that legally they have no authority to enter your residence if you say no so I've never allowed them back in and I just put the letters straight in the recycling. Problem solved.
It's not the BBC that does the threatening. It is the TV Licencing Agency, based in Bristol, a government quango set up to pull in the licence fee on behalf of the BBC.
@@christophernation4793 Wrong. TV Licensing is a trade name used by the BBC, presumably so that they can distance themselves from the grubby business of intimidating people. But the only body allowed to collect the fee is the BBC itself. From their own website: "'TV Licensing' is a trade mark of the BBC and is used under licence by companies contracted by the BBC to administer the collection of the television licence fee and enforcement of the television licensing system."
We just phoned up the TV licensing company and explained we don't get live TV nor the BBCs. They put us on the noted list of "not needing one". I've been in out property 3 months and have had only 1 notice.
Have you informed the police you don't have a gun, so you don't need a firearms licence. If not, why not?
My dad has mates all over the UK and they’ve all told him about when a TV license guy has come to their door. Literally if someone from TV licensing comes to your door, you can tell them to go away and they have to as they can’t enter your household without your permission, and then they’ll just leave you alone from that point onwards.
The reason people are increasingly not paying for a TV licence is that they are increasingly sick of broadcast television. From the poor quality of shows to the blatant propaganda they call "news", people just don't want to financially support it any more.
I've received over 130 of those letters, and had about a dozen visits.
Not been to court once. 😊
Two enforcement wankers turned up at my door demanding entry because I didn't have a TV license and threatened to get the Police involved.
1. I didn't have a licence because I didn't have a TV receiver at that time, which they refused to believe. 2. They had no right to demand entry and have no powers to force an entry or involve the police. 3. When I called their bluff, refused them entry and offered to call the police for them, they left and have never been back since. It's high time this unjust tax was scrapped and the BBC was shut down.
I was living in a cottage out in the wilds of nowhere, no electric, no TV signal, water from the well, an old TV on the sideboard. Got one of those letters with do you have a TV, replied 'Yes', do you have a license and replied 'No'. Then sat back and waited for a visit because they could not phone me - no landline and no mobile signal - several months went by and no one had called round.
I shopped in the village about 8 miles from me and was told that the TV people had been trying to drive to my cottage and had had to be towed back - eventually a chap turned up in a Landrover -
we chatted for a while and then he saw the TV and wanted to know why I refused to pay, so I told him to plug it in.
Poor chap he got bogged down in the ford on the way back to the village, mind you he must have dried out on the walk down to the village.
I had a letter saying they were visiting on a specific day. I waited in all day and no one showed up. I called to complain about my time being wasted and asked them to compensate me for their failure to visit and my wasted time.
The tv license letter can be quite threatening. I spoke to two different tv license staff at the door and they still didn’t know my name. They also tried to tell me I needed a license to watch live RUclips 🙈 It’s the greedy beeb after cash!
@@jackoh991 I don’t watch anything like that on RUclips
If you have a TV in the home, you need a TV licence. It doesn't matter if you use it to only watch streaming programmes. The actual law is pretty catch-all - and for all of the Conservatives complaining about the licence, they've left most of the legal language unchanged.
@@darriendastar3941 that's not true, it's just what they want you to think.
@@darriendastar3941 What you said in your first sentence is absolutely not the case. For the best free online legal information on TV licensing - consult The Black Belt Barrister, right here on RUclips.
@@darriendastar3941 you may have a tv but not everyone’s tv is connected to be able watch stations
just got one of these threatening letters through the post, glad i watched your video on it
I'm a british expat now living in the usa. Thank you for highlighting the differences between the uk and usa. TV license is unfair. Especially for the programs they show.
I think most people in the UK still do watch Live TV. I know I do, all my friends do and I’m 24. Killing Eve, I may destroy you, silent witness, eastenders and more are all amazing programmes featured on the BBC (an organisation that the public still has a lot of affection for). The TV licence is a way to pay for that without having to deal with ads when watching the BBC. It’s an annoying cost and yes the licensing people are pretty powerless and I prefer it stays that way but there’s so much excellent content that is paid for by that licence i can’t hate it that much
Coronation Street is still very popular and was even among my peer group in primary school. We had some actors come in one day for autographs. I'm about Evan's age. I was never interested in soaps at all so I don't know how it fares today, but its still the world's longest-running soap with a fanbase so prevalent that major plotpoints are discussed on the bloody news!
No idea how popular it is with kids nowadays - I'm 10 ways away from that kind of information being neither a child, a parent or a fan of the soap - but if its been enjoyed by kids for decades, it probably still is... a very specifically British experience as it may be.
Edit: Oh and while I wouldn't watch TV enough to justify a licence if I were to live alone, I live with my parents and I happen to be in the same room as a lot of stuff they watch. I like the antique and home décor programmes. I'd binge watch them streamed if I could. My best friend also watches a lot of TV - mostly Britain's Got Talent and some other things I don't know the titles of. She often pauses our conversations with "brb [insert programme here] is starting on telly".
TV may be dying, but there's plenty of people still watching in my experience
There is an entire generation of people who lived through the "TV years" watching the same 5 channels and through the sky TV era in the UK. People are trapped with the notion that you need to watch this stuff as it's broadcast or record it for later viewing as that is what they have always done.
Children today don't need to go through the torture of watching what their parents do on live TV and as they grow up to become the next generation live TV may become a thing of the past.
We haven't watched live broadcast TV at home for over 2 years now (probably longer but that's when we cancelled our TV license.) I am not anti TV license we just don't have a need for it. Our children can't stand adverts on TV channels and always used to switch it off 😂.
@@Andrew.gribbin if they can't stand ads on TV then you should watch the bbc... Which is what you were paying for with the TV licence... So cancelling it because of the channels not covered by it is a REALLY nonsensical and illogical argument that holds no water. You literally cancelled the ad free TV fee to watch TV with more ads and commercial interests and product placement and sponsorship?!?
@@niallblack2794 we were not watching anything on the conventional channels at all that's why we got rid of it. The only channels we watch anything occasionally are channel 5 and 4 via catch-up services. And not the children that's the occasional programme that us adults watch and not live. Netflix/prime are the most watched along with RUclips.
@@Andrew.gribbin Not sure you can call it "trapped" when they're watching what they choose to watch. Like my friend who likes to be there for the premiere of shows - whether its premiering on the TV or on a streaming site makes no difference. Bit of an odd choice of word imo
Has only happened once but telling the bbc licence goon to "Sling yer hook!" is one of life's huge pleasures!
By the look on his face they're still adjusting to realising that people understand that they're just door to door salesmen! He did not look happy! 😆
TV licensing threatened my deceased parents for years despite me declaring they'd both passed away and the house was empty. My parents' ghosts were "under investigation" many times and lots of visits by enforcement officers were threatened but never happened. The letters had more and more red ink on them. A total waste of time for everyone.
I once told the post office not to deliver things from certain addresses/companies. They refused, so a few weeks later I walked in, pushed to the front of the queue, and dumped all my unwanted post on the serving counter. I didn't receive any more letters from those addresses after that! 😅
Was that before royal mail and post office separated?
@@Borderman47 what's worse is the people who believe bs