Author Topic: Ditching the television  (Read 10921 times)

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #25 on: 01 November, 2014, 02:54:32 pm »
We still have a tele. A lot of days it doesn't get switched on. However, we're not about to get rid of it because there are a few programmes on the Beeb that we like to watch. So we don't mind paying a licence fee to help pay for them. I get pissed off with the folk who ditch the tele and watch everything on iPlayer without contributing a penny towards the stuff that they like to watch.

I've been of that opinion for many years, having ploughed a few thousands' worth of licence fee into the BBC which has probably represented more than £5 per hour to watch. I doubt very much that I have watched anything like as much as an hour of television per week on average since we ditched out B & W licence in 1994 and forked out on a colour box. There was a period of some 6 years in which we had a free licence because my parents lived with us and were, of course, over 75. I think I've supported public service broadcasting for long enough though, and if they don't want people without a licence watching on Iplayer then they can always turn it off.

@Oscar's Dad: Dez has come up with a perfectly good suggestion for watching Pointless. Watch on Iplayer a day behind.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #26 on: 01 November, 2014, 03:52:21 pm »
"What do you mean, you don't have a television?"
"I don't have a television."
Silence.
Followed by, "Blimey, you must have really good views where you live."
???

Strange isn't it?

There was an amusing conversation at work yesterday: A (youthful) colleague had  a picture on a  stick & I asked him about it, he said it was the "paddle of rebuke". I looked confused, then asked if it was something off the telly? He was incredulous and said "you don't watch the telly? What do you do when you get home?" which was followed by everyone else in the room saying "Anything BUT watch TV!!"

I still pay the licence, though as various above ^^^ it's not very good VFM as I've probably watched hignify once a month on air and that's it. However I'm a voracious consumer of R4 and the World Service and would willingly pay for that if it were an option. I watch a huge amount of films on disc but the general TV output is not worth switching on for. 
Quote from: tiermat
that's not science, it's semantics.

Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #27 on: 01 November, 2014, 05:06:32 pm »
I cancelled my direct debit & then used the online thing to say I no longer had a TV & didn't need a license.   They've since sent me a letter saying that as I cancelled the debit my license will expire on a given date.

A pity you can't get a radio license,  I've no objection to paying to keep Radio 3 on air!
Not fast & rarely furious

tweeting occasional in(s)anities as andrewxclark

Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #28 on: 01 November, 2014, 05:14:25 pm »
It's interesting here in Germany as the equivalent licence (GEZ) is mandatory, even if you don't have a television. You have to pay it, no exceptions, and German television doesn't even have the quality of the BBC. And it's over 200€ a year. And it doesn't include Radio 4 which I think makes the TV licence worthwhile in itself.

Luckily my landlady and landlord have the GEZ and we have pretended, for the sake of the licence, that I live with them rather than in my own self-contained flat.

IT is the same in France I believe - you have to have a licence regardless.

That is right (in France).  The BBC will not let me use iplayer to watch their programmes in France even the proxy server option has been thwarted. 

My respect for the BBC has also nose-dived of late as do think they give UKIP far more exposure than they merit. Today I was irritated by the news that

Quote
The BBC has refused to apologise to Argentina over a Top Gear special filmed in the country.

Mr Cohen said the BBC would still broadcast the programme.

He said: "I am very aware that some have questioned whether the number-plates were in some way a prank.

"I would like to reassure you again that nothing we have seen or read since the team returned supports the view that this was a deliberate act."



They can't seriously think anyone believes it wasn't a stunt so why don't they and Clarkson have the guts to admit it instead of behaving like children who daren't own up to their actions?   They could just tell the truth: 'it was a stunt and we make no apology'.  Gutless.
Move Faster and Bake Things

Dibdib

  • Fat'n'slow
Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #29 on: 01 November, 2014, 05:26:37 pm »
They can't seriously think anyone believes it wasn't a stunt so why don't they and Clarkson have the guts to admit it instead of behaving like children who daren't own up to their actions?   They could just tell the truth: 'it was a stunt and we make no apology'.  Gutless.

I don't think NASA have apologised for faking the moon landings either.

Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #30 on: 01 November, 2014, 06:50:43 pm »
On checking the gash email account I use when I don't want people to have my main address I found the following epistle:

Dear Sir/Madam,

You've let us know you don't need a licence, so you won't receive emails or letters from us for nearly two years – unless you've told us you'll need a licence before then, or we think your circumstances have changed.

In about two years, or sooner if appropriate, we'll get in touch to check if you still don't need a licence.

A quick reminder of the law.
You need to be covered by a TV Licence if you watch or record programmes, on any device, as they're being shown on TV. This includes TV sets, computers, mobile phones, games consoles, digital boxes and DVD/VHS recorders.

If you do start watching or recording TV, you can buy a new TV Licence quickly and easily online at tvlicensing.co.uk/pay or on
0300 790 6128 with your bank details ready.

Just to confirm...
We may visit your address to confirm that no licence is required. You see, it is our duty to make sure that everyone in the UK who needs a licence has one.

We visit addresses to check because, when we make these visits, almost 1 in 5 is found to need a licence. Please be assured that this is a routine visit, and will take no more than a few minutes.

Yours faithfully,

Debbie Beckett
Customer Services
Not fast & rarely furious

tweeting occasional in(s)anities as andrewxclark

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #31 on: 01 November, 2014, 07:15:01 pm »
I see it is only 3½ years since this email exchange. I've heard nothing since though.

Quote

TV LICENSING
BRISTOL
BS98 1TL

Tel:      0300 790 6087
Fax:      0300 790 6012
Email:    enquiries@tvlicensing.co.uk
Our Ref:  TVL22931869   

Lic.No.    3483076967         
Matchcode  ********   

13/05/2011 

Dear Dr Vecht

Thank you for telling us you don?t need a TV Licence.

Within the next few weeks you will receive another letter.  This asks you to reply only if a set has been installed or a licence purchased.

As no licence is required, as a set is not in use, then you do not need to reply.  In due course one of our Visiting Officers will call on you and confirm the situation.  Once confirmed, we will update our records accordingly.  This will protect your address from letters, for a longer period than would normally be set at an address, as it has been confirmed that a set is not in use.

I am sure you will appreciate, we have a responsibility to the Licensing Authority and the licence holding public to be certain of the licensing requirements for each address.

I hope the information above clarifies the situation.

Yours sincerely,

Mr W Kimball
TV Licensing

Need further help? Try our online help service, click here to access it: http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/info.

----- Original Message -----
From: "" <>
Date: 12 May 2011
Subject: Contact Us

APPLICATION DETAILS
---------------------------
TYPE OF APPLICATION: Contact Us
APPLICATION ID: CU1005274642
APPLICATION DATE: 12/05/2011

CUSTOMER DETAILS
------------------------
TITLE: Dr
INITIALS: **
SURNAME: ******
LICENCE NUMBER:
LICENCE ADDRESS 1: *******
LICENCE POSTCODE:  *******
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
EMAIL ADDRESS: **@**

CONTACT QUERY DETAILS
-------------------------------
CONTACT US CATEGORY: General Enquiry
CONTACT US TOPIC: All 
CONTACT US QUERY: WHY HAVE YOU SENT ME A LETTER SAYING I HAVE NOT ANSWERED YOUR LETTER WHEN I HAVE?
REF 3147979027.
TVL22633175 COVERS MY ADDRESS. I HAVE NO TV.
LEAVE ME ALONE OR I WILL GET VERY ANGRY!
WHY DOES YOUR ONLINE 'NO TV' DECLARATION PAGE HAVE NOWHERE TO  ENTER REFERENCE NUMBERS IN LETTERS YOU HAVE SENT TO US? YOU ARE BUREAUCRATIC IDIOTS!

______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System.
For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email


Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #32 on: 01 November, 2014, 07:38:11 pm »
I think I've supported public service broadcasting for long enough though, and if they don't want people without a licence watching on Iplayer then they can always turn it off.

And how is that supposed to work for those of us that do pay the licence fee then??  If you have such a low opinion of the BBC and don't want to pay for, don't use its output. To do otherwise is hypocritical.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #33 on: 01 November, 2014, 07:46:16 pm »
The BBC clearly doesn't have a problem with people without television licences watching on Iplayer, or reading its website.

Assuming that, over a long period, you have watched more television than I have (the vast majority of people have) but paid precisely the same price, then I'm no longer subsidising your viewing.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #34 on: 01 November, 2014, 08:14:54 pm »
I don't think that Wowbagger (or anyone else who doesn't have a television but listens to BBC radio or visits the BBC websites) is responsible for the way the BBC is funded - there's no hypocrisy in not paying for a licence for things you don't need a licence for.

Yes, it's silly, but that's the government's fault, not the users'.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #35 on: 01 November, 2014, 08:37:17 pm »
I don't think that Wowbagger (or anyone else who doesn't have a television but listens to BBC radio or visits the BBC websites) is responsible for the way the BBC is funded - there's no hypocrisy in not paying for a licence for things you don't need a licence for.

Yes, it's silly, but that's the government's fault, not the users'.

+1
The government scrapped the Broadcast Receiving Licence for radio when I was a kid.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #36 on: 01 November, 2014, 08:38:15 pm »
Shades of the "you don't pay road tax" argument...

Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #37 on: 01 November, 2014, 09:16:51 pm »
I've never paid for a tv licence. Until I was 36 I lived with other people who paid for one (or didn't have a tv) and I've never had a tv since. I don't really watch things on i-player because I don't know what's on and if someone says 'you should watch x' I never get round to it. The German and French systems seem most unfair to me! If there was still a radio licence, I would pay for that. :)
Quote from: Kim
^ This woman knows what she's talking about.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #38 on: 01 November, 2014, 10:16:57 pm »
I am quite happy to pay for what is required by law but if the gubbishment decide I don't need to pay, so be it.
I watched the Panorama Baby P programme earlier in the week on iplayer but this is the first time I have done this in ages.

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #39 on: 01 November, 2014, 11:58:33 pm »
I don't shave either! I do want to take up cycling though.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #40 on: 02 November, 2014, 06:33:17 am »
They can't seriously think anyone believes it wasn't a stunt so why don't they and Clarkson have the guts to admit it instead of behaving like children who daren't own up to their actions?   They could just tell the truth: 'it was a stunt and we make no apology'.  Gutless.

I don't think NASA have apologised for faking the moon landings either.

I don't remember any Loonies being offended?  Maybe you can't get telly on the moon?
Move Faster and Bake Things

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #41 on: 02 November, 2014, 07:51:36 pm »
spend half your new free time walking
Who else misread that and thought "I do that anyway"?  ;D
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #42 on: 02 November, 2014, 10:30:01 pm »
spend half your new free time walking
Who else misread that and thought "I do that anyway"?  ;D

I would make some reference to the QI klaxon but have the contributors to this thread wouldn't get it.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

ian

Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #43 on: 03 November, 2014, 10:02:34 am »
Sorry, I don't the do the entire you're wasting your life thing, I only listen to Radio 4, and thats gone downhill, I remember when, John Humphrys, John Humphrys! Whatever happened to the MANCHESTER Guardian, eh? And trolleybuses. Admittedly, I don't understand the sitting in front of the TV from home to bed (like my family do), but horse for courses, TV gives a lot of people pleasure. As does plugging away at computers, riding a bike, or building an orgasmatron in the garage.

But anyway, I think if you use the BBC's services in any format, you should pay up, rather than think of ways to excuse it. That's modern life and its gospel of sundry entitlement.

I think we got the letter about a visit but I binned it. I mostly bin anything with the words TV Licensing on the front (we did go through a spell of them when we got married, it's still beyond the ken of many people and organisations to understand that we have different surnames). I'm not sure I'd let them inspect my house if they did turn up. The aerial isn't actually plugged into anything (thought it would be a 10 minute job to reconnect) but I'm not sure why I'd want to let a stranger wander around my house to demonstrate what I've already told them. If they think I'm watching TV illegally, it's their job to find the evidence.

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #44 on: 03 November, 2014, 11:27:26 am »
Our aerial is lying horizontally across the roof, the result of years of rust and a gale in about 2009. It doesn't seem to have broken any slates as Dez flew his quadcopter & Go-pro over the roof a few weeks ago just to make sure.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Julian

  • samoture
Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #45 on: 03 November, 2014, 12:07:26 pm »
I haven't had any more visits since offering to let the inspector into the garage to see the pieces of our television.  He queried why I was leading him to the garage and I explained that we keep the television in a cardboard box in the garage because it is in multiple shattered pieces.  He naturally wanted to know more, so I explained (perfectly truthfully) that we shot it.  "Shot it," quoth he, "how?" "With guns," I responded, and he decided that not only did he not need to see it but he could also make a little note explaining that he was satisfied that we really do not have a (working) television.

Chris S

Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #46 on: 03 November, 2014, 12:37:03 pm »
I simply don't buy the "If you watch it, you should pay for it" argument.

If they want us to pay for it - then they shouldn't put it in the public domain. Simple as that. I don't have to pay for my use of GPS satellites either - another public domain "service". If they want to fund public service TV out of my taxes (which I pay a fuck tonne of), then that's up to the politicians to sort out - that's not my problem.
FWIW, I'm a big fan of public services, including public service TV. The funding model for the BBC is fucked up - but again, that's not my responsibility.

As for the hateful Licensing people - I have no idea how they get away with such harassment. I haven't watched "live transmission" TV for years - I've had two visits, and still they harass me.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #47 on: 03 November, 2014, 12:38:21 pm »
I haven't had any more visits since offering to let the inspector into the garage to see the pieces of our television.  He queried why I was leading him to the garage and I explained that we keep the television in a cardboard box in the garage because it is in multiple shattered pieces.  He naturally wanted to know more, so I explained (perfectly truthfully) that we shot it.  "Shot it," quoth he, "how?" "With guns," I responded, and he decided that not only did he not need to see it but he could also make a little note explaining that he was satisfied that we really do not have a (working) television.

 ;D ;D ;D

Teh Julian wins again!


Oscar's dad

  • aka Septimus Fitzwilliam Beauregard Partridge
Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #48 on: 03 November, 2014, 12:38:40 pm »
A well made point ...

I don't think that Wowbagger (or anyone else who doesn't have a television but listens to BBC radio or visits the BBC websites) is responsible for the way the BBC is funded - there's no hypocrisy in not paying for a licence for things you don't need a licence for.

Yes, it's silly, but that's the government's fault, not the users'.

But ...

I think I've supported public service broadcasting for long enough though, and if they don't want people without a licence watching on Iplayer then they can always turn it off.

And how is that supposed to work for those of us that do pay the licence fee then??  If you have such a low opinion of the BBC and don't want to pay for, don't use its output. To do otherwise is hypocritical.

Wow, you're saying that you are not going to watch telly for reasons of principle which is fair enough ...

Quote
...but the most recent pro-Israeli coverage of atrocities, and the totally unjustified difference between their treatment of the Green Party and UKIP have finally forced me to say "enough is enough!"

So surely your principles should dictate you shouldn't watch any BBC content on any medium?

Oscar's dad

  • aka Septimus Fitzwilliam Beauregard Partridge
Re: Ditching the television
« Reply #49 on: 03 November, 2014, 01:24:40 pm »
I simply don't buy the "If you watch it, you should pay for it" argument.

If they want us to pay for it - then they shouldn't put it in the public domain. Simple as that. I don't have to pay for my use of GPS satellites either - another public domain "service". If they want to fund public service TV out of my taxes (which I pay a fuck tonne of), then that's up to the politicians to sort out - that's not my problem.
FWIW, I'm a big fan of public services, including public service TV. The funding model for the BBC is fucked up - but again, that's not my responsibility.


I bet I know where this thread is heading  ;D

The thing is that there is no easy way of paying for GPS or any number of on-line services (Google, Facebook, Twitter etc) and these services were launched in the knowledge that most users would pay nothing for them.

But there is an easy way of paying for the BBC, the TV Licence Fee.  And, for what it's worth I think it is a daft way of funding the BBC.

Wow's position is problematical as he says he doesn't like the BBC's alleged bias and editorial standards and these are his reasons for no longer paying for a TV license - this position is fair so far.  But, he does want to watch some of the BBC's light entertainment content and he will watch this content on iPlayer.

To my mind, you either don't watch any BBC content by any means and therefore don't need to pay for a TV licence or you pay for a TV license, watch the BBC content you enjoy but don't watch the content you allege to be biased or of poor editorial quality.

Wow, in my view if you watch BBC content on iPlayer you're compromising your principles and leaving TV License payers to fund your enjoyment of some BBC content which can't be right.