Cancelling TV licence

Tempted to give up
Mine …. Total rubbish on mostly and I never watch sport …. Also subscribe to Sky and Netflix …..AND with the Prison’s full I bound be out in two weeks …. And my criminal record is not likely to bother me at my age ….a lovely holiday, warm, washing done , fed !!!!! Cheaper than £8,000 a month for a care home !!!! What’s not to like ….. think I’ll cancel my direct debit instantly !!!!😂😂

I’m happy to still keep paying for ours. We do watch some tv live and enjoy having the freedom to do that. What would we do without Strictly, Antiques Roadshow, Gardeners World and the quizzes?!

We’ll keep paying, over a week we probably watch 10/12 programmes, and listened to R2&4, worth less than £4 a day.

J52

“The TV licence fee is currently £159 a year, external (or £53.50 for black and white TV sets).
Money raised from the licence fee pays for BBC shows and services - including TV, radio, the BBC website, podcasts, iPlayer and apps.”
From the BBC website.
Yes, you can listen for free, but those paying for the licence are paying for the radio programmes that others are listening to.

As far as I know, you need at least a black and white licence to listen to the radio, so listening to radio is not free. I don't think BBC are blameless, eg Huw Edwards, but do we really want a world where we depend on tiktok or other foreign based streaming services for news. I personally think that would be worrying. The Today programme on Radio4 and Sunday with Kuennsberg are worth the licence fee alone.

*“The TV licence fee is currently £159 a year, external (or £53.50 for black and white TV sets).
Money raised from the licence fee pays for BBC shows and services - including TV, radio, the BBC website, podcasts, iPlayer and apps.”
From the BBC website.*
Just in case anyone missed it.

My BBC quote on Thursday clearly states that the TV licence pays for the radio programmes. You do not need a separate radio licence, but you are listening to programmes that others have paid to be produced.
OK for some I suppose.

Paperbackwriter

pascal30

You can still get all the interesting programmes on Radio 4 without a licence..

Yes but then who is paying for it? Other people.. I think radio 4 is worth the price on its own. A licence isn't that much when you compare it to other options that need to be paid for.

No, other people are not paying for you to listen to the radio as you do not need a licence for it.

We are talking about a Television Licence, no licence required for Radio.

Four years ago I cancelled my TV licence because I never, ever watch live TV of any kind. I only watch on demand programmes and never watch BBC whether live or on catchup.

I went down the official route, filled in an online form, explained the reason for cancelling my TV licence and I received confirmation that it was cancelled and I would receive a letter every 2/3 years asking me if anything had changed. I received a letter asking me if anything had changed and nothing had so they replied telling me they would be in touch in another 2/3 years time but in the meantime if anything did change to let them know.

I have never had a problem at all. I also told them that they were welcome to come to my house to check everything if they wanted to.

I think the way things are going with the BBC it wont be long before they go to a subscription service.

pascal30

I agree.. and in fact there was a debate on Radio 4 recently looking at other forms of payment for BBC use. I was just making that point

Yes it was last Monday You And Yours. You can still get it on BBC Sounds.

I agree.. and in fact there was a debate on Radio 4 recently looking at other forms of payment for BBC use. I was just making that point

pascal30

You can still get all the interesting programmes on Radio 4 without a licence..

Yes but then who is paying for it? Other people.. I think radio 4 is worth the price on its own. A licence isn't that much when you compare it to other options that need to be paid for.

Personally I get more than my money's worth from TV licence

I pay my tv licence, not for the tv, but because I am an inveterate radion lstener - R3 & R4 and they are worth every penny of the TV licence. i would feel I was a freeloader if I didn't pay for it.

We don't watch much apart from the BBC really. The TV isn't on much and we usually record what we want if we're not watching iPlayer. I don't mind some repeats, sometimes we missed them first time around, sometimes we're happy to watch them again.

My late MiL (and my DM to a certain extent) never really watched things, just 'grazed' them while she was talking. But as soon as she recognized an actor (but not necessarily a character) she would get disgruntled and say 'We've seen this already - there's nothing but repeats on these days' and we would have to find something else to watch 😁

A cousin of mine was similarly pestered after his mother died. He wrote informing of a change of address

Plot xx
Cemetery
Xxxx Road
Postcode

He suggested that if they received a sweet-smelling envelope back, they could open it, but if the envelope was charred, they mighr prefer to bin it!

I don't think he had further trouble.

I don’t get pension credit so thought I wasn’t entitled to a free tv licence although I am 87 but I was told by a friend that as I am in receipt of pension savings credit and have a small monthly payment I should not have to pay. Today I received my licence reminder and so I phoned them and I was told yes I may be exempt and they are sending me a form to fill in within the next few days. So watch this space and fingers crossed.

I did tell them when my Mum died but they still kept sending threatening demands to her address. It took a long time to sell the flat but there was no-one living there & no furniture, let alone a TV. I gave up telling them in the end but did think it would have intimidated a lot of people.

I agree that the size of some salaries seem way over the top but think why they are so high, who sets these levels of pay? They are competing for the top performers’ services with all the streaming and commercial channels who in many cases pay even more.

The BBC produces excellent very varied programmes to cover all tastes and also a service world wide. I have lived in under developed countries and know just how valued the Overseas Service is. It is not just for philanthropic reasons, it promotes Britain and our trade.

The BBC is much more than a producer of entertainment, think of the Proms promoting new works, Young Musician of the Year, Bitesize and many more. If the BBC did not provide these programmes, would others? They would not have the freedom to provide anything that did not have very large audiences and we would loose variety of choice and I am afraid would end up dumming- down content.

Pay mine quarterly by direct debit. Forget about it till I see it on bank statement. My daughter and son in law have never had one, think sil did it online. He thinks it's hilarious that I still pay since no "young" folk pay it. They if they watch TV watch streaming services. He says they've never contacted him.

My biggest objection to paying for the BBC is the fact that there are so many repeats!

Fae1

£3.58 a week - about the price of a cup of coffee. Worth it in my opinion.

Exactly I would be happy to pay for that just for the radio,I have the radio on most of the day when I’m at home radio 4 and BBC sounds and many podcasts. I do watch BBC TV a lot too . Nothing beats their wildlife programmes although I know they are shown elsewhere. I do think that the people who can access BBC abroad should pay a fee too . I do object to the huge salaries being paid to people who are just public servants .

Until 1971 there was a separate license for listening to the radio, presumably because fewer people had TVs.
Maybe it should be brought back just to listen to the radio. Although, with WiFi it would be difficult to trace the listeners.

I do pay for a TV licence but really strobgly object to the absurb salaries paid to G Linekar and Zoe Ball - a trained monkey could probably do what they do, except give out as much waffle!! - No, I do not watch either and do know where the off switch is, but there is always plenty to read about them!

Happy to pay the licence.

I wouldn’t cancel my license because of the service the BBC provides. It was a godsend during my children’s exam times with BBC Bitesize, the BBC World Service is excellent and still managed to provide the only news service to Gaza during the blackout by launching an emergency radio service. The BBC isn’t just about watching the TV, it’s much more.