Frank Hovis Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Checking on the TV licence website shows at March 2014 96% of households have a licence. Now this is a guess but say there are 35 million households in the UK. There are 4m free licences for the over 75s which are clearly included in this 96%. So households not paying for a licence are: 4% * 35m (no licence) = 1.4m + 4m free = 5.4m So paying are: 29.6m or 85%. Now if we assume an even age distribution of households 25-75 then every year 2% become 25, 2% 75. Say one quarter (this is the big guess) of those becoming householders at 25 won't get a licence or a TV because of the internet then there is a 0.5% decline of eligible households having a licence. Or 29.6m x 0.5% x £145.50 = £21.5m a year going. If this is right then in two years that 85% paying will have dropped to approximately 84% by March 2016, with the headline figure being 95%. I await the TV licence website update. (I've ignored the over 25 refuseniks such as myself, whilst we hold the moral high ground I don't think that there are many of us). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bossybabe Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 I'd love to be a refusenik, but I'm too cowardly. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfk Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 The 95% figure is completely plucked out of the air. No doubt with the steady decrease in tv quality (I hardly watch live tv anymore, apart from news ) and viewing habits changing to Netflix /amazon prime etc this will decrease further. And good riddance too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
interestrateripoff Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 I'm sure that they would love to change the licence fee to include digital content. Much easier to enforce just visit the isp and see your download history. No avoidance allowed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hovis Posted March 15, 2016 Author Share Posted March 15, 2016 I'd love to be a refusenik, but I'm too cowardly. ? It's avoidance BB, not evasion, so no moral courage required! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 It's avoidance BB, not evasion, so no moral courage required! Being took to court and fined is expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
council dweller Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 So, I got rid of my TV 10 years ago. There used to be someone at the door about once a year but I have seen no one for 3 years. Have they given up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmic Apple Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 So, I got rid of my TV 10 years ago. There used to be someone at the door about once a year but I have seen no one for 3 years. Have they given up? I've had 2 visits in 4 1/2 years, once I was carded and once spoke to a young lady, politely refusing to give them my name when asked. I did ask her if I needed a licence if I didn't watch live broadcasts which she confirmed. Guess their success with those who ignore the letters is pretty low these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riedquat Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 I'd love to be a refusenik, but I'm too cowardly. Refuse to have a TV that's used for live broadcasts, or just refuse to have a licence despite watching live broadcasts? No courage required for the former (unless it's giving up the TV that's hard). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libspero Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Being took to court and fined is expensive. Provided you're not using it to watch TV, why would you be taken to court? We have a TV that was gifted to us by my godmother when we got married. I have de-tuned the stations and removed the aerial, I can't get any reception on it. I declared to the TV licensing body that we only use it for DVDs and internet streaming.. which is true. We have never had a knock on the door.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knock out johnny Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Provided you're not using it to watch TV, why would you be taken to court? We have a TV that was gifted to us by my godmother when we got married. I have de-tuned the stations and removed the aerial, I can't get any reception on it. I declared to the TV licensing body that we only use it for DVDs and internet streaming.. which is true. We have never had a knock on the door.. Internet streaming of a live broadcast requires a licence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Executive Sadman Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 26.4 million recorded in 2011 census. Maybe up to 27 million now http://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/bulletins/populationandhouseholdestimatesfortheunitedkingdom/2011-03-21 One of the things that hasnt happened as predicted, due to the last 13-14 years of absurd housing costs and low building, is the number of residents per-house declined materially since the 1991 census. In fact, given the increase of single 'granny' occupant households, the rest of us are more cramped than in decades. Another decrease in living standards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Executive Sadman Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Also consider some groups do not have televisions. I was quite taken aback at a muslim colleage who told me he didnt allow one in his house. But doing some research, some Islamic sects ask their followers not to have a television at home, its apparently not that rare. It would be interesting to see a regional breakdown. If licenses have a lower uptake rate in places like Luton or Birmingham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libspero Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Internet streaming of a live broadcast requires a licence Apart from the BBC I can't really think of any live streaming services.. Sport I guess? Either way, not a problem for us.. not applicable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ill_handle_it Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Apart from the BBC I can't really think of any live streaming services.. Sport I guess? Either way, not a problem for us.. not applicable. Anything which is broadcast simultaneously on the internet and by conventional means ie cable,satellite,freeview etc is illegal to watch without a licence. So you can't watch Sky news,RT,AJ or any network news agency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libspero Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Anything which is broadcast simultaneously on the internet and by conventional means ie cable,satellite,freeview etc is illegal to watch without a licence. So you can't watch Sky news,RT,AJ or any network news agency. Yeah.. fair enough. Not sure how many people really watch that sort of stuff. I was thinking more Netflix, Now TV etc etc.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riedquat Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 If your equipment is technically capable of receiving a live stream then it gives the capita goons an opportunity to attempt to incriminate you on your doorstep. That'll be the entire set of equipment, so not just the TV but aerial and / or satellite dish too, just having a TV with nothing it can connect to to receive should leave them threatening but unable to do anything (although these days having a broadband connection may be enough for them to try it on). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
developer Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 It's a private company they have no legal recourse to force you to pay a TV license for owning a TV. And it's impossible to prove you were watching BBC content as it stands. You don't need a TV license for the other channels! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riedquat Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 It's a private company they have no legal recourse to force you to pay a TV license for owning a TV. And it's impossible to prove you were watching BBC content as it stands. You don't need a TV license for the other channels! The legal recourse is that you can get prosecuted. As for other channels, yes you do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccc Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 The legal recourse is that you can get prosecuted. As for other channels, yes you do. Legally yes. But the people coming to your door also have zero legal right to demand anything off you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hovis Posted March 15, 2016 Author Share Posted March 15, 2016 The 95% figure is completely plucked out of the air. No doubt with the steady decrease in tv quality (I hardly watch live tv anymore, apart from news ) and viewing habits changing to Netflix /amazon prime etc this will decrease further. And good riddance too Why do you think that? It's now part of the national statistics having previously not been measured as the number of households without a licence was too small to be worth recording. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rxe Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Interesting piece in the Telegraph (I think) this morning pointing out that the licensing of digital content is a double edged sword for the BBC. The majority of the online viewers are younger people, they have no concept of sitting round the TV watching the news as a family, they watch stuff on the bus. When asked to pay for content (at a rate of £12 a month) they might just decide that they'd rather have an Amazon Prime AND a Netflix account for the same money. At which point the BBCs monopoly on the licence fee is politically impossible to sustain. I also don't understand how this will work. At the moment you licence a household because the household has a TV. So the BBC will now have to keep tack of everyone's account details to work out if they are in a paying household or not. People are going to freely give their passwords away (what's the downside), and you'll end up with a situation that makes the poll tax look simple to administer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ill_handle_it Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Interesting piece in the Telegraph (I think) this morning pointing out that the licensing of digital content is a double edged sword for the BBC. The majority of the online viewers are younger people, they have no concept of sitting round the TV watching the news as a family, they watch stuff on the bus. When asked to pay for content (at a rate of £12 a month) they might just decide that they'd rather have an Amazon Prime AND a Netflix account for the same money. At which point the BBCs monopoly on the licence fee is politically impossible to sustain. I also don't understand how this will work. At the moment you licence a household because the household has a TV. So the BBC will now have to keep tack of everyone's account details to work out if they are in a paying household or not. People are going to freely give their passwords away (what's the downside), and you'll end up with a situation that makes the poll tax look simple to administer. They are looking at a flat rate tv licence for everyone,even if you don't own a tv. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libspero Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 They are looking at a flat rate tv licence for everyone,even if you don't own a tv. At which point it might as well be funded through general taxation. A bit of Osborne style salami slicing might cut away a bit of the dead wood too.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy_renting Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 It's a private company they have no legal recourse to force you to pay a TV license for owning a TV. And it's impossible to prove you were watching BBC content as it stands. You don't need a TV license for the other channels! Wrong. You need a licence to receive any broadcast channel as it is being broadcast; or to have equipment installed to do so. Anyone following your 'advice' could end up with a criminal record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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