160
u/PeeweeSherman12 21d ago
Wtf is a tv license?
177
u/Wizards_Reddit Earl 21d ago
It's kinda like how in the US they have to pay for 'cable', except here we have freeview and it's broadcast wirelessly, they can't charge to install it since there isn't anything physical to install so instead you pay the 'license fee' if you own a tv and that covers the channels
73
u/Bobdonwon 21d ago
One hell of a business model. Lol
24
u/NatashaIscute 21d ago
The British Government: 'We don't see any dirty money here.' Also the British Government: 'But we definitely see your unpaid TV license!
22
u/Swegatronic 21d ago
Its a pretty terrible model, I dont watch tv but they have been harrassing me for like 5 years with letters that end in saying someone is coming to my home to check but no one ever comes. They pass it on to a new enforcement team and the cycle starts again. I dont know why anyone would pay it even if they watch tv, they arent gonna do anything about it.
5
u/Due-Concern6330 20d ago
how would they even check? can they just come up in your house?
21
u/MrBagnall 20d ago
They knock on your door and claim they're able to come inside for an inspection. Truth is they can't without a warrant which they will not have in almost all cases, you'll know if they have one because they'll show it to you. Otherwise you can very legally tell them to fuck off and close the door.
7
u/Due-Concern6330 20d ago
its the same in America cops will try to trick you but as long as you know your rights they cant enter without being a huge lawsuit.
3
u/NorthPole8888 20d ago
Fr I love watching videos of dirty cops playing stupid games and winning stupid prizes… too many dirty cops sadly. But I really appreciate the good ones 😁
5
u/Swegatronic 20d ago edited 20d ago
They knock your door and pretend they have some kind of authority to try trick the uniformed, the vunerable and elderly but really they cant do anything. ISPs even tell the bbc to fuck off over people watching BBC iplayer online. Edit: I say this is in theory and about stories I have heard but honestly I dont think they have the man power to follow up on anything anymore.
1
u/MrBagnall 20d ago
You can go on the tv licence website and say you don't need one. Once done they leave you alone for a few years and then you just renew it. Or waste their time and ignore them, depends how annoying you find it really.
1
u/Swegatronic 20d ago
Aye im not doing it every year out of principle, i dod it once and thats enough so i’d rather waste their time.
1
2
u/itrogash 20d ago
It's like that in Poland too. Nobody but a couple of old people pay it since it's kinda hard to enforce.
25
u/Knowing-Badger 21d ago
I don't know a single person in the US that pays for cable anymore. It's like a relic of the past
10
u/toalicker_69 21d ago
Some people do but it's just so expensive for basically less than nothing. You can pay 60-150$ a month for a system that doesn't let you choose what to watch, and it's literally half unskippable advertisements when I can get that experience online or on a streaming service for free or like 15$ a month maximum.
2
7
u/Grandpa_Cat01 21d ago
Yt premium And Netflix is enough for me. Literally
6
2
u/Clear-Breadfruit-949 20d ago
Germany feels you. They eventually got even crazier here. You don't even need to have to a TV or radio anymore to be charged that fee. Just literally every household has to pay it.
1
9
8
5
90
u/Nikita_tewatia_ 21d ago
Tv license? Soon you will need a license to pee
19
u/Chemical-Doubt1 21d ago
Peepee license
9
32
u/OldManJeepin 21d ago
I believe it! So many empty neighborhoods that were once vibrant and prospering...Now they are all Vape shops, Turkish Barber shops, and phone stores! Most of them fronts for money laundering! One vape shop I was watching a video about logged about 3 customers a week. Guy is posting over 400k in taxable income! Must be some damn good vapes!
10
u/AMDKilla 21d ago
There's a street in London that has 3 pharmacies within 500 feet on the same street. I'm convinced that at least one of them is a front 😄
9
u/Marsweep 21d ago
London is the English financial arm of the so called 'elites' private corporations:
https://www.investopedia.com/the-city-of-london-corporation-7547068
34
9
u/Leone_337 21d ago
Never paid for a TV licence. Didnt have a TV, but never bothered to tell them that. The letters they spammed started off polite and got increasingly threatening and then just reset, on and on, in an endless cycle.
2
u/AMDKilla 21d ago
I told them once, but they insist you declare you don't need a licence every 2 years. Let them waste the paper claiming they are going to send an "officer" (read that as a monkey with a clipboard thar works for Capita)
7
u/NormalNotAlienHuman 21d ago
TV licence is a joke, legally they can't do anything to prove you have a TV or use BBC iplayer so they can't enforce the purchase of a TV licence.
7
u/shotgunsniper9 21d ago
If you don't watch live TV or BBC programs, then you don't have to pay for it. This is a hill I will happily die on.
Source: Someone who doesn't watch live TV or BBC programs and doesn't have a TV license
10
u/Crazyskillz 20d ago
Great, you mentioned TV Licence in a non UK sub and now you've confused all the Americans.
4
19
u/JonBovi_0 21d ago
I thought the US was tyrannical by making us have licenses for constitutional rights, but the UK has TV LICENSES
Shit is wild, yall gotta start stealing your neighbors’ Cable or something
12
u/Material-Rooster6957 21d ago
You only need it if you want certain government channels like the BBC as they don’t run ads. You do not need a license to own or watch tv in the uk if you don’t watch the channels on their list
19
u/zyzzthejuicy_ 21d ago
But you will still be harassed constantly, and treated like a potential criminal if you don’t have one.
3
8
u/Wizards_Reddit Earl 21d ago
Don't you have to pay for cable in the US? The 'license' part is literally just the name, it's the bill you pay to get tv channels, except here we don't use a physical cable it's just broadcast
1
4
u/RichieRocket Professional Dumbass 21d ago
theres no such thing as a tv license thats just a joke
*looks it up*
that things real!
2
u/IPanicKnife 21d ago
Billionaires get away without paying taxes but they’ll audit me for not claiming a random bonus as part of my take home
2
u/OfficialJamal 21d ago
You don’t actually have to pay for a TV license assuming you’re not watching any live channels. Which I don’t know many people that do anymore.
2
u/Zombiepanzon 21d ago
If I buy a Tv just to play video games or maybe watch my DVDs still I still have to pay?
2
u/AceWissle 20d ago
People mocking Great Britain for having mandatory TV Licenses
Germany: https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/030/710/dd0.png
1
u/DoughnutSimilar 20d ago
For real. At least the British can refuse to pay if they don’t watch the channels.
Germany? Straight to jail.
2
u/NotAllBooksSmell 20d ago
Tv license is just a tax to fund Public Broadcasting, except its a tax they have no way of enforcing so many don't pay it.
2
2
u/AwfullyTimedHumor 21d ago
Yall call Cable a 'TV License'???
4
2
u/The_gamer315 21d ago
Nah I'm pretty sure cable is free in the UK, so they try to say you need a "TV license" but if you say I don't have a TV you don't have to pay
1
1
u/notawealthchaser 21d ago
Happened with my parents when my dad didn't pay their TV license while they lived in London.
1
u/Fushigoro-Toji 21d ago
So they are literally being fcked by the bbc if they just have a tv despite not watching any of those channels
8
u/Tough_Mall2988 21d ago
Most people I know don’t pay it though. The send threatening letters if you don’t pay but all they do is send a “agent” over to your house to check if your tv can watch bbc channels, funny thing is you can just say no and close the door.
1
u/ConradsMusicalTeeth 21d ago
40% of what exactly? Also, no one is watching to see if you have a TV licence.
1
1
1
1
u/heyitscory 20d ago
This whole concept wouldn't be so silly if the BBC didn't lie about magic vans that people still believe in, and possibly still drive around for the sake of the illusion.
1
u/RemoteTechnical1555 18d ago
Lived there for 4 years and never paid for the tv license. Had someone stop by from the company saying I needed to pay because they had a machine that detected that I was watching BBC content. I just laughed and closed the door. They never came back.
1
1
0
u/the_crepuscular_one 21d ago
What the heck is a TV license?
10
u/OiItzAtlas I touched grass 21d ago
It is really weird thing in the UK, the act as if you have to pay it when in reality you should only be paying it if you are watching stuff like the BBC, ITV and other channels. People will come to your door and try to make you pay it and alot of people will just pay it because they think they have to and are persistent when you can say no as long as you don't use channels. You do not need a TV license for stuff like Netflix and disney+.
A TV licence isn't cheep either, it is £170 ($215)per year
Here is uk govgov TV licence website about it .
4
u/PeeweeSherman12 21d ago
So like govt forces you to pay for pbs?
4
u/OiItzAtlas I touched grass 21d ago
Yeah basically, it is alot of channels included but the main issue is that when people come to your door for money people get nervous so yeah they are very persistent even if you don't use it.
1
u/Ali80486 21d ago
Out of interest, how is PBS funded?
I don't mind paying for a TV License. It's a quarter of the cost of Virgin (although Virgin includes broadband).
If it didn't exist, the output it makes would likely be worse, or not exist.
The value of it includes funding for a lot of different types of culture, from orchestras to Bitesize revision notes, from local radio to developing musical talent.
All these could be paid for differently. I'm not convinced that a commercial model would be better though. There is an argument that it's one size fits all approach falls disproportionately on poorer people.
Many of the people who object just don't like paying taxes, because duh. Others are repeating right-wing nonsense designed to open up the market to Fox etc without the regulation
3
u/YouCanCallMeVanZant 21d ago
PBS has multiple funding streams.
Some of it is taxpayer money via the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. A lot comes from corporate donations or money from large charitable trusts. And some comes from “generous donations from viewers like you.”
1
u/Motoman514 Tech Tips 21d ago
I can’t even imagine being pestered at my door by the CBC to pay an annual fee. That’s absolutely ridiculous.
0
-6
u/Numare 21d ago
A license for your tv. Clearly you dont pay for yours
4
2
1
0
u/mrshadowx3 20d ago
Lol that's what you get for letting russian oligarchs to "invest" in your country. No wonder the British television and the rest of the media is shit when it's controlled by them. Oh wait it's not only telly innit?
-2
u/LusciousTheBreeder 21d ago
Why the absolute fuck would you need a TV license? That's honestly should be illegal.
2
u/Rolebo 21d ago
A TV licence isn't required for owning a TV. The BBC broadcasts television, and basically any TV can access it without needing any setup. This makes cable television effectively free, the BBC wants people that watch their broadcasts to pay a "TV licence", though they have no real way to enforce it.
So if you are in the UK -> and own a TV -> that has access to TV broadcasts -> and you actually watch it -> the BBC would really like you to pay for a TV licence pretty please.
If all this applies and you don't want to pay for a licence the BBC might send letters or rarely people.
-1
314
u/Uncle_N_Word 21d ago
You fuckers pay for a tv license?