Anyone else dumped the BBC

Yardbent

Yardbent

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John
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Yes
I strongly believe you dont remove previous concessions to provide BBC executive pay rises

the BBC has done many excellent programs - the housebound elderly especially enjoy them

but I refuse to pay (i'm 80). There's still online movies and features galore (and my 200 DvD's)
with wine making, photography, trout fishing and this addictive forum I've plenty to do....................... (y)
 
Donnie said:
Do you not qualify for the free licence?.................
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''... Over 75s who claim Pension Credit are the only group still able to claim a free TV licence. ...''

not blind. not on Benefits, pension too high

love to be proved wrong............ :)
 
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Al1944 said:
It's annoying but for approx £3 a week I don't think I would go as far as to dump it....
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I just really dont need it - although iPlayer was entertaining
 
Haven't had it for years now. We just weren't watching anything on it. I remember loving all the wildlife documentaries growing up, now it just seems to shovel out the same celebrity dross the other channels do. Netflix is half the price and we can pick what to watch.
 
Personally the only program I would miss a little bit is University Challenge! but my wife likes Gardener's World. We normally watch 30 - 60 mins per day of stuff we can take or leave.
The free licence used to be funded from central government but as they were scared of losing pensioners' votes by scrapping it they transferred the cost to the BBC, reduced how much they gave them and let them take the blame.
 
KitsuneAndy said:
now it just seems to shovel out the same celebrity dross the other channels do
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Yeah what is it with all this Skating in the jungle or cooking on ice crap?
It appears to me the standards ( on both the BBC and commercial TV ) has been slipping for some years.
Some people seem so hooked on TV that they will watch anything, I think these celebs ( that no one has heard of) reality programs really are
the bottom of the barrel.
Especially "I wanna be a celebrity get me in that f*****g jungle" :rolleyes: )

I think the lowest of the low, though, has to be the program that films people watching TV, that I had the misfortune to catch a part of awhile back.
 
Cobra said:
Yeah what is it with all this Skating in the jungle or cooking on ice crap?
It appears to me the standards ( on both the BBC and commercial TV ) has been slipping for some years.
Some people seem so hooked on TV that they will watch anything, I think these celebs ( that no one has heard of) reality programs really are
the bottom of the barrel.
Especially "I wanna be a celebrity get me in that f*****g jungle" :rolleyes: )

I think the lowest of the low, though, has to be the program that films people watching TV, that I had the misfortune to catch a part of awhile back.
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Fly on the wall documentaries, quiz shows, reality TV shows, all cheap to produce, exploiting members of the public who want their 15 minutes of fame....fortunately the BBC still produces some programmes of quality. I think the licence fee is worth it, I don't begrudge paying it especially as I have just saved myself a small fortune renegotiating my Sky contract......
 
People seem hung up on the reality shows but they only make up a small part of the content. there's plenty of very good drams output by the BBC. A few examples are:

Killing Eve
Line of Duty
The Secrets She Keeps
Anthony
His Dark Materials.

Plus shows like QI and Gavin & Stacey. We have Sky but we still watch more BBC than any other channel.
 
Unfortunately if you have a t.v capable of picking up the BBC in any way shape or form you have to buy a licence , not watching or dumping it is not a excuse in the eyes of the law
 
the black fox said:
Unfortunately if you have a t.v capable of picking up the BBC in any way shape or form you have to buy a licence , not watching or dumping it is not a excuse in the eyes of the law
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Exactly, it was known as a licence for a receiver not any specific channel, probably still is
 
the black fox said:
Unfortunately if you have a t.v capable of picking up the BBC in any way shape or form you have to buy a licence , not watching or dumping it is not a excuse in the eyes of the law
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Not quite, in general as long as you do not watch live TV or record live TV you can still use a normal TV
In the old days you used to have to modify the TV so that the aerial circuit did not work
 
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The only thing we've watched regularly is The Repair Shop. I used to like Dr Who and a couple of other things but I find the woke agenda pervasive and stifling and now that The Repair Shop seems to have finished we haven't watched the beeb for a while.

Years ago the beeb aimed to be impartial but these days I think that's all gone and they seem to think they exist to push their own agenda. The not so well publicised examples of bending the truth, misrepresentation, blatant lying and clear bias haven't helped. It's amazing that even after examples of extreme bad practice the beeb at best only seems to issue partial apologies. And then there's the duplication, overspending, overpaying and general impression that it's a private club and feeding trough for the in crowd. It is IMO sadly in need of a vast overhaul.
 
Suvv said:
Not quite, in general as long as you do not watch live TV or record live TV you can still use a normal TV
In the old days you used to have to modify the TV so that the aerial circuit did not work
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I did some reading on this yesterday and as far as I'm aware you need a licence even if you never watch the beeb. From what I read you need the licence for any live tv even if you don't watch any live tv but have the facility to? I may be wrong but from what I've read if you only watch catch up but have Virgin or Sky or any box which contains a link to live tv you have to pay the licence fee?
 
The main advantage of watching BBC for me used to be the absence of annoying adverts, but even that advantage has now gone with the BBC adverts for their own programmes.
 
the black fox said:
Unfortunately if you have a t.v capable of picking up the BBC in any way shape or form you have to buy a licence , not watching or dumping it is not a excuse in the eyes of the law..................
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you are correct as far as the BBC is concerned

I just completed a No Licence Required form with BBC stating I ONLY watch commercially bought DvDs and YouTube; and this was acceptable.....
 
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Yardbent said:
I strongly believe you dont remove previous concessions to provide BBC executive pay rises

the BBC has done many excellent programs
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An interesting aside is that if you got rid of every BBC staff member paid over £150,000 (in front of camera or not), the BBC would save £25 million a year. But the free TV licenses for the over 75s is costing them £250 million a year. They had to go, it's simply not sustainable in the future, and ultimately means poorer programming for everyone. Let alone I don't think the BBC should pay for a party manifesto promise, that's what central government is for as mentioned by another poster.

The new system, IMO, protects the poorest elderly with the ability for them to be able to claim a free license and means those who can or want to pay do so.

Garry Edwards said:
The main advantage of watching BBC for me used to be the absence of annoying adverts, but even that advantage has now gone with the BBC adverts for their own programmes.
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The BBC have been advertising their own programs on their own channels since day dot, otherwise how would anyone ever know what was on? Least the programming is uninterrupted.
 
the black fox said:
Unfortunately if you have a t.v capable of picking up the BBC in any way shape or form you have to buy a licence , not watching or dumping it is not a excuse in the eyes of the law.....................
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''..The law says you need to be covered by a TV Licence to:
  • watch or record programmes as they’re being shown on TV, on any channel
  • watch or stream programmes live on an online TV service (such as ITV Hub, All 4, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Now TV, Sky Go, etc.)
  • download or watch any BBC programmes on iPlayer.
This applies to any device you use, including a TV, desktop computer, laptop, mobile phone, tablet, games console, digital box or DVD/VHS recorder....''
 
Seems like a lot of agro for a couple of hundred quid or less a year, not even the cost of a pint a week
I tend to watch whatever takes my fancy, can't say I would boycott any channel, all have their plus and minus points.
BBC is still the best for live football at the big tournaments, enjoy the tennis too and some other stuff like Killing Eve
 
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tijuana taxi said:
Seems like a lot of agro for a couple of hundred quid or less a year, not even the cost of a pint a week.
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Filling a form in online takes no more effort than paying the licence.
 
broc said:
Fly on the wall documentaries, quiz shows, reality TV shows, all cheap to produce, exploiting members of the public who want their 15 minutes of fame...
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I totally agree.
Unfortunately every time I turn on the TV. Which isn't that often TBH,
these are either on or being advertised :(
And when did PJ & Duncan become so damned popular?
 
KitsuneAndy said:
Haven't had it for years now. We just weren't watching anything on it. I remember loving all the wildlife documentaries growing up, now it just seems to shovel out the same celebrity dross the other channels do. Netflix is half the price and we can pick what to watch.
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I pay nearly the same for Netflix, Just short of £144 for the year as opposed to £157 for the TV license. I don't actually have a TV aerial or satellite dish connected to my TV, everything I watch is streamed. The BBC also lets you pick and watch whatever you want, iPlayer is pretty amazing in that regard.
 
jakeblu said:
iPlayer is pretty amazing in that regard.
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Do you not have to have a TV license (OK, I'll rephrase... are you not supposed to have a TV license) to sign in to iPlayer?
 
Nod said:
Do you not have to have a TV license (OK, I'll rephrase... are you not supposed to have a TV license) to sign in to iPlayer?
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Thats what it asks when you access it
 
I haven’t paid the licence for 2 years. We can’t receive any tv signal here so I’m not paying for something we don’t get.
I haven’t filled out the online form as by doing so allows them access to your property whenever they like without notice to check on you, and that ain’t happening.
I get a nasty letter every few weeks threatening this and that, nothing has ever happened. If they want to drive all the way out here that’s their prerogative. They aren't coming inside my house though.
 
Nod said:
Do you not have to have a TV license (OK, I'll rephrase... are you not supposed to have a TV license) to sign in to iPlayer?
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I have got a TV licence, how very dare you. :)
 
Should get rid of the license all together. Why should people pay for something that they don't use? Just because your TV can pick some signal up that you don't watch or listen to, you have to pay the BBC!
Can't remember when I last watched any of their services in my house. Well never in my last 3 houses over the last 15 years or so.
They can go and jump as far as I'm concerned.
Amazon Prime, Netflix and youtube gives me all the entertainment I need.
 
scottishguy said:
Should get rid of the license all together. Why should people pay for something that they don't use? Just because your TV can pick some signal up that you don't watch or listen to, you have to pay the BBC!
Can't remember when I last watched any of their services in my house. Well never in my last 3 houses over the last 15 years or so.
They can go and jump as far as I'm concerned.
Amazon Prime, Netflix and youtube gives me all the entertainment I need.
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You could apply your thinking to everything, why pay your education portion of council tax if you don't have kids.
Its all about paying a bit to provide for everyone, lots of people especially the old only watch terrestrial television.
 
tijuana taxi said:
You could apply your thinking to everything, why pay your education portion of council tax if you don't have kids.
Its all about paying a bit to provide for everyone, lots of people especially the old only watch terrestrial television.
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Disagree, Why should I pay for something I don't use, so others can use it?
 
scottishguy said:
Disagree, Why should I pay for something I don't use, so others can use it?
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If you don’t watch live TV ie disconnect any receiving antenna or equipment, you don’t need a licence, simples:) of course you can’t watch iPlayer either.
 
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tijuana taxi said:
It does if you want to be pedantic and I think you do, mine renews by DD
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It's not pedantic at all, if you don't want a TV licence, telling them you don't want one, is exactly the same effort as paying for one.

tijuana taxi said:
Because its the mark of a civilised society, ever heard of the NHS, same principle.
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And well done for the most ridiculous analogy I've heard so far this week.
 
KitsuneAndy said:
It's not pedantic at all, if you don't want a TV licence, telling them you don't want one, is exactly the same effort as paying for one.



And well done for the most ridiculous analogy I've heard so far this week.
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You really are a w****r, f*** off and whinge about that
 
Marc said:
People seem hung up on the reality shows but they only make up a small part of the content. there's plenty of very good drams output by the BBC. A few examples are:

Killing Eve
Line of Duty
The Secrets She Keeps
Anthony
His Dark Materials.

Plus shows like QI and Gavin & Stacey. We have Sky but we still watch more BBC than any other channel.
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Thanks for that little list, I'm always on the lookout for drama mini-series to binge on iPlayer. There are a couple there I've not seen.

We watch half an hour of bbc breakfast in bed every morning, that's all the regular/scheduled TV we watch. But iPlayer can be entertaining.

So far this year we've watched loads ...


McMafia
The Trial of Christine Keeler
The Cry
Dr Foster
Hard Sun
Last Tango in Halifax
The Luminaries
The Mallorca Files
Mrs Wilson
Press
Strike
Taboo

All good stuff. OK, 1 or 2 are a bit trashy but enjoyable still.
 
Nod said:
Do you not have to have a TV license (OK, I'll rephrase... are you not supposed to have a TV license) to sign in to iPlayer?
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I'm sure there's a way. Do tell.
 
tijuana taxi said:
Because its the mark of a civilised society, ever heard of the NHS, same principle.
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Yes I have heard of them. I pay national insurance and income tax. That covers that. I use the NHS and have no problem with my money going there for the service I need and use.
Unlike the BBC.
 
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