I cancelled mine a couple of weeks ago for similar reasons. I did it online and it was relatively painless (I was paying by direct debit so had all the info to hand in emails from them).
I also put a date far in the future on the form (for when I would next need a licence) but when the cancellation came through they had changed it to just 12 months time. Surely amending something I have confirmed to be true (on pain of a big fine) is illegal? They do it because you have to tick the box for them to contact you 'before the end of the period' before you can actually cancel. It's all a bit suspect.
Anyway: just be careful about 'live TV'. You also need a TV Licence to watch live streams on YouTube, Amazon Prime, Twitch etc. I shall have to sadly skip Rick Beato's music livestreams, for example, and watch them after they have finished. Essentially, anything you 'watch at the same time as everyone else' is in scope. Stay safe.
"Your TV Licence lets you enjoy a huge range of TV. It covers you for all TV channels, pay TV services like Sky, and live TV on streaming services like Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Netflix and Freely. As well as everything on BBC iPlayer. On any device."
The TV licence has become unsustainable. It's sad really, because I also get weirdly patriotic about the BBC. The World Service at one point set up antennae near the Korean DMZ, and broadcast over the border the truth about the Kim regime that North Koreans would never hear from their own media - how badass is that?
But if even other people who share my bleeding-heart sentiments about the Beeb are having their hearts hardened by this threatening behaviour - then it really is over.
It is a somewhat unconscionable tactic which has been long employed. It is now longer even entirely based on dataset matching (they now assume households have televisions, so if a licence isn’t matched to a resident the dwelling may get a warning letter or letters - at least that’s what I think happens) and, if they do come to your door, in the instances of which I am aware (admittedly 2 households and 3 instances in all), the investigation consisted of an explanation that only videos or DVDs latterly were watched and that was that.
However, this may have changed and the tone of the letters seems deliberately intimidating - a very wrong and misleading use of bureaucratic authority in my view - targeting the old and vulnerable as a reasonably foreseeable outcome. At the very least it is unsavoury. I wonder how much revenue it generates. I am sorry to hear of your and your family’s troubles.
I don't watch live TV. Bit I do listen to BBC radio so pay to keep Radio 4 which will not survive if BBC moves to commercial model. And despite all the BBCs failings I do like being in a country that has media not owned by a billionaire
Just so. I want to say that I am really appreciating/enjoying HP's articles - she articulates what my foggy brain vaguely groks, tidying up those loose impressionistic thoughts into coherence. Cant free, clear, true.
Requiring people to pay for anything that can be accessed freely, like television, radio, air and sunlight, is idiotic and futile. Either include it in general taxes or fund it another way.
Might as well try to charge people for every fart they pass.
I am not privy to the inner workings of the BBC but this shows all the hallmarks of institutional failure. I'm not from the UK but in my third-world corner of the world, this is what happens when historically monopolistic entities suddenly face unexpected competition and start hemorrhaging what they had always assumed to be a captive customer base.
As a hopeless anglophile, I have a great deal of love for the BBC but this is an awful way to treat the public.
It's still state-funded in the US. In one way, this could make the UK TV licensing more liberal economically, because you can opt out if you don't watch TV, which you can't if it's just part of your taxes. But, in practice, they make opting out so difficult that people get angry at constantly being hounded which they likely wouldn't if it were just part of their taxes and they didn't have to pay a separate bill.
And, no, it was never that way in the UK. It couldn't be, really, because when TV was invented, a television was expensive and the majority of people could not afford one, so it made sense only to make the people who could pay for a TV pay for the programming on it. This could also be done easily by ensuring that everybody buying a TV had a license. But now TVs are cheap and you can buy them online and second hand and you can also watch TV on your laptop or even your phone and many people who have TVs (like us) use it for gaming or netflix and not live TV so that doesn't work anymore.
Have you ever just ignored the letters and then when they show up say, “Go ahead, see if you can find a parasitic TV here!”? That’s what I might do. Maybe even open a few closets and make them check under the beds :)
“Now leave me the hell alone and stop nagging me!” Don’t you think in this day and age they just know if you’re pirating live TV or not? How would you watch it without them knowing?
Correction, one of the main reasons women are prosecuted, in their tens of thousands per year. They are only imprisoned if they do not pay the fine. The number of women imprisoned for non payment of a TV Licence fine has dropped since 1995, a year in which hundreds of both men and women were imprisoned for this reason.
I cancelled mine years ago because I don't watch live, and also some bias. I also have gotten scary letters, despite the fact we genuinely do not have a TV.
We do have one because we used to watch TV and also because the husband and child play video games. I'm just going to disconnect it & wrap the aerial cable thing up in tape. It's astounding to me that they still assume everybody watches TV. In the 90s, sure, there were only a few people who didn't watch TV, preferring to read, but surely they've noticed the internet exists now and various much cheaper and better non-live streaming services?
Anyone who is following what is happening right now in the UK and the rest of Europe should not be surprised at this authoritative, "we own you" kind of tactic. The UK and European Council's thirst for control mainly through the use of threats, censorship, fines and jail time is off the charts. The US was openly following close behind which became shamelessly obvious during the Biden reign but because of our First Amendment right as law, we the people have an advantage. This is part of the reason Trump was overwhelmingly elected, to flip the script.
This reads like the government is looking for ways to break the spirit of its own citizens by leaving them in a constant state of insecurity down to the most trivial items. It makes me not even want to visit, because I have a strong, "leave me the f alone" drive and a prickly nature. There's a decent chance I'll end up in the hooskow.
I cancelled mine a couple of weeks ago for similar reasons. I did it online and it was relatively painless (I was paying by direct debit so had all the info to hand in emails from them).
I also put a date far in the future on the form (for when I would next need a licence) but when the cancellation came through they had changed it to just 12 months time. Surely amending something I have confirmed to be true (on pain of a big fine) is illegal? They do it because you have to tick the box for them to contact you 'before the end of the period' before you can actually cancel. It's all a bit suspect.
Anyway: just be careful about 'live TV'. You also need a TV Licence to watch live streams on YouTube, Amazon Prime, Twitch etc. I shall have to sadly skip Rick Beato's music livestreams, for example, and watch them after they have finished. Essentially, anything you 'watch at the same time as everyone else' is in scope. Stay safe.
The government fines you for not paying them to watch live internet streams?
That is absolutely insane.
https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics
"Your TV Licence lets you enjoy a huge range of TV. It covers you for all TV channels, pay TV services like Sky, and live TV on streaming services like Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Netflix and Freely. As well as everything on BBC iPlayer. On any device."
The TV licence has become unsustainable. It's sad really, because I also get weirdly patriotic about the BBC. The World Service at one point set up antennae near the Korean DMZ, and broadcast over the border the truth about the Kim regime that North Koreans would never hear from their own media - how badass is that?
But if even other people who share my bleeding-heart sentiments about the Beeb are having their hearts hardened by this threatening behaviour - then it really is over.
It is a somewhat unconscionable tactic which has been long employed. It is now longer even entirely based on dataset matching (they now assume households have televisions, so if a licence isn’t matched to a resident the dwelling may get a warning letter or letters - at least that’s what I think happens) and, if they do come to your door, in the instances of which I am aware (admittedly 2 households and 3 instances in all), the investigation consisted of an explanation that only videos or DVDs latterly were watched and that was that.
However, this may have changed and the tone of the letters seems deliberately intimidating - a very wrong and misleading use of bureaucratic authority in my view - targeting the old and vulnerable as a reasonably foreseeable outcome. At the very least it is unsavoury. I wonder how much revenue it generates. I am sorry to hear of your and your family’s troubles.
I don't watch live TV. Bit I do listen to BBC radio so pay to keep Radio 4 which will not survive if BBC moves to commercial model. And despite all the BBCs failings I do like being in a country that has media not owned by a billionaire
Just so. I want to say that I am really appreciating/enjoying HP's articles - she articulates what my foggy brain vaguely groks, tidying up those loose impressionistic thoughts into coherence. Cant free, clear, true.
Requiring people to pay for anything that can be accessed freely, like television, radio, air and sunlight, is idiotic and futile. Either include it in general taxes or fund it another way.
Might as well try to charge people for every fart they pass.
Thanks, Helen, for confirming that England is just as nuts as the USA, and for giving me a couple of needed belly laughs.
Kathryn
I am not privy to the inner workings of the BBC but this shows all the hallmarks of institutional failure. I'm not from the UK but in my third-world corner of the world, this is what happens when historically monopolistic entities suddenly face unexpected competition and start hemorrhaging what they had always assumed to be a captive customer base.
As a hopeless anglophile, I have a great deal of love for the BBC but this is an awful way to treat the public.
I remember the days when you could watch broadcast TV for free. I don't know if it was ever like that in the UK but it was in the US.
It's still state-funded in the US. In one way, this could make the UK TV licensing more liberal economically, because you can opt out if you don't watch TV, which you can't if it's just part of your taxes. But, in practice, they make opting out so difficult that people get angry at constantly being hounded which they likely wouldn't if it were just part of their taxes and they didn't have to pay a separate bill.
And, no, it was never that way in the UK. It couldn't be, really, because when TV was invented, a television was expensive and the majority of people could not afford one, so it made sense only to make the people who could pay for a TV pay for the programming on it. This could also be done easily by ensuring that everybody buying a TV had a license. But now TVs are cheap and you can buy them online and second hand and you can also watch TV on your laptop or even your phone and many people who have TVs (like us) use it for gaming or netflix and not live TV so that doesn't work anymore.
Have you ever just ignored the letters and then when they show up say, “Go ahead, see if you can find a parasitic TV here!”? That’s what I might do. Maybe even open a few closets and make them check under the beds :)
“Now leave me the hell alone and stop nagging me!” Don’t you think in this day and age they just know if you’re pirating live TV or not? How would you watch it without them knowing?
I am terribly sorry for the unnecessarily harassing letters!
I believe not paying the TV licence fine is one of the main reasons women go to prison in the UK.
Correction, one of the main reasons women are prosecuted, in their tens of thousands per year. They are only imprisoned if they do not pay the fine. The number of women imprisoned for non payment of a TV Licence fine has dropped since 1995, a year in which hundreds of both men and women were imprisoned for this reason.
https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2024-03-05/debates/96DD7483-FCA5-4405-99DE-5C7EEE7E9813/TVLicenceNon-PaymentWomen#contribution-6F0E90FE-9512-44D7-B357-1761B656548C
I cancelled mine years ago because I don't watch live, and also some bias. I also have gotten scary letters, despite the fact we genuinely do not have a TV.
We do have one because we used to watch TV and also because the husband and child play video games. I'm just going to disconnect it & wrap the aerial cable thing up in tape. It's astounding to me that they still assume everybody watches TV. In the 90s, sure, there were only a few people who didn't watch TV, preferring to read, but surely they've noticed the internet exists now and various much cheaper and better non-live streaming services?
Anyone who is following what is happening right now in the UK and the rest of Europe should not be surprised at this authoritative, "we own you" kind of tactic. The UK and European Council's thirst for control mainly through the use of threats, censorship, fines and jail time is off the charts. The US was openly following close behind which became shamelessly obvious during the Biden reign but because of our First Amendment right as law, we the people have an advantage. This is part of the reason Trump was overwhelmingly elected, to flip the script.
Just wondering what the bulk mail rate is on this scam.
This reads like the government is looking for ways to break the spirit of its own citizens by leaving them in a constant state of insecurity down to the most trivial items. It makes me not even want to visit, because I have a strong, "leave me the f alone" drive and a prickly nature. There's a decent chance I'll end up in the hooskow.