TV licenses WTF?

[stiltman]

You don't live in the UK do you? We have to pay £110 (or thereabouts) for a year of TV, and you'll be fined thousands if you're caught without a licence. Black and white licences are a fair bit cheaper, and you don't pay for portable TVs.

But yes, you must pay that in the UK. However, it funds the BBC who have no adverts so makes for better viewing. Now, if only they'd come out with something decent again!

Cobra

Nope don't live in the UK 8)
So they have a color license and a black in white license?
Do they even sell black and white TVs anymore?
What happens if you have a color TV and a B/W license, does your signal only come in B/W? Is this license like a key code that you have to enter into your TV like a software license on your computer?

Do you only get BBC channels? Is that like the US version of PBS?
What happens if you have a satalite?

This blows my mind

[Guest]

You don't live in the UK do you? We have to pay £110 (or thereabouts) for a year of TV, and you'll be fined thousands if you're caught without a licence. Black and white licences are a fair bit cheaper, and you don't pay for portable TVs.

But yes, you must pay that in the UK. However, it funds the BBC who have no adverts so makes for better viewing. Now, if only they'd come out with something decent again!

Cobra

Nope don't live in the UK 8)
So they have a color license and a black in white license?
Do they even sell black and white TVs anymore?
What happens if you have a color TV and a B/W license, does your signal only come in B/W? Is this license like a key code that you have to enter into your TV like a software license on your computer?

Do you only get BBC channels? Is that like the US version of PBS?
What happens if you have a satalite?

This blows my mind

You don't live in the UK do you? We have to pay £110 (or thereabouts) for a year of TV, and you'll be fined thousands if you're caught without a licence. Black and white licences are a fair bit cheaper, and you don't pay for portable TVs.

But yes, you must pay that in the UK. However, it funds the BBC who have no adverts so makes for better viewing. Now, if only they'd come out with something decent again!

Cobra

EDIT - Thanks, Dr.Gee but don't worry. I'm going to earn it like you guys, and it'll be all the sweeter!

UK- no
110 lbs-Shit!
Caught w/o a license-Random searches?Or like having an illegal cable box in the US?
B&W-What the hell is that?
Portable TVs- Work out & juice up so u can make any tv "portable"
No BBC adverts-Get tIVO you can go right thru them

[Cobra]

stiltman,

- Yes, B&W and colour licences are separate.

- You can still buy B&W TVs in some places here. Not very good ones, and not much choice but you can.

- I don't know how they tell between B&W and colour TVs when hunting for unlicenced properties but I assume they can tell the difference. The signal is always colour, though.

- The licence just tells the authorities that your property is indeed paid-for and must be bypassed. If they find a signal from an unlicenced property, then you're really in trouble.

- A TV licence covers digital terrestrial TV here too, so you can get 30 or 40 channels using a £40 digital reciever, set-top box job at no extra cost. It's called "Freeview digital" in the UK.

- If you want satellite, you pay for your TV licence then you pay for satellite. You can never escape the licence, if you have a TV then you pay, no arguments.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/index_frameset.html

See here for official information.

Fun, isn't it?!

Cobra

[indolikaa]

It's like PBS with a more convincing Telethon segment.

[stiltman]

What size do these B/W TVs come in?
I haven't seen a B/W TV in the U.S. for at least 5 years now.

Sounds like this license is similar to our PBS donations. They try to guilt you into donating every 20 minutes. You all are just forced to pay them...

Totaly wacked if you ask me

[Doramius]

Can you not get a TV signal without a TV License and where do you put it? Is it a sticker you have to put on the side of your set. Is there an office like the Motor Vehicle Department where you have to wait in line?

[andyp1]

If you have a B/W TV and a video recorder you must have a colour licence as the video can record in colour.
I have been a TV Engineer all my working life and can remember about 20 years ago having to modify some videos to kill the colour circuit so they could only record in B/W to avoid them having to pay the colour licence.
A licence covers a property so I can have as many TV's in my house as I want on 1 licence.
A number of years back some clown in government thought about charging one licence fee per TV , thankfuly it never happened.

The licence is just a piece of paper , I pay mine monthly via the bank so don't have to worry about it , its automatically renewed each year , a little bit more expensive each year of course.

Oh another thing , when we in the UK first got affordable sattelite tv after 1989 , quite a lot of people got sattelite and wanted their aeriel taken down in the hope that if they could only get sattelite they could avoid the licence , but they couldn't.

[Cobra]

You know in our current house, if we each had a TV and one communal one in the kichen, we'd require 14 licences. Our rooms lock with a key, and are considered separate properties.

Great, isn't it?

Cobra

[flaninacupboard]

A number of years back some clown in government thought about charging one licence fee per TV , thankfuly it never happened.

Holy crap! £660 pounds a year for TV?! glad that got knocked on the head...

Do you only get BBC channels? Is that like the US version of PBS?

I dunno, is the BBC like the UK version of PBS? all i know about PBS is what the simpsons taught me.

[andyp1]

When you reach 75 you become exempt from the licence fee.

[andyp1]

We can receive 5 channels of terrestrial tv 2 BBC channels which don't have adverts and are paid for by the licence fee and 3 channels which have adverts.
Without some form of receiver sattelite/cable/digital terrestrial that's all we can get.

[The village idiot]

What happens if you use a computer to display the TV? It isn't really a TV, so can they still charge you?

[Cobra]

Still watching a broadcast, therefore you need a licence. If I were to put a TV tuner card in my PC, they'd still come after me. We don't get off that easily, I'm afraid.

Cobra

[andyp1]

Yes , I think so , if you can receive it you have to pay for it.
You'd need one if your only TV was a 3" handheld Casio LCD.

[Cobra]

If you use or install television receiving equipment to receive or record television programme services you are required by law to have a valid TV Licence.

There you go.

You'd need one if your only TV was a 3" handheld Casio LCD.

Portable, battery-operated appliances are usually exempt from the licence requirement:

A TV set powered by its own internal batteries - a pocket sized TV for example - may be covered by a licence at your parents' address. If you're in doubt, please call 0870 241 5973.

Cobra

[Guest]

Taxation without representation. That's why we had to break it off 8)

[RabidDog]

I Reckon its good value .. but the no adverts thing is wearing a liitle thin there are so many "upcomings" & "to be shown" & "another chance to see".. but the free movie downloading is worth it