totally random question for UK ladies

[atomic sagebrush]

After watching Peaky Blinders and wondering "how in the world do they pay for such elaborate sets" I learned about TV licenses in the UK and would be super interested in hearing more about them. Do you guys like that system, do people really get in trouble for them (it sounds like they do), do you have to watch commercials still, do you think it's worth it? Not trying to start any kind of controversy, just that I am curious about how it works.

[Kittybear]

Haha! I love it! It is my understanding that our TV licence revenue goes to the BBC - the only non commercial broadcaster (so no adverts on any BBC channels) but the other broadcasters (itv, channel 4, channel 5, sky to name but a few) do all show ads and are funded by this.

With the advent of ********* TV shows, a fair number of people got around paying for a TV licence by not having a TV and just ********* the shows through the internet but the government have now closed that loophole.

Yes you can be prosecuted for not holding a TV licence - just like any type of fraud.

A lot of people don't like paying for a TV licence especially if they don't a tually watch the BBC- tbh, I didn't use to watch much on it at all and I also paid a small fortune for Sky TV (satellite telly - the TV licence is on top of this)BUT I find their kids TV to be the 'safest', nicest, most educational, and - no offence- not full of American accents (which in general us brits love, just not on our kids lol), so we (the kids) have it on pretty much every day (no judgement please lol!) so to me, it's worth every penny

I hope that sheds some light on it for you Atomic!

Xx

[atomic sagebrush]

Thank you so much! Yes that's really very illuminating and interesting. My kids watch tons of British stuff and never "caught" the accent except for occasionally saying "zed"

Do you feel like the programming is "fair?" We have some controversy here with our public channels being possibly biased towards particular viewpoints and I was wondering if you find that to be the case or if because it's publicly funded, is it more representative of everyone?

[atomic sagebrush]

And do people ever get annoyed over shows like Peaky Blinders?? It had to cost a small fortune to make that! Is there much public debate over how the $$ is spent or are most people generally happy with it?

Sorry I know this is all very weird but the whole idea is just amazing to me (although really no different than US having cable or Netflix) and I never really stopped to think about it before. Just interesting to learn how different people do things in different ways.

[Artisam]

Hi atomic, very interesting question! I have to say I have the opposite view of kittybear (no offence!)! I pay around £45 a month for sky tv (satellite). I think the tv licence fee which goes to the BBC (I think ~ £150 annually) is very outdated. You can't actually own/watch a tv without one in this country, but this only covers bbc-ran channels. In my opinion it should be an opt in/out system instead of a compulsory thing. And they do get a bit of flak for wages/spending as this is public money. To be honest I don't watch BBC as much as sky we usually watch US based series (homeland/girls/the affair). My son occasionally watches CBeebies (BBC based children's channel). I love a good US accent any day, but I'm sure the grass is always greener!


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[MrsTheatrical]

The tv license people used to come to our university halls of residence to check we all had a license if we had TVs in our rooms! Imagine, picking on poor penniless students like that


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[MrsE]

Ah the dreaded TV licence van with its satellite thingy on the roof. The scourge of every student!


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[atomic sagebrush]

Thank you guys so much!! This is very interesting to me. Gosh what do people in apartments do?? All have to have individual licences? And what if your child has a tv in their room??

[Artisam]

All has to have their own in apartments- I think there used to be a clause that it was free if you had a black and white telly!


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[MrsE]

Yes one tv licence covers the whole home but apparently not self contained bits of a house (like a granny annex for example) or tenants. Sadly you have to pay for b&w tv these days (it's £49 a year instead of £145.50) BUT it's free once you're over 75 (for you and the whole household!).


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