TV LICENCE-A COMPLEX SUBJECT.
The BBC TV licence is a form of taxation, so even if you never watch BBC you still have to pay this, it is a broadcasting tax so the BBC act as tax collectors and it is a state run TV channel.
I only watch 2 x TV shows on BBC and the news channel 601, The other channels are far better, so it is costing me £159 which added to my virgin and netflix bill is costing £1160 per year.
If you watch TV in two locations, such a your own caravan it gets even more complicated, you can only watch "one a time" or pay two licence fees except for student who can watch TV is living away from home.
The goverment/BBC have now removed the free licence fee for over 75's but say it is not a criminal offence any more to use TV, iplayer etc without a licence but you can still be fined £1000 for doing this I think.
Listening to a radio or digital radio on TV/computer does not require a licence, nor owning a tv, computer etc, it is only if they catch you using the tv or other device to watch programmes ot iplayer etc (up to 1972 radio required a licence and there was a fine of £10)
I pay my tv licence but hope in the future this form of taxation is removed because it should be a choise to watch BBC like other subscribed services which are include in packages, and recently the BBC have removed some catch up option on virign so you have to use the iplayer. I suppose the broadcasting infrastuctue/transmitters may be funded by the BBC so that may be one reason the TV licence remains?
It woud be nice if there was a way of avoiding watching the BBC (if it could be filtered out), but you would still get fined for watching any other tv show including show that are from other countries or streamd like netflix, so it is not a BBC tax only, it is a tax for watching any broadcasted ot iplayer programme but I presume it does not apply if watching films on dvd, but may apply to any recordings on tV boxes as the tv companies still own them, even if not watching live you have recorded them.
So really the BBC act's as a tax collector to fund the BBC opperations so we all pay for it even though you may never watch the BBC.
It should be self funding, and in view of new developments such as- freeview, netflix,streaming, and free tv channels, not funded by the public, the BBC is only one small part of the TV available so why should one company have the right to tax people for watching tv, the other comanies have to survive with advertising and not a tv tax. (not fair, the bbc have an unfair advantage)
See this old article by the BBC 2014 (so the fees are out of date), some counties such as spain have no tv licence, in japan they have a tv licence but not compulsary. I think some streamed services such as netflix, now box etc may not require a tV licence but I do pay my licence as I watch a lot of tv/sport etc, I would not want a £1000 fine, I am not sure if they can still put you in jail for non payment of licence or the fine or if it is a criminal offence or affects your credit rating etc. so will continue to pay the TV licence myself. The BBC should not be funded, it should be like all other tv companies, any funding for transmitters and broadcasting equipment should part of the tv subscriptions services or included in general taxation/vat as it is infrastructure in the same way goverment fund broadband improvements.
It would make more sense fro the BBC to charge for their tv channels or via subscriptions or advertising (and scrap the tv licence) .They call it freeview but we pay for just the bbc via the tv licence, the rest are "free". There are no plans to scrap the TV licence, just reviews every so often, it is world service but paid for by the UK Public. Channel 4 is also publically owned (tv licence funded)
How is TV funded around the world? - BBC News
Telling us you don't need a TV Licence - TV Licensing ™
Stop Paying The TV Licence Legally - Find Out How Right Here (tvlicencestop.co.uk)
Can You Watch TV Without Paying For A TV Licence (tvlicencestop.co.uk)
Government launches bid to privatise Channel 4 | Daily Mail Online
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