Ok I know the prices and what not, but my little info packet, and the tv licencing webpage didn't answer this for me... and FYI I'm moving to the UK sometime in march, so I'm not arbitrarily asking.
I understand if I have a television, computer with a broadcast card, vcr, dvd recorder, basically anything that can recieve a television signal, then I need a license.
I understand for a color licence the price is currently 121 pounds, and I understand it covers everyone living in the household, but does it cover every device in the house, or do I have to have more than one license for each device.
IE: I have 2 televisions (one for me, one for my kids) and a VCR, my computer doesn't have a broadcast card so I'm not worried about that. So my question is, am I paying 121 pounds, or am I paying 363 pounds for 2 televisions and a VCR?
My wife is freaking out about the move, and is generally in a really pissy mood because of reading that if we live off base we will have to send her to a off post school, she'd have to wear a uniform, so on and so forth...
So if you would please let me know, because my first instincts is to say it covers every device in the home, because 242 pounds because you like to watch tapes and TV seems like a ton of cash.
I'm pretty sure its one needed for the entire household, no matter how many TVs or people.
I don't even watch the BBC!
Yeah, doesn't matter if you watch it or not still gotta pay (another thing my wife is peeved about). I'm trying to figure out a way to soften it, hell, I should have just gone to germany... less crap to deal with, she's already mad at me for the whole pet situation...
Oh well...
Yes, if it can recieve a TV signal, then you need 1 licence. When you buy a TV in the UK, the retailer has to tell the government that you have one, which is how they find out. They supposedly have TV detectors, but with I can't see how it could work with LCDs or Plasma... However, if you have a laptop with DVD player or protable DVD player but no TV card, you don't need one. Remember that you'll need a multi-region player if you want to play US DVDs. You can arrange to pay the licence monthly for no extra cost, so its only a tenner a month. For comparison, the cheapest Satellite package is 12.50 a month which only gives you all the crap channels on top of the free stuff. Its 19.50 a month for the cheapest decent package.
However, we do have free digital TV (just buy a 40 quid reciever) and you get like 30 or so channels.
And tell her that the UK is just like the US... we all have to obey Bush's whims
Quote from: Alynn on Wed 02/11/2005 02:30:57
Yeah, doesn't matter if you watch it or not still gotta pay
... I know, thats what I was commenting on...
Why doesnt everyone in the UK rise up against such a stupid rule? We have it in Japan too and it pisses me off to no end. Of course, people here take it up the... I mean, they don't fight about things so I can understand it here. In the UK though, you guys should protest!
Quote from: Kinoko on Wed 02/11/2005 11:15:41
Why doesnt everyone in the UK rise up against such a stupid rule? We have it in Japan too and it pisses me off to no end. Of course, people here take it up the... I mean, they don't fight about things so I can understand it here. In the UK though, you guys should protest!
Becuase it means we get decent TV on 4 channels? Decent radio on about 9 channels, the excellent BBC webiste, etc. All without adverts.
Not to mention that in Germany you need a licence for the Radio, let alone TV. To quote Wikipedia: "The licence fee in Germany is â,¬204,36 per annum for TV and radio, and â,¬66.24 for just radio. It is billed by month, but typically paid quarterly (yearly payments are possible). Unemployed and disabled people do not need to pay the licence fee."
In Australia public broadcasting is paid for out of general revenue. Costs the average tax payer 14 cents a day. $51.10 a year I guess, so $102.20 for a normal household.
(Public broadcasting covers two normal terrestial stations, 5 radio networks (which have regional stations) and some other digital stations, websites and whatnot).
You pay for it whether you watch TV or not, but paying for something is less annoying when you don't see it the charge per se. It's why people complain more about income tax than sales tax.
Yeah it's one license per household, you can have as many TV's as you like.
Personally I don't mind paying the license fee because it means having decent TV channels to watch that don't have commercials and that give you relatively unbiased news, but I would also agree with the argument that the BBC should be an optional subscription service -- either you pay for it and get the channels, or not.
However, I do think it's all got a bit too big nowadays -- I'd prefer them to halve the number of channels and halve the license fee; who watches BBC3 or BBC4 anyway?
Obviously enough people for Little Britain to be a TV success ;)
TV license is a form of control. The BBC currently has no advertisments and also continues to support a wide variety of shows for all markets. It is because of this that keeps other channels such as ITV from flooding the channel with adverts every 10 minutes, like in America. The license fee supports the BBC so they can continue to make and produce a variety of shows which aim at minorities, which otherwise would not be shown.
Also you need one tv license for one household no matter how many devices you have. If you are only using tv's for dvd playing you do not need one as long as you can prove that the TV is not able to get reception i.e no aerial or channels manually tuned to static.
Well technically I don't need one until I get a multisys VCR or a converter, since my NTSC sets won't pick up PAL signal. I'm currently looking around for alternitives... Because basically AFN (Armed Forces Network) blows chunks.
this is of course if we do have to live off post, in the off chance that housing is available on post then I don't have to worry about it.
I also gotta look around and see what internet access is available... it's going to really blow going from my 6MB cable line to a 2MB DSL (or worse) line for around the same amount of money.
Where in UK are you moving to? just wondering
Here's an additional bit of info I was told while at uni:
If you house/flat-share with other people, one license covers the entire house as long as the rooms don't have locks on them. If the tv is behind a locked door, you require a seperate license. Of course if you don't lock your room, you might not be able to get adequate household insurance.
Im guessing this is something to do with communial areas and seperate tennants...
I'll shut-up now...
Yeah, I was told that at university halls. Its the same thing in hotels too. Your room is considered a separate address, so you have to get a separate license if you want a tv in your room. Particularly annoying since the university provided a tv in the common room. Heaven forbid they extend the tv license to cover the student's rooms. As if we ain't poor enough!
But otherwise, in a normal household, one license covers any number of tvs or devices capable of receiving tv signals.
And I'm sure they have a team of crack agents that ensure compliance with all these provisions.
... they do
Where I am moving is RAF Alconbury which is near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire.
Somewhere in that area anyway.
And yeah, from what I have been reading, they have people with detectors that sense the electromagnetic field a TV gives off, if they point it at your house, and you have a TV on, and they check the database for your address, and you aren't in it...
Well your screwed... 1000 pounds which is somewhere around 1800 USD
Actually, I don't know about that. Its just hearsay, but apparently they actually have very few of these detectors, and they are so inaccurate that its impossible to pinpoint where the tv signal is coming from. And they can't come into your house and check unless you give them permission. At any rate, my 'friend' had a tv in their room while living in uni halls, and never had the tv licensing people chasing after them. :P
One other thing to bear in mind (although I didn't do it..), is that you can lie. And if they come checking you can let them out. It's not that you have to let them in to check... I have a lot of student friends who have TVs without license and just keep their door shut when someone comes knocking on their door...
Of course it is quite bizarre, but in Greece for istance, everybody with an electricity bill has to pay license fee (fees towards ERT, the national greek TV). Well at leas in the Uk you must pay if you own a TV and not if you just have electricity in your home...
Quote from: Kinoko on Wed 02/11/2005 11:15:41
Why doesnt everyone in the UK rise up against such a stupid rule?
It's not a stupid rule, else I'd be rising up good. It allows the BBC (gor' bless ya) to provide a public service - essential stuff like unbiased news, educational programming and minority interest programming. It's value is that it doesn't
need to be popular to survive!
The only trouble is the fellas at the BBC seem to have forgotten this of late.
Quote from: Pumaman on Wed 02/11/2005 17:37:15
who watches BBC3 or BBC4 anyway?
BBC3 has the Mighty Boosh!
Supposedly, the whole detector van is a bit of a myth - I think they base most of their work on whether your address is registered for a TV when you buy a TV.
With regards to not opening the door, again very true, although a colleague at work was telling me that he was duped into opening the door by a TV License agent posing as someone from Royal Mail.
THEY'RE EVERYWHERE I TELL YOU!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES BEFORE ITS TOO LATE !!11!!