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If you use a TV or any other device to receive or record TV programmes (for example, a VCR, set-top box, DVD recorder or PC with a broadcast card) - you need a TV Licence. You are required by law to have one." - TV Licensing

Further information on running costs is available in this document (Starting at about Table 14) and this document
According to the second document licence fee revenue is 2,659million pounds.
License fee information on the bbc website

TV Licensing Website

To summarise:
Standard license fee is 121 pounds(colour television)
Black and White Television is 40.50 pounds
Registered blind people can apply for a discount of up to 50%
People over the age of 75 do not need a license

You pay the license fee for recieving the BBC services

I'm a UK resident, and I don't think this is entirely correct. Quoting from the TV Licensing Website: "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."

In the UK, if you have equipment capable of receiving TV signals, you must pay the license fee even if you only watch commercial channels, or indeed even if you never actually turn the thing on. The fact that the money is used to fund the BBC has no bearing on your liability to pay.

The license fee is not payable by everyone, people over 75 do not pay, and blind people have a 50% discount. TV Licensing

The BBC is funded by the TV license fee, a compulsory payment if you possess TV receiving equipment in the UK. A lot of people don't like it, but to me the alternative (a neutered BBC) is far worse.

Some choice excerpts from the website:

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.

Students:
If you're using a television set at university or college, or anything else to receive or record television programme services (such as video recorders, set-top boxes or PCs with broadcast cards) without a valid TV Licence then you could be prosecuted and fined - which could make your days at college a lot less fun than they should be.

Mockery:
There is no valid excuse for using a television and not having a TV Licence, but some people still try - sometimes with the most ridiculous stories ever heard. To read some of our favourites click here.

Can't find the excerpt right now, but it says somewhere that blind people get a discount of 50% and seniors above 75 years go free.

AND ALL THIS: even if you want to receive free broadcast channels...wow.

Some choice excerpts from the website:

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.

Students:
If you're using a television set at university or college, or anything else to receive or record television programme services (such as video recorders, set-top boxes or PCs with broadcast cards) without a valid TV Licence then you could be prosecuted and fined - which could make your days at college a lot less fun than they should be.

Mockery:
There is no valid excuse for using a television and not having a TV Licence, but some people still try - sometimes with the most ridiculous stories ever heard. To read some of our favourites click here.

Can't find the excerpt right now, but it says somewhere that blind people get a discount of 50% and seniors above 75 years go free.

AND ALL THIS: even if you want to receive free broadcast channels...wow.

Some choice excerpts from the website:

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.

Students:
If you're using a television set at university or college, or anything else to receive or record television programme services (such as video recorders, set-top boxes or PCs with broadcast cards) without a valid TV Licence then you could be prosecuted and fined - which could make your days at college a lot less fun than they should be.

Mockery:
There is no valid excuse for using a television and not having a TV Licence, but some people still try - sometimes with the most ridiculous stories ever heard. To read some of our favourites click here.

Can't find the excerpt right now, but it says somewhere that blind people get a discount of 50% and seniors above 75 years go free.

AND ALL THIS: even if you want to receive free broadcast channels...wow.

We have the joys of a comprehensive advert free broadcasting....And it's all free!

Maybe you have not heard of the 121 (In April) pound

BBC Television License fee .

I will educate you: This fee is collected by the force of the State and given to the BBC. Even people who never watch the BBC have to pay this money if they posess a television.

Or maybe you are confusing "Free" as in free with "Free" as in "The State gave me this using my and other people's money, no matter if I like it or not."..

In any case, here is a website where you can pay up your "Free"

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk

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.

So that means it just needs to be installed - even if the TV was never plugged in - you would need to pay for a licence

Ease up man.

He has to pay it, even if he doesn't have a TV, if he has a TV tuner card in his machine. Also, if he is a tenant in a flat with others, he has to pay the license, because the fee is allocated on 'separately occupied places'.

Have you seen the penalties? Up to a thousand quid? Christ.

Ease up man.

He has to pay it, even if he doesn't have a TV, if he has a TV tuner card in his machine. Also, if he is a tenant in a flat with others, he has to pay the license, because the fee is allocated on 'separately occupied places'.

Have you seen the penalties? Up to a thousand quid? Christ.

Ease up man.

He has to pay it, even if he doesn't have a TV, if he has a TV tuner card in his machine. Also, if he is a tenant in a flat with others, he has to pay the license, because the fee is allocated on 'separately occupied places'.

Have you seen the penalties? Up to a thousand quid? Christ.

Almost... but here is one for all the students (possibly the grandparent confusion)

"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." from here.

I may have 3 TVs in my house, but only need one licence, similarly I don't need a seperate licence for a pocket TV as long as I have one for my home address, but as you say I can't only have a battery operated TV.

not true

'The TV Licence for your main address will, however, automatically cover any TV used in a touring caravan, vehicle or boat, or any televisions operated by their own internal batteries.'

I refer you to the paragraph directly above the one you posted on the TV Licecing website:

Mobile homes and caravans
If you or any other person uses a TV in your static caravan or mobile home and another is being used in your main home at the same time, you'll need a separate TV Licence.

However, if a TV isn't being used in your static caravan or mobile home at the same time as in your home, you don't need a separate TV Licence. In which case you'll just need to complete a declaration form (see below).

not true

'The TV Licence for your main address will, however, automatically cover any TV used in a touring caravan, vehicle or boat, or any televisions operated by their own internal batteries.'

Right, the country where a dedicated government agency "TV Licensing" drives around in 'hi-tech' vans to detect unlicensed televisions is a good example of responsible use of technology in democratic government.

Never mind that a whole house of parliament is populated by hereditary peers in this 'democracy'.

If your TV has a tuner (or is capable of being connected to a tuner device, e.g. Digital TV box, cable box, video with a tuner &c) then it is deemed capable of recieving a broadcast signal and you have to buy a TV license, unless the law has changed in the last 3 weeks. So watching DVDs on your PC via a DVD drive doesn't require a license (unless the PC has a tuner card, in which case you should have a license) but buying a TV and plugging a DVD player into it will require a TV license. Otherwise people could just not get a license and when the enforcement agents paid a visit unplug the ariel from the back of the TV and put a DVD or video on then claim they only use it to watch prerecorded DVDs.

Under the law as it currently stands if you buy a TV from a store they are supposed to collect the address of where it is to be used and send that to the TV licensing authority so that they can check that that address has a valid license. Very few places do collect the information consistently and prosecutions are rare but stores have been prosecuted for failing to do that. Argos got done a few years back because a number of their shops failed to collect addresses.

I find it annoying to have to have a license as I don't watch terrestial channels at all and pay for cable TV (much of which has adverts).

Stephen

If your TV has a tuner (or is capable of being connected to a tuner device, e.g. Digital TV box, cable box, video with a tuner &c) then it is deemed capable of recieving a broadcast signal and you have to buy a TV license, unless the law has changed in the last 3 weeks. So watching DVDs on your PC via a DVD drive doesn't require a license (unless the PC has a tuner card, in which case you should have a license) but buying a TV and plugging a DVD player into it will require a TV license. Otherwise people could just not get a license and when the enforcement agents paid a visit unplug the ariel from the back of the TV and put a DVD or video on then claim they only use it to watch prerecorded DVDs.

Under the law as it currently stands if you buy a TV from a store they are supposed to collect the address of where it is to be used and send that to the TV licensing authority so that they can check that that address has a valid license. Very few places do collect the information consistently and prosecutions are rare but stores have been prosecuted for failing to do that. Argos got done a few years back because a number of their shops failed to collect addresses.

I find it annoying to have to have a license as I don't watch terrestial channels at all and pay for cable TV (much of which has adverts).

Stephen

I was simply higlighting the difference between the free PC and the non-free Television, just to highlight that you can't really compare this with television.

And for what it's worth, you don't require a TV license to watch DVD's and Video's, unless you have any equipment capable (it has to be connected to be capable) of displaying, recording or processing broadcast material (terrestrial or other) in which case you do require a TV license. Note that the Copyright Law prevents you from watching 'borrowed' broadcast material.

Details at http://www.tv-l.co.uk/.

(116? Has it gone up about ten quid recently?)

How much do you pay per year for the BBC?

From http://www.tv-l.co.uk/:
"Currently a colour TV Licence costs you 116.00 GBP and a black and white TV Licence 38.50 GBP. Anyone aged 75 or over is entitled to a free TV Licence for their principal residence. If you are registered blind, you need to pay only 50% of the full licence fee."

You don't just pay for the BBC though - you must pay if you own a TV, even if you only watch cable channels. Even owning a TV and using it for video games, you'd probably be hard pushed to prove you don't use it for regular viewing!

You're not licensing a television, you're buying a license to have a TV set in your house

Actually, this is probably worse. Sorry, but this is like the ultimate incarnation of the "nanny state", when the government can fine you for illegally watching a public broadcast in the privacy of your home. In America, of course, we all pay for PBS whether we want to or not (I don't own a TV), but I would much prefer to have this extracted from my tax dollars invisibly than having to file a fucking license in order to avoid nasty visits from the BBC cops. These assclowns actually think it's funny.

I hate to sound like another hysterical Slashbot equating Bush with the rise of Naziism, but if we ever end up in a society like 1984, it will be because of unchecked excesses of this sort. "Brazil" doesn't seem quite as absurd once you've read about the TV licensing goons. The Brits I know (some very close friends) understand exactly how absurd this is, too.

It's actually per year, and it's not that much considering that you get several channels of commercial-free high-quality television, but I strongly disagree with the TV Licensing (warning, crappy site with fake Javascript scrollbars that only work in IE) organization's strong-arm tactics (I've heard more than a few horror stores about people who didn't own TVs being harassed by the TV Licensing people). They even have a section on their website that describes how they will hunt you down and prosecute you.

Believe it or not in the UK it is actually illegal to "receive or record television broadcast services" without a TV license that costs about $140 a year. (No, really I'm not making this up).

TV Licensing will repeatedly send threatening sounding letters to any address that does not have a TV license listed in their database. The letters tell you that you could be breaking the law and be fined 1000UKP and asl that if you dont use any equipment then you should write and tell them.

I do not have a TV license, because I don't watch TV, however TV Licensing naturally assume that I really DO watch TV and am breaking the law and continuously send me threatening souding letters like the one above. I do actually OWN a TV and a VHS however this is because I have some old tapes that I watch occasionally. (remember - its only illegal to USE it to receive programmes - it is not illegal to simply OWN a TV set although they deliberately word things to make it sound like that) The TV and VHS are detuned and I dont think I even own the cable to plug them into the aerial. I've played the "lets be totally legit" game at my old address where I contacted them via their 0870 number (in the UK 0870 numbers are about $0.18 a minute) and made it clear that while I own a TV, I do not use it to watch TV. They said "fine" and said that they would stop the letters.

A few months later the letters resumed.

I call again, asking which bit they didnt understand and was told that calling them just causes the letters to stop for a few months. I asked why I should periodically have to pay a premium rate call to tell them I'm not breaking the law. They said if I didn't tell them then someone would call around to my house. I researched this and this is truly scary - if a TV License officer calls around (and they do call - but not often) and you refuse them entry, they can go to the police and automatically get granted a search warrant. The solution is to not answer the door.

190 what?

From the TV Licensing site:

Currently a colour TV Licence costs you 116.00GBP and a black and white TV Licence 38.50GBP.

In the UK if you operate a TV set or other device capable of recieving and decoding TV signals you have to have a TV licence to pay for the running of the BBC, including radio. Note, you don't need a TV license if you only have a radio, even though the BBC has several radio stations, one of which is excellent and far better than any TV station I've ever seen.

Will they impose a certain O$ upon the public?
"It's for the common good." they will say.

I know that they drive around in secret vans
with funny antennas, sniffing around for illegal TV sets.
http://www.tv-l.co.uk/tvlic/penalties/detection_tv vans.html

For a real squeal, read through the whole site at:http://www.tv-l.co.uk/

I can see in the near future they will unleash a fury of PC detector vans
that will sniff out rouge, forbidden operating systems, namely *NIX systems..

You'll have to apply for and pay for a license to operate your PC.

You can be sure that this will be comming to the USSA soon too....
2+2=5.
Enjoy your victory gin under the spreading chestnut tree, brother.

Will they impose a certain O$ upon the public?
"It's for the common good." they will say.

I know that they drive around in secret vans
with funny antennas, sniffing around for illegal TV sets.
http://www.tv-l.co.uk/tvlic/penalties/detection_tv vans.html

For a real squeal, read through the whole site at:http://www.tv-l.co.uk/

I can see in the near future they will unleash a fury of PC detector vans
that will sniff out rouge, forbidden operating systems, namely *NIX systems..

You'll have to apply for and pay for a license to operate your PC.

You can be sure that this will be comming to the USSA soon too....
2+2=5.
Enjoy your victory gin under the spreading chestnut tree, brother.

"British television fee? Care to explain?"

1. It cannot be erased until 7 days have passed.
2. Viewers not recording other programmes had no choice in avoiding it.
3. Parental controls were seemingly ignored. Given its content fair warning in advance couldn't be too much to ask of either the Beeb or Tivo.
4. Claims over lowered priority and user choice notwithstanding, this advertising still takes up HD space.
5. Most objectionable to me personally: The BBC is subsidised by the public purse, however indirectly, and to force programming on people who have not asked for it is really taking the piss.

If you don't have a TV you don't have to pay for it. It's a license. Have a look at http://www.tv-l.co.uk/