Jump to content
Unofficial Mills

what is a TV license?

phoenix

By phoenix
in The Lounge

 Share

Recommended Posts

phoenix

phoenix

Posted
Posted

I dont mean to come on here and sound like an idiot. But I had never heard of this before I listened to Radio 1 and we dont have them here.

What in the **** is a TV LICENSE? Is it the same thing as a cable bill? Like you pay every month to have cable TV in your home? There are some channels that you can get free, but to get the rest you have to fork it over.

But it doesnt sound like that. It sounds like it has many strings attached. Like a lot of people have to sign it or something?

I'm confused. The UK fascinates me. :biggrin:

myspace.com/phoenixstarr21

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jono

Jono

Posted
Posted

We pay about £120 for a television license to watch BBC TV (no adverts so that's how they get their income).

You have to have one to watch television, it's cheaper for black and white than colour.

And more expensive now you have digital TV like Sky and Freeview.

Call it a strict TV tax... and they check with vans that go around and check you've paid. Hence why many students don't have a TV at university.

There's better explinations around than mine!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lucinda

Lucinda

Posted
Posted

You have to have a TV licence to watch any TV, but you have one per household. Students are supposed to buy one each though, so everyone in the building with a TV has to have one.

They come around and knock on people's doors and hunt people down who haven't bought them.

'Forget happiness I'm fine, I'll forget everything in time'

Link to comment
Share on other sites
phoenix

phoenix

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Haha, are you serious? Thats insane!

Actually yeah here I think you can get arrested for having illegal cable hookups. Its considered a major crime and you can go to jail if you do it.

Its different than a cable bill then.

So you cant watch TV AT ALL without one? Nuts! So you dont have the free channels? If you plug in your TV you can get like 5 or 6.

myspace.com/phoenixstarr21

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jono

Jono

Posted
Posted

In the United Kingdom, the current cost for a colour television licence is £131.50 (about €194) and £44 (about €65) for monochrome TV (black and white). The licence fee is charged on a per household basis. Therefore addresses with more than one television receiver only require a single licence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licence#United_Kingdom

Link to comment
Share on other sites
phoenix

phoenix

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Okay so thats different than here.

What you do is buy a TV. And then you call a cable company (Comcast) to come hook up your cable. There's like 80 channels on standard cable. The big networks are on standard cable, ABC, Fox, CNN and such. I dont know how much it costs but the bill is paid by the month. It requires special hookups that have be wired in your house. We have cable in 4 rooms in my house. Then if you want digital cable, which has like 200 more channels, you have to call the cable company again and pay a boatload of money. We dont have digital cable.

myspace.com/phoenixstarr21

Link to comment
Share on other sites
demonhorse

demonhorse

Posted
Posted
You have to have a TV licence to watch any TV, but you have one per household.

Except for Students as you said, and shared houses like the one I'm in... I think that's just greed but I believe the Government has to approve the charge via the BBC Charter...

Okay so thats different than here.

What you do is buy a TV. And then you call a cable company to come hook up your cable. There's like 80 channels on standard cable. I dont know how much it costs but the bill is paid by the month. It requires special hookups that have be wired in your house. We have cable in 4 rooms in my house. Then if you want digital cable, which has like 200 channels, you have to call the cable company again and pay a boatload of money.

We only get 5 terrestrial channels for our TV Licence, though we do have 30-40 Digital channels on the Freeview Digital Terrestrial System in which you buy a box for about £20, plug it into the aeriel and the TV and the rest is covered by a normal TV Licence.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jono

Jono

Posted
Posted

We still have to pay up to £30 a month for Sky Digital (through a dish) or cable which gives you at least 200 extra TV channels. Freeview (which comes in through an aerial) comes under the license fee and gives you about 30 channels.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DC

DC

Posted
Posted
I'm confused. The UK fascinates me.

if you come over here you will realise how crap it can be sometimes though. then it could be worse, it could be some dictator run place i guess.

you can be well screwed if you dont pay your tv liscence, but it does get the bbc some stick when most people dont like somthing they do. the phrase "it's coming out of the liscence fee" gets used a lot, especially by the sun newspaper.

on the grid.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
phoenix

phoenix

Posted
  • Author
Posted
We only get 5 terrestrial channels for our TV Licence, though we do have 30-40 Digital channels on the Freeview Digital Terrestrial System in which you buy a box for about £20, plug it into the aeriel and the TV and the rest is covered by a normal TV Licence.

A TV license pays for all channels on the TV I take it.

Are there different licenses for however many channels you want? Like if you want this many, you pay this much and so on? With our standard cable, you have to buy it all I think.

If you dont pay it, do you not have any service to your TV at all?

You can get illegal cable hookups, I think my brother had one in his dorm hehe. But this is completely illegal and severely frowned upon. Stealing cable is a felony, just as bad as robbing a store.

myspace.com/phoenixstarr21

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lucinda

Lucinda

Posted
Posted

You can watch TV illegally, channels 1-5, (1+2 are BBC), but they claim they know who's doing it and will fine you £1000. A basic TV licence gets you terrestrial TV, which is 1-5, or a Freeview box (costs about £30 one-off cost) will get you about 30 more channels. Otherwise, it's the monthly payment, but that's to companies, not to the BBC.

The TV licence is kinda like a tax.

'Forget happiness I'm fine, I'll forget everything in time'

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lucinda

Lucinda

Posted
Posted

You don't have to have a TV licence for a TV if you use it only for watching videos/DVDs or games consoles, but it's a bit of a grey area, because if the TV licence people come round, you might have trouble persuading them that you've never tuned it in to any channel.

'Forget happiness I'm fine, I'll forget everything in time'

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lucinda

Lucinda

Posted
Posted
yup

It'll confuse hell outta them if I cancel me DD, and use me TV Card to hook up me freeview box through me PC, and do away with the TV *evil grin*

Don't you still technically need a TV licence to do that? :-p

(By 'DD' he means Direct Debit payment for TV licence by the way phoenix)

Then you can record TV for me onto DVD!

'Forget happiness I'm fine, I'll forget everything in time'

Link to comment
Share on other sites
phoenix

phoenix

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I might have to call Comcast and ask if they know anything about UK TV licenses. They'd probably just say, "What are you talking about?" or think it was a crank call and hang up.

Once I have this figured out I'm posting a thread about this called "TV around the world" on a huge international forum (trance.nu, I love that site) and ask everyone about thier TV. That will confuse me to death. I can feel a headache coming on already.

This interests me honestly.

myspace.com/phoenixstarr21

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jembie

jembie

Posted
Posted
I'm wondering about that... I bet it's another grey area.. BUT if I hide the aeriel, theyll just think that cable goin into back of me PC is for net, or another little device... theyre thick like that :P

When you buy a tv card for your computer you have to give your address as you need a tv licence for that too and when you buy a DVD recorder or a Video recorder

My Creations

My Autographs

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sebdevlin

sebdevlin

Posted
Posted
When you buy a tv card for your computer you have to give your address as you need a tv licence for that too and when you buy a DVD recorder or a Video recorder

This is the official BBC stance on it basically if you can receive live tv they wants your money:shock: .

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5081350.stm

Download the Adam and Joe & Jon Richardson podcasts now!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
phoenix

phoenix

Posted
  • Author
Posted

When I say cable do you guys have a clue what I'm talking about? Do you have cable like we do?

The fines there are ridiculous. Our cable is the same price no matter how much you watch.

Okay from what I can tell it costs about $73 a month. I looked that up.

The BBC dominates the entire UK media I guess.

Are TV licenses paid yearly?

myspace.com/phoenixstarr21

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Posts

    • NathanS
      Radio 2 Schedule Changes

      By NathanS · Posted

      What I assume is a very last minute change... Scott Mills is in for Rylan today.
    • TMD_24
      Radio 1 Schedule Changes

      By TMD_24 · Posted

      Radio 1 at Parklife will be presented by Vicky and Nat. Nat is currently listed to present her usual Sunday show on that weekend but I imagine that will change and someone else will be doing it instead. The Radio 1 presenters at Download will be Daniel P Carter, Jack Saunders, Alyx Holcombe and Nels Hylton.
    • TMD_24
      Radio 1 Schedule Changes

      By TMD_24 · Posted

      Nat in for Dean with Vicky as well that day.
    • Jono
      Matt and Mollie to replace Dean and Vicky

      By Jono · Posted

      So the end of weekend afternoons this week - new show is July 1st.
    • Lily Georgia
      Radio 1 Schedule Changes

      By Lily Georgia · Posted

      Arielle is in for Greg on Monday 27th May.
    • R1Fan1
      Going Home with Vick, Katie and Jamie

      By R1Fan1 · Posted

      He’s definitely gotten better and the show has sounded fine this week. I think it been at its best when it’s been Katie and Jamie or Vick and Katie. Vick and Jamie are ok together, but I do think the show sounds better when it’s Vick and Katie and therefore I still don’t really understand the point of the trio.    Jamie is, however, a lot better than Danny Beard! 
    • BBCAaron
      Next Radio 1 boss

      By BBCAaron · Posted

      The RAJAR coming on later this year reflecting later summer to autumn will be interesting to how it reflects Matt and Mollie in afternoons to the revised changes on radio 1’s new music slots and the schedule re-shuffling Radio 3 introducing a new slate of programmes. Then, later on this year have speech radio stations having domestic political coverage of the election but also America’s presidential election.  
    • xxladybarefootxx
      Going Home with Vick, Katie and Jamie

      By xxladybarefootxx · Posted

      I actually caught snippets of today’s show, and I found it much better than the last time I listened. I have made it no secret that I like Jamie on the radio, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Matt & him together last year. People have criticised him for not being relatable, but I have to agree with the comment above that I have always found him a naturally warm person to listen to. Maybe the going home set up was something that needed settling in and things are starting to take shape.  It must have been difficult for him joining an established duo in Vick & Katie to begin with.  Jamie was great on something songs today, fully engaged in the caller and sounded like a real presenter. Maybe he is doing as a lot of us hoped and really learning as he goes, how to do it properly. 
    • Bluestraw
      Going Home with Vick, Katie and Jamie

      By Bluestraw · Posted

      Agree with this. The anti-Jamie feeling was IMO quite influenced by the negativity around him replacing Jordan, since Jordan was exceptional and also universally loved. When people mention Danny and Jamie in the same sentence about bad hiring decisions I almost choke - Jamie may not be perfect but he's several leagues better than Danny already and has bags of potential. Danny is poor and has shown zero potential...
    • R1 Insider
      Next Radio 1 boss

      By R1 Insider · Posted

      Jamie started 4 March, and the figures only going up to 31 March, so it isn't reliable. But it has shown the numbers have dropped in afternoons compared to last quarter. It looks like it's Capital's gain.
    • onlyME
      Next Radio 1 boss

      By onlyME · Posted

      Do these audience figures reflect Jordan leaving and Jamie replacing him?
    • jj996
      Going Home with Vick, Katie and Jamie

      By jj996 · Posted

      I think Jamie is really starting to settle into the role well. He comes across as really warm, and genuinely invested in the listeners when he’s talking to them which is nice. I think he’s building a really great relationship with Vicki and Katie too. His recent great company podcast is great too, where he has quite a deep chat with someone new each week. He’s clearly a very genuine person and I think he has some real potential.
    • BBCAaron
      Radio 1 Schedule Changes

      By BBCAaron · Posted

      Most probably. But do wonder what the future of the relax themed programmes will be when they officially wind down that service.
    • GregJames_fan
      Radio 1 Schedule Changes

      By GregJames_fan · Posted

      I think it's just to replace Wind Down presents... which was in that timeslot, and I'm guessing Chillout Anthems was just a buffer since it'll still be played at 06:00 on Sundays.
    • BBCAaron
      Next Radio 1 boss

      By BBCAaron · Posted

      With listening on the U.K. for the industry in general it is good overall as most stations reach is on the up and shows radio to be more sustainable and stable outlet than linear televisions channels. This RAJAR I think with the increase shift to DAB+ the BBC will be able to say it has it’s audiences for the proposed new stations it wishes to launch and think the new innovative ideas that it seems Jack himself can take credit for on the new music show think the younger under 30 gen z demographic could increase se in that time-slot. 
×
×
  • Create New...