The Student Room Group

Should I get a TV licence?

I'm considering getting a TV licence for next year, and I wondered whether I could get a bit of help deciding.

I haven't had one this year, and I'm going into my third year next year and I'm genuinely split on whether to get one or not. I've worked out a number of pros and cons to doing it

Why I should get a TV licence - The Pros:

1. The BBC costs 40p a day - this is miniscule when you consider buying a copy of the Daily Mail everyday for a year would cost double, when regardless of how you view the quality of the content, the Beeb offers far more channels and radio.

2. If my broadband ever goes down, which could happen from time to time, TV and radio offers my only source of access to the real world.

3. The TV licencing men will come round and check the property, and the thought of housemates watching live TV online will worry me.

4. There's something nice about having a TV in the living room - it's part of the home, and it allows me to watch big events such as the World Cup and Wimbledon without spending money down the pub!

Why I shouldn't get a TV licence - The Cons:

1. What's the point when radio, website and iPlayer are all free to use? I'll potentially save £145.50 and watch all of my favourite programmes on demand.

2. I'm going to be the only student in my house willing to pay the fee. This'll create an awkward situation in a communal space when I'm watching TV and I might (although probably won't) get a bit ratty if somebody watched TV with me despite not paying what I think is a small fee.

3. If I opt out of the TV licence, I might be adding my voice to many more that are beginning to abandon the TV licence which might persuade the government to decriminialise not paying the licence fee.

4. I'm maybe overrating the BBC's output out of sheer familiarity and there's probably other ways of finding as good if not better content online on other websites such as The Guardian.

What do you think I should do? What's a better use of £150? Do you have a TV licence? What have you done and how do your student friends feel?
(edited 9 years ago)

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Personally i don't since i don't want live TV. I stick to catchup services.

1. £150 can pay for my gym membership for the year and if i don't need to pay the license i won't.

2.If my broadband goes down i have my phone/ books/video games to entertain me.

3. You can read in the FAQ below but you don't need to let the people in. you can just refuse to let them in and they can't do anything.

4. Laptop + HDMI cable + iplayer solves that. Not as good as live but much cheaper. :tongue:


Just thought i'd drop in a link to Reue's masterful TV licensing FAQ in here which covers lots of common questions about needing TV licences.

e.g do you need a license in halls or in a shared house or if you just watch on your laptop/phone/iplayer? etc etc...
Reply 2
Original post by Numberwang
Why I should get a TV licence - The Pros:

1. The BBC costs 40p a day - Good value if you consume alot of BBC content live. Poor value if you do not.

2. If my broadband ever goes down, which could happen from time to time, TV and radio offers my only source of access to the real world. - Or you could go outside? :wink: Use the radio, its free.

3. The TV licencing men will come round and check the property, and the thought of housemates watching live TV online will worry me. - Deny them access.

4. There's something nice about having a TV in the living room - it's part of the home, and it allows me to watch big events such as the World Cup and Wimbledon without spending money down the pub! - So instead of spending the money down the pub, you'd rather spend the money on a licence? Not much of a saving imo.


Edited in for comments :smile:

Original post by Numberwang
Do you have a TV licence? What have you done and how do your student friends feel?


I haven't had a licence in the 9 years since leaving home. That's well over £1000 saved which has been spent on much better things. We have a smart TV which we use to watch catchup services and DVDs.
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 3
I agreed with my house that we either got a license and split the fee, or didn't get it and nobody watched live TV. We got the license because it meant there would be no arguments with people saying they wouldn't watch and then going behind our backs anyway.
Reply 4
Buy a tv licence support paedophiles and fake news. Havent had one for 20 years.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Reply 5
Original post by Hertz
Buy a tv licence support paedophiles and fake news. Havent had one for 20 years.

Posted from TSR Mobile


Dat conservative, anti-bbc ideology.
Original post by Numberwang

2. If my broadband ever goes down, which could happen from time to time, TV and radio offers my only source of access to the real world.

3. The TV licencing men will come round and check the property, and the thought of housemates watching live TV online will worry me.

4. There's something nice about having a TV in the living room - it's part of the home, and it allows me to watch big events such as the World Cup and Wimbledon without spending money down the pub!

Why I shouldn't get a TV licence - The Cons:

2. I'm going to be the only student in my house willing to pay the fee. This'll create an awkward situation in a communal space when I'm watching TV and I might (although probably won't) get a bit ratty if somebody watched TV with me despite not paying what I think is a small fee.

3. If I opt out of the TV licence, many more students might follow and it might persuade the government to decriminialise not paying the licence fee.

What do you think I should do? What's a better use of £150? Do you have a TV licence? What have you done and how do your student friends feel?


I've cut down the quote so I can reply to the ones I've quoted:
2) This has happened to me a few times, it's pretty crap to be without internet. Just make sure you have plenty of games and films you can watch if you have to go without internet for a few days.
3) the TV licensing guys don't just rock up and check your house. If they suspect you're viewing live tv, they send you warning letters saying they can check your house and fine you etc. If that happens then just stop watching it live.
4) there is something nice about communal tv but at the same time, that's an awful lot of money just to have a talking point
Con list:
2) it would be rude of you to tell someone to stop watching tv just because they didn't pay for the license. I mean, I understand where you're coming from, but if my mum came into the living room and turned off the program I was watching just because I didn't contribute, I wouldn't even know how to react but it could create a hostile environment. You're pretty much willing to pay it anyway and you said yourself you feel it's a "small fee"
3) lol. you aren't leading any students. Students will either have it or not, regardless of the choice you make.

Better use of £150. Well for me, that would feed me and my boyfriend for 7 weeks with change. You could buy nice things.... you can do whatever you want with it, I really don't see it as a disposable amount of money but that's just my view on it. But you don't HAVE to spend it, so it's not about better use, it's about whether you want a license or not. We don't have a tv license. My mum offered to pay for one at the start of my first year but I said no thank you, catch up shows are fine. TV is nice to have but I'm not nearly as fussed about it anymore. You've gone without it for your first two years, is the reason/are the reasons you want it now enough for you to get one?
Reply 7
TV is just dull rubbish. I havent got a license and saving money and don't feel like I'm missing out on the world. Without a TV you can go out that front door and do something more awesome with your life. And at uni, you should not have time to be watching TV anyway...not just because of the studying but I mean because of the short uni experience you only have a few years of your lives.

A good uni library may have a DVD collection if you want to watch a film. Cinema is more social than secluding yourself to your bedrooms, on demand services are great and you could share whatever content your friends have e.g. boxsets etc. and there is so much stuff going on at uni that you shouldnt be bored at home and feel the need to watch TV.

If you're watching TV everynight, you are wasting your time at university! Go enjoy it!
How will they be able to tell if you are watching BBC One here? http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/live/bbcone :rolleyes: If an inspector asked to look at my computer, the answer I would give them is too dirty for TSR! :tongue:
Reply 9
BBC iPlayer and other catch-up services and/or Netflix.
Recommend not to get a TV license. Waste of money.

But if you're one of those people that like to waste money on things that aren't needed (ensuite people I'm talking about you), then go ahead.
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 10
Wouldn't bother.

You're not obliged to let anyone in who knocks on your door. Just tell them to **** off. :smile:
Original post by Numberwang
X


I certainly wouldn't get a TV licence. I don't know of anything so time sensitive that I need to watch it live (even Dr Who I can wait two hours for). There's some stuff that doesn't go on iplayer (mainly sports related stuff) but having said that I've never wanted to watch this and most football or F1 racing can be seen at a pub if you want to see it.
Reply 12
Do we need a TV license for BBC iPlayer? Or C4 on demand etc?
Original post by PC2852
Do we need a TV license for BBC iPlayer? Or C4 on demand etc?


No
Reply 14
Original post by Numberwang
No


Sometimes.
Reply 15
Original post by PC2852
Do we need a TV license for BBC iPlayer? Or C4 on demand etc?


It depends if what you're watching on them is being shown live.
Original post by Reue
It depends if what you're watching on them is being shown live.


By iPlayer I mean iPlayer. . Watching BBC live TV is different, you click on a different tab which says 'TV'. iPlayer is free as it's on demand.
Reply 17
Original post by Numberwang
By iPlayer I mean iPlayer. . Watching BBC live TV is different, you click on a different tab which says 'TV'. iPlayer is free as it's on demand.


The BBC defines the iPlayer as being the web application used for viewing. For example:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/live/bbcone

It is the same for both live and on demand.
Original post by Reue
The BBC defines the iPlayer as being the web application used for viewing. For example:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/live/bbcone

It is the same for both live and on demand.


Touché... how annoying!
You watch TV without a TV licence and enjoy all the pro's, if Mr TV Licence comes knocking you tell him to go do one. Simples.

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