TIL: Today I Learned

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That too. The iPlayer now pops up a message saying that you need a licence. They'll probably password-protect it within a year or so.
 
I'm not completely sure how it is with NRK (Norway's bbc) but I wasn't prompted with a license fee until I bought a new TV a few years ago. First I tried to ignore it to see if it would just go away but that was a no go and I got stuck with an additional fee. But all in all I really don't mind paying it as NRK is overall an excellent broadcaster.
 
I thought NRK stood for Norwegian kroner.
 
The same way american dollars are labeled USD norwegian crowns are labeled NOK

NRK is norwegian reich broadcasting
 
Indeed. It's how the publicly-funded BBC can survive (and not show adverts).
A ring-fenced share of taxation would work as well. The license fee is really just a poll tax by another name, it's just one that we tend to accept because successive Conservative governments have it made it clear that they would much prefer if that money was spent on something useful, like giving knighthoods to child molesters, and the license fee seems to be the most immediately-reliable way of staving off that outcome.
 
Ring-fencing lasts as long as Parliament says it does. Having a generally acceptable poll tax to support a reasonably well-liked institution is tolerable, in my view.
 
Ring-fencing lasts as long as Parliament says it does. Having a generally acceptable poll tax to support a reasonably well-liked institution is tolerable, in my view.
A poll tax, too, lasts as long as Parliament says, it's just that it has to be abolished all in one go, rather than throttled by inches, so it's more obvious. But, I agree that in the short terms, the license is the most practical way of keeping the BBC going, it's just a pity that we're forced to think in the short-term.
 
Germanys national broadcasting companies had an income of 8 bn € in 2015. In comparison military budget was at 33bn€ for the same time.
 
What's the penalty if they catch you watching TV without a license?
Apparently, it's up to £1000, plus any compensation and/or legal fees.
 
^If i ever emigrate to Britistan, it would be an issue for me, given i have no use for a tv (haven't watched tv here for 5 years or something; the web suffices).
Do they pester people who don't pay the 1000 pounds, so as to try to discover if they watch tv? And how would one achieve this?

Let alone that paying 1000 pounds to the BBC per year is supporting a gov mouthpiece in the first place.
 
If you don't want to watch TV, don't get a TV. How you'd play a console without a TV screen is another matter.

As for how they enforce matters, I don't know, because I buy my licence yearly like a reasonable citizen. ;)
 
I spent about 2 years without a license (as I don't have a TV) and I got a couple of letters at first but once I'd sent off the declarations that I'm not watching anything, I was left alone - never had anyone round to check or anything. Had to pick up a license now though, as I use iPlayer a fair bit.
 
If you don't want to watch TV, don't get a TV. How you'd play a console without a TV screen is another matter.

As for how they enforce matters, I don't know, because I buy my licence yearly like a reasonable citizen. ;)

Issue is that those renting a studio don't have a say on whether it is listed as having a tv set. I had to pay the tv license when i lived in the UK, but at least then i needed the tv given i had no computer at my apartment there. In a future scenario, if i am there again, i would have a pc so would have zero use for a tv and great use for 1000 pounds/year :p
 
The TV licence is less than £150 a year, but as PhroX notes, you do need a licence to watch catch-up TV online.
 
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