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At The Back => Time Out => Topic started by: 5F6-A on November 28, 2009, 08:24:52 PM

Title: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: 5F6-A on November 28, 2009, 08:24:52 PM
Hello,

I'm going to be moving to the Uk soon and a few things bother me. For instance the TV. I haven't been to England to live for more than 12 years so I think things have changed. Any help would be appreciated...

Do I need to pay for a TV license even if I only watch DVDs?

The reception where I'm going to live in England is not that good.If I want to go cable... do I have to pay the license anyway?

The letting agent told me that the house has got Virgin boxes... what did she mean? ( no dirty jokes please )

If I decide to go cable ... which company is the cheapest?

Which one offers the best quality / price ratio ?

Basically any sincer help regarding these issues would be welcomed. Cheers.
Title: Re: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: Jonny on November 28, 2009, 08:33:57 PM
No, DVDs only then no TV license. Like playing your PS3 on it, you don't need a license.

I think the area is a Virgin Media area, so you can get Virgin Media type products. Broadband, phone, TV.

Well there's BT, Virgin, and Sky.. but that's all I know.
Title: Re: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: Antag on November 28, 2009, 08:35:31 PM
Not true Jonny - any TV that is capable of receiving a broadcast signal makes you liable for a TV licence.  No, I don't it either :(

Presumable a Virgin box is some sort of freeview box?  Does the property have a satellite dish?

Can't advise on cable, I have Sky...
Title: Re: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: Jonny on November 28, 2009, 08:36:57 PM
Not true Jonny - any TV that is capable of receiving a broadcast signal makes you liable for a TV licence.
At Uni they told us you can watch DVDs or play games and not need a TV license..
Title: Re: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: Antag on November 28, 2009, 08:43:56 PM
Not true Jonny - any TV that is capable of receiving a broadcast signal makes you liable for a TV licence.
At Uni they told us you can watch DVDs or play games and not need a TV license..
I guess if you watch DVDs on a computer, or plug a DVD player/Games console into a computer monitor, then no.
But: http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/for-your-home/students-aud1
(Read the bit at the bottom, I bet most of you fall foul of the second point...)
Title: Re: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: Oli on November 28, 2009, 09:05:05 PM
Try to convince the TV person when he/she arrives at your house that you don't watch TV.... on your TV. Even if you don't have an aerial, it's no excuse, as we all know that a coathanger works! I've a friend that every year has a real pain to get them to agree to him not paying a license... it's possible, but a bit of a pain in the arse!
Title: Re: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: FELINEGUITARS on November 28, 2009, 09:38:05 PM
Quote
Do I need to pay for a TV license even if I only watch DVDs?
If you have facility for watching TV programmes then the answer is yes

Quote
The reception where I'm going to live in England is not that good.If I want to go cable... do I have to pay the license anyway?

Yes - as you will be watching TV programmes
Cable companies in the UK have to carry the BBC channels as well so there is no way you can say that you dont see those channels and therefore you have to pay
Quote
The letting agent told me that the house has got Virgin boxes... what did she mean? ( no dirty jokes please )

Virgin Media are a cable TV provider
Means you will have access to cable TV, internet and telephones
You will have to set up an account with Virgin though and you'll have to pay for a TV licence

Quote
If I decide to go cable ... which company is the cheapest?

You dont have a lot of choice as far as I know
I think the two options are Virgin for cable and Sky for Satelite

Quote
Which one offers the best quality / price ratio ?
Much the same I fear - but you may be limited to whichever one is available where you live
Title: Re: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: 5F6-A on November 28, 2009, 09:52:54 PM
Quote
Do I need to pay for a TV license even if I only watch DVDs?
If you have facility for watching TV programmes then the answer is yes

Quote
The reception where I'm going to live in England is not that good.If I want to go cable... do I have to pay the license anyway?

Yes - as you will be watching TV programmes
Cable companies in the UK have to carry the BBC channels as well so there is no way you can say that you dont see those channels and therefore you have to pay
Quote
The letting agent told me that the house has got Virgin boxes... what did she mean? ( no dirty jokes please )

Virgin Media are a cable TV provider
Means you will have access to cable TV, internet and telephones
You will have to set up an account with Virgin though and you'll have to pay for a TV licence

Quote
If I decide to go cable ... which company is the cheapest?

You dont have a lot of choice as far as I know
I think the two options are Virgin for cable and Sky for Satelite

Quote
Which one offers the best quality / price ratio ?
Much the same I fear - but you may be limited to whichever one is available where you live


right.. that was helpful cheers!
Title: Re: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: dave_mc on November 28, 2009, 10:20:02 PM
i think if you were watching dvds on, say, a portable dvd player, or on a computer which you could prove didn't have a tv tuner installed, that you could get off without paying a licence. Otherwise, if you're watching dvds through a tv, you're going to have to pay, as everyone else has said. if you get cable you're going to have to pay too, as you can get bbc through cable, or sky for that matter.
Title: Re: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: nfe on November 29, 2009, 05:21:50 PM
http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/

You don't need one if you aren't watching or recording TV. You DO need one if you use things like 4OD and iPlayer online.

I never used our tv in my old flat for watching anything other than videos and dvds and didn't need one. If you phone and tell the Tv License cats they'll send you out written confirmation.
Title: Re: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: Sifu Ben on November 29, 2009, 09:40:57 PM
Yeah, I lived without for a year, but had a set and DVD player, and I never had any problems. I'm about to cancel my license again because I haven't watched TV for over a year. The phrasing on the student guidelines is a bit ambiguous, but I believe what it means is that your TV cannot be capable of receiving TV signals, so it must be either disconnected or unplugged to be exempt.
 The terms of the license are very explicitly for you to RECEIVE TV signals. They would have to provide reasonable evidence of this to chase you, and simply having a TV does not constitute this.
Title: Re: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: JDC on November 29, 2009, 09:52:22 PM
http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/

You don't need one if you aren't watching or recording TV. You DO need one if you use things like 4OD and iPlayer online.

I'm pretty sure you can watch iplayer and 4od fine without a licence, so long as it's not the live broadcast
Title: Re: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: FernandoDuarte on November 29, 2009, 10:20:16 PM
Just a stupid question, how much is this TV license?
Title: Re: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: _tom_ on November 29, 2009, 11:14:37 PM
About £140 a year I think?

As far as I'm aware you don't need a license if you're not actually receiving TV channels on it. My mate rang them up and said he's only using his TV for playstation and they said that's fine without a license, so unless its changed in the last year..
Title: Re: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: Sifu Ben on November 29, 2009, 11:21:17 PM
Definitive answer here http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/what-if-a-tv-licence-is-not-needed-top12/
and you can cancel online now, which you couldn't before  :)
Title: Re: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: FELINEGUITARS on November 30, 2009, 02:04:24 AM
The trouble is that the licensing authority NEVER believe that anyone doesn't have and watch TV.

I think watching TV on the computer - even Iplayer does require you to have a license but how they prove or chase that up I dont know.
I didn't have a TV for about 3 years - didn't miss it really
Dont watch it much now - but it is nice for watching movies
Title: Re: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: Dmoney on November 30, 2009, 02:07:07 AM
you don't need a TV license for iplayer.
the license covers equipment that receives live, current, real-time transmission

If you have a TV card in your PC for watching live TV, then you need a TV license.
Title: Re: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: gingataff on November 30, 2009, 10:21:34 AM
you don't need a TV license for iplayer.
the license covers equipment that receives live, current, real-time transmission

If you have a TV card in your PC for watching live TV, then you need a TV license.

So why don't the BBC allow access to iplayer  for viewers outseide the UK?
Is it just so that networks in other countries which buy Aunties programming don't get upset?
Title: Re: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: Sifu Ben on November 30, 2009, 11:04:13 AM
Pretty much. You can't watch Fox's  catchup service outside the US either :(
Title: Re: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: Dmoney on November 30, 2009, 11:55:21 AM
you don't need a TV license for iplayer.
the license covers equipment that receives live, current, real-time transmission

If you have a TV card in your PC for watching live TV, then you need a TV license.

So why don't the BBC allow access to iplayer  for viewers outseide the UK?
Is it just so that networks in other countries which buy Aunties programming don't get upset?

exactly right.
the BBC has a commercial part of itself to deal with selling shows abroad.
there are BBC branded channels that we don't get in the UK because they show programs that have already been on here to countries elsewhere. The even stream them on the net in some places.
If you notice, you don't get certain shows on iPlayer, like family guy. that doesnt appear on there.
Its all about rights management.
There IS a service called BBC redux, which is very similar to iplayer but not available to the general public. that contains all the output from all the BBC channels. Not just what is available on iPlayer.

I also believe you can now get iplayer for the nintendo wii
Title: Re: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: AndyR on November 30, 2009, 12:53:04 PM
Definitive answer here http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/what-if-a-tv-licence-is-not-needed-top12/
and you can cancel online now, which you couldn't before  :)

That's a pretty good link - more organised and up front than it used to be!!

Basically, if you're using a TV to watch dvds and claiming not to watch live TV, take the following precautions:

1) Make sure that the TV is not attached to any arial/etc (and that a cable that could make the attachment is not lying suspiciously close to the socket on the back of the TV :lol:).

2) Make sure that every program/channel on the TV is detuned so that even if it was connected, it would take some time to find a TV station.

If you do this, you're far more likely to convince an inspector that you aren't using your equipment to receive live TV :D

This comes from previous experience of friends who managed to exempt themselves about 10 years ago.

Btw, I went a few years without a TV as well (after having one), and they did not believe that anyone could possibly survive without one - they sent someone round every year to ask whether I had one :lol:. I seem to remember that when I asked them in to have a look they never actually came in, they just wanted to see the whites of my eyes when I was telling them! - but that might be my memory playing tricks.
Title: Re: Watching TV in the UK
Post by: Sifu Ben on November 30, 2009, 01:29:57 PM
According to the site they'll only do a physical inspection every 3 years now.