In 2017-2018 the BBC made £3.8324 billion from charging people for a ‘TV licence’. Think about that for a second… The BBC is making more money from their ‘TV licence’ than some of the biggest companies in the world. There’s mainly one reason for this; most of the UK believe they need to have one. They think it’s a tax, and the BBC are doing everything in their power to convince you of this.
A ‘TV licence’ costs £150.50 per year and 94% of the UK pay for it. It was first introduced in 1946 to cover the costs of funding television broadcasting services. For over 70 years we’ve been paying it, long after the initial requirement for it passed. Most people think it’s a tax, a lot of other people think that if you own a TV or a PC you need a licence for it. I thought this too; I paid it for over 3 years whilst at university when all I had was my personal computer and Netflix.
The real fact, however, is this; contrary to what the name suggests, you don’t need a TV licence to own a television. You only need it to watch live television or the BBC iPlayer. You don’t need one to watch any of the other 599 channels in the UK via streaming or on-demand services. You can even watch Sky channels on Now TV as this is an on-demand service.
After years of needlessly paying £150 per year for a ‘TV licence’, one afternoon I realized that I barely ever watched live TV. My main television consumption was coming in the forms of services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. I much preferred to watch shows when and how I please rather than seeing what’s on the telly. In fact, the only time I was watching live TV was occasionally in the mornings before I went to work; I’d shove on Good Morning Britain for 10 minutes, it was the easy thing to do. But, was that 10 minutes in the morning worth £13 per month to me? Did I think it was worth almost 10x the amount that I pay for Netflix ? Did I value it more than a Spotify premium account, which at £10 per month I’ve deemed as too expensive? No, I absolutely did not.
Amazon prime costs £7.99 per month, it’s half that price if you’re a student. That membership gives you unlimited 1-day delivery (or Amazon credit), a lot of shows on Amazon Prime - with some pretty awesome exclusive titles, the ability to borrow a book each month and access to over two million songs ad-free via Prime Music. Why on earth would anyone pay more than double that just to watch live TV? On top of that, you’ll be funding a company which uses scare tactics with warnings of £1000 fines if you don’t buy their service and sends aggressive enforcers to your house to see if you’re ‘illegally watching TV’. No, I didn’t need a ‘TV licence’ - and I’m going to convince you that you don’t need one too.
Other Services to Use
Netflix is probably the best service in the world right now for shows and films. Becoming big first in the USA, Netflix slowly but surely adopted a larger UK audience over the last decade. There are now over 9.5 million UK citizens who subscribe to the service. Netflix has over 700 original series and films which are only available on their service. This original content is some of the best which I’ve ever seen and contains the likes of Stranger Things, Orange Is the New Black, House of Cards and The Crown. Netflix also doesn’t just show one type of genre; you can find cooking shows, travel shows, documentaries and a whole plethora of children’s TV shows. If you’re missing your favorite BBC TV shows; Netflix has you covered. Most things which were on the BBC end up on Netflix. They’ve got 7 seasons of The Great British Bake Off, all of the ‘Planet Earth’ and ‘Life’ series and other great BBC shows like Doctor Foster and Black Mirror. All at a much more discounted price than the £13 per month ‘TV Licence’. Netflix is truly a master TV service, you could easily live with just this.
Most modern TVs now come with a Netflix button. It’s just like live TV, but better!
Amazon Prime as previously mentioned comes with a whole load of benefits in addition to a whole TV service. A lot of people would have Prime just for the next day delivery perk but may not have been using Prime TV. Although Amazon isn’t as refined as Netflix with their TV applications, they pack some excellent exclusive content. It is home to one of my favorite TV shows; Vikings, and also has a number of other great exclusives like Black Sails and The Man In The High Castle. All for under half the price of a TV licence, or a quarter of the price if you can grab a student deal!
Now TV is Sky’s on-demand service. It’s actually cheaper than a full Sky package and you can subscribe/unsubscribe whenever you like without entering into a contract. The TV pass is only £7.99 per month and gives you on-demand access to all of the popular Sky channels. You can even get a Sky Cinema pass for access to all of the film channels (although a little more expensive). I usually buy a month of Sky TV when shows like Game Of Thrones and The Walking Dead are airing as they are the only series which I’d use those channels for.
Free on-demand services are also available for all popular TV channels. These include shows like Coronation Street and Emmerdale. Yes you heard that right…You don’t need to pay £13 per month to watch anything on channels 3, 4 and 5. You can use ITV Player , All 4 and My5 . In-fact, it’s better to consume television on these services as you can choose when and where you’d like to watch them, instead of being a slave to the TV guide.
How to Consume These Services with Minimal Effort
A lot of people who watch live TV say that they do so as it’s easier than watching on-demand services. All of the devices below are things which you can buy to make consuming things like the above services with ease from your television set. These will provide a much better service than your ‘TV licence’ and will save you tons of money in the long term. A lot of them may not even be necessary as most modern TVs are now smart TVs which have all of the on-demand applications available with the click of your remote.
Google Chromecast is, in my opinion, the best and most versatile of all streaming devices. You simply plug it into the back of your TV via a HDMI port and go through a quick set up on your Apple or Android device and you’re done! You can then stream all of the aforementioned services from your phone via a ‘cast’ button which casts it straight to your TV. With this nifty device, you can even mirror your phone on your television, play any video on your PC via Google Cast or even cast your whole desktop. All for only £30!
Amazon Fire TV Stick (with Alexa Voice Remote)
Roku Streaming Stick
Apple TV is the most premium of the streaming devices available on our line up. This device will give you ultra-fast streaming capabilities and provide you with advanced options such as Siri and iPhone integration. You’ll also be able to do things like play games and listen to music via your Apple TV. The price comes in at an eye-watering £179 which is why I would generally recommend one of the other devices, but, this is still miles better than paying almost the same price every year for the ‘TV Licence’!
You’ve Sold Me! What Do I Do?
So, you’ve decided that enough is enough and you’re going to stop paying ridiculous sums to the BBC for a shit service. What do you do now? First things first - you cancel your ‘TV Licence’ direct debit. If you inform the BBC that you’re leaving but don’t cancel the direct debit, the cheeky buggers will keep on charging you. They can’t possibly fathom that you won’t be watching live TV and they’ll assume you either accidentally canceled it, or are ‘breaking the law’..
Next thing you’ll want to do is go to the TV licencing website , fill in your details and enter into the question box the text below.
I no longer need my TV licence. I have decided to stop watching live TV and the BBC iPlayer, I am turning to alternative streaming providers such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. My address is:
[ENTER YOUR ADDRESS]
I have canceled my direct debit, please reimburse me any payments owed.
Next step is to pull out your TV Ariel, wrap it up and place it in a corner. You can now enjoy your free £150.50 and stress-free life with the ability to watch anything whenever you want.
I’ve now not held a ‘TV licence’ for almost 5 years and I’ve saved almost £1000. I have never actually been visited by one of the angry TV licensing people, but I have been sent threatening letters by them plenty of times. The BBC actually sub-contracts TV licensing enforcement to a company called Capita. These guys earn an expected £1.10bn to £1.55bn per year going around to poor old grannies houses and threatening them with £1000 fines and calling them criminals if they don’t buy a TV licence. They do this as they earn a commission for every person they get to re-sign up! Don’t let them scare you, they’re thugs, hungry for commission.
Join the enlightened 6% of the UK which haven’t got a TV licence today and pull the plug to a better - on-demand life. Comment below and let me know if you pay £13 per month for a TV licence and if you plan on continuing to do so. I’ll leave you with a list of the BBC salaries which you’re paying for ;]
- Gary Lineker - £1.75m
- Chris Evans - £1.66m
- Graham Norton - £899,999
- Steve Wright - £550,000
- Nick Grimshaw - £400,000
- Scott Mills - £280,000