It doesn't even matter, because all commercial tv's can support themselves by commercials only. It's not even fair competition to have a TV funded by govt.

Also, we pay license fee for freaking sing/dance/icescapade shows we don't even watch. Also, in each show like this is filled with product placement.

So in the end they earn double. On commercials and product placement, and then from license fee.

Is that fair? I don't think so.

And by the way, in UK you have at least BBC for this license. I've watched it several times and it looks like many interesting programms are funded. In Poland, on TVP programs you have nothing to watch except sports.

People who are saying you have the license if you have a TV are wrong. I've never had a license since moving out of my parents place (4 years ago), I just don't find the quality of programming that the BBC offers, worth the money & don't listen to their radio stations... also I refuse to pay for them to provide world service broadcasts to other nations for free.
That said I'm an avid gamer and I own a large tv for gaming on, watching blurays etc, this is NOT illegal, despite what the licensing agency (a seperate contracted firm.) try to push. It's even legal to watch their programs online via their catchup service provided that they're not showing live at the time. Watching ANY channel live though is illegal, BBC or not.

As for the enforcement... yeah they're dicks who send a lot of threats through the post, and occasionally they turn up spouting rubbish at your door. But they're basically just door to door salesman, they have NO rights, beyond what the average Joe has and, despite what they claim, they cannot take you to court without having evidence that you've been illegally watching TV or get the police to allow them access to your premises without evidence.

Most people that get taken to court are stupid enough to sign the documents they thrust at you from time to time which are basically a declaration of admittance... and the best thing to do is to just shut the door on them. I've ceased caring on the rare events they do turn up, because as I pointed out to the last one; it takes me 2 minutes to shut the door on him and costs me nothing, whereas it costs their company, time & petrol to come harass me.

Finally with the court fees.... the claim is up to £1000 but I have never heard of this being charged except for businesses that illegally use tv's.... if the average person gets taken to court the usual cost is not far above the annual cost for a license anyway, plus the licensing company's court fees.

I don't know how it is now but I've heard stories of how hard it is to prove that you don't use your TV to watch TV. Of course this was a few years ago when Netflix, DVD, and video game consoles weren't nearly so mainstream so perhaps things have changed.

TV license fee is not for watching tv, but for owning one. It doesn't matter if it gathers dust or is on 24/7. Proving you don't use it doesn't matter.

I disagree strongly. I believe both commercial and public broadcasting have their places.
Wow, me and a load of people I know don't exist!

Also, as has been pointed out earlier in the thread it also partially funds channel 4.

I know my post was a bit long but it does dispel a few myths that are still being posted here.

Any business selling a tv is obligated by law to inform the licensing agency BUT it is NOT illegal to own a tv without a license, provided you do not use it to watch live broadcasts... using it for dvds, games etc without a license is legal despite what you might believe and the agency has no real rights beyond that of the average person so you can lie to them, refuse to speak to them, refuse them entry and refuse to cooperate and they can nag & threaten you to their hearts content but that's all.

It even says so on their own website...http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/what-if-a-tv-licence-is-not-needed-top12/

It is the same shit here. And on top of that, you are forced to pay even if you DON'T have a TV or a radio.
Which is fucking stupid since no public service is used.

That's the spirit!
145 pounds? What the hell, all TVs in my house are not worth that much. That's freaking expensive.

Does the TV license also function as a channel package subscription, or do you need to purchase a separate subscription in addition to the licensing fee?
I already knew it was only for 'live' broadcasts (as defined as being a broadcast that can be watched by members of the general public at that time.. or something like that.

License fee funded TV / radio stations and a good number of other channels are broadcast unencrypted and free. There is subscription TV on top though, that people can pay for if they want to - companies like Sky or Virgin. Those have nothing to do with the license fee.

And the funded stations would be the BBCs and perhaps Channel 4?
If that's the case I really don't see the problem.
Over here you have to buy a subscription from a cable/satellite/whatever provider before you can watch anything. Well, unless you're over 200 years old in which case you can watch three governmentally subsidized channels.. and by that I mean they're crap.

So nobody pays license fee in UK? Because proving that someone uses TV for watching BBC is impossible. Unless you have officers in each home checking what you are watching.

This is mostly why in Poland we have to pay for simply owning pluged in TV.

United States of america

where all states have their own rules and own individual politics.

Democratic Republic of Korea

anything but.

Many countries with things like 'united' or 'democracy' in their names really aren't

Personally I think you need to grow up and stop making all of these dumb acronyms like
'British Bullshit Corporation' you know the bullshit corporation that has exposed government corruption and the entire world respects.

You come across as one of those kids straight into uni that think they know more than they actually do, brainwashed into thinking that all corporations are evil, regardless of the work they actually do, just because they're bigger than you and make more money than you.

It's a symbiotic relationship just as an FYI, governments and Corporations rely on people to exist, people rely on them for services.

I had never heard of this TV tax until this thread. As an American, this isn't shocking to me at all. It's just another tax. The fact that it's a tax about TV is almost irrelevant. Plenty of silly things in the US are taxed. Inheritance tax. Sin taxes. It's just government going about one of it's functions - finding things to tax.