Set TV to watch Freeview (& Other Free Channels) Only

[mattylad]

A smart TV will have all the apps on that you can use to watch catchup TV streamed to you.

Some misconceptions being posted here.

As long as your not watching anything broadcast live then you do not need the license, the ability to receive live broadcast tv also does not need a license (ref Big-All's comment).
This also means you CAN use a streaming service such as Netflix, Prime-TV, Apple TV, Paramount et all. as long as you are not watching anything that is being broadcast at the same time.

It is only the act of watching tv shows at the same time as they are being broadcast that requires a license irrespective of the source.
Even if it's broadcast from overseas.

For a TV, I would suggest NOT a Hisense one, they sound like a good deal but I have found mine to be so very restricted (cannot sideloads apps not from their store), keeps losing net connection on Freely, sound is awful and if you have the soundbar you do not get a volume number display).

Even if you do occasionally watch live TV with the curtains closed, cancelling your license or just not getting one you will need to let the TVLI know that you do not need one, please note that they will hound you with regular demands, lies, mistruths and investigation letters.
You may even get the occasional visit - if you open the door to them, once you know who they are just say "no thank you" and close the door - they have no legal right to enter your home nor inspect your equipment and NEVER sign anything from them.
Ensure everyone in the house is aware of this else someone may unknowingly let them in.

We watch more and more on catchup these days since we got rid of sky - there is not enough time in the evening to watch everything we want to watch. If it was not for the BBC still occasionally putting out some good TV worth watching we would not need a license.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

If you don't want to pay for a TV licence, you can't watch anything on Freeview.

They are now including some Internet only channels, in the Freeview channel line up, they only work, if the TV has Internet access. I wonder what the legalities would be around watching those?

 

[Nitell]

Accelerator, you were not compelled to answer my question. You could have ignored it.

It is only because (on the internet) I have read so many opinions, I was only seeking advice on this forum.

To everyone else. Thank you.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Accelerator, you were not compelled to answer my question. You could have ignored it.

It is only because (on the internet) I have read so many opinions, I was only seeking advice on this forum.

To everyone else. Thank you.

Accelerator, made a perfectly fair comment, in reponse to Foxholes suggestion to use the service and simply not pay up.

 

[JBR]

If you don't want to pay for a TV licence, then you must abandon any way of watching live TV. This means no TV aerial, no satellite dish+receiver, no cable TV box (Virgin), and being very careful with internet-supplied TV.

Nonsense. You may not legally watch any live TV, but you are not obliged to remove your TV aerial or, for that matter, dishes, etc. You simply have to promise that you do not watch any live TV.
Do try to get your fact right.

 

[JBR]

Or just don’t pay tv licence , my brother in law and my brother have never had tv licence and never been fined , they just shut the door on anyone making enquires .

That is exactly what many people do. Before the oncoming BBC criticisms, Marge actually does pay the BBC licence.

 

[Lucid]

Nonsense. You may not legally watch any live TV, but you are not obliged to remove your TV aerial or, for that matter, dishes, etc. You simply have to promise that you do not watch any live TV.
Do try to get your fact right.

Before you launch into a criticism of someone's post, you really should take a little time to make sure you've read it carefully.

Where did I say (or write) that aerials and satellite dishes etc had to be dismantled? It's okay, I'll wait.

To abandon doesn't mean that the thing has to be destroyed or decommissioned.

I abandoned Sky's satellite subscription service several years ago. To the best of my knowledge, Sky is still trading. The main box and dish here still work, too, just not for the subscription channels.

Do try to get your facts right before you lambast a fellow forum member. Thank you.

 

[Stuart981]

One further observation that I would make is that even if you do not ever watch 'live to air' you are still at risk from TV licencing investigators. This is because their baseline assumption is that every house without a TV licence is watching TV illegally. Consequently they can misconstrue, either accidentally or deliberately, anything you say to them on the doorstep. Best practice therefore, is to say nothing at all to them other than to politely ask them to leave, which if asked, they are immediately obliged to do.

 

[ericmark]

As far as I am aware, there have been changes in how the TV licence is worded, back in the 90's I was living in a caravan, but my wife and children were still at home, and there were 100's of us all in the same situation, so it seemed to be a prime target area.

I wanted to use a TV to view my computer, so made inquiries as to what I needed to do to the TV to make it legal, since using the SCART input did not need the aerial, and I had intended to use a bit of plastic over the aerial socket, simple.

However, I was told how someone had been fined for using a VCR with a black & white TV, and black & white licence, as the VCR is receiving colour. OK only fined £5 as Judge did not think there was really a crime as such, but he had to follow law as laid down.

So apparatus able to receive TV signals I would have thought was the aerial, and clearly the same aerial is used for black & white as colour, so trying to decipher the English used in the law clearly does not work. The wording was, it seems designed so turning off the TV before opening the door, would not get around the law.

However, being able to watch TV on a computer rather upset the apple barrel, and to expect corporate organisations to buy TV licences for all their PC's was not really an option, so the law was changed, so as far as I am aware, now you need to be watching TV, you can't any longer be fined for having the apparatus.

I know I have had it pop up on my PC saying do you have a TV licence, and once I answer yes, the question is no longer asked, so as a licence holder I simply don't know what I would not be permitted to watch without one. Clearly I can't watch anything needing an aerial or dish, it would be internet only, but internet is a problem as the site called catch up TV was live streaming, you can only watch peer to peer content, not allowed anything which is being broadcast.

This is a problem as how do you know? Using only YouTube I suppose reasonably safe, but BBC iplayer is peer to peer but you need a licence, and the UKgold etc, part owned by BBC so can you watch that on catch up? Basically if you want to watch TV you need a licence, or a degree in the law, to work out what your permitted to watch.

 

[JBR]

Before you launch into a criticism of someone's post, you really should take a little time to make sure you've read it carefully.

Where did I say (or write) that aerials and satellite dishes etc had to be dismantled? It's okay, I'll wait.

What you said was:
"If you don't want to pay for a TV licence, then you must abandon any way of watching live TV. This means no TV aerial, no satellite dish+receiver, no cable TV box etc.

"NO TV AERIAL". To me, that means that you suggest such people have NO TV AERIAL. To explain even more simply, you are suggesting that if you have a TV aerial you must remove it.

A written apology is not essential, but perhaps you should admit to your mistake.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

If you don't want to pay for a TV licence, then you must abandon any way of watching live TV. This means no TV aerial, no satellite dish+receiver, no cable TV box (Virgin), and being very careful with internet-supplied TV.

Your post literally says you must have no TV aerial. Have you been taking PR lessons from Karoline?

 

[accelerator]

Accelerator, you were not compelled to answer my question. You could have ignored it.

It is only because (on the internet) I have read so many opinions, I was only seeking advice on this forum.

To everyone else. Thank you.

If you wish to receive TV programmes over an aerial connection, you have to have a TV licence. This is because it costs money to have aerial broadcast infrastructure.

Freeview channels are not free. They were named Freeview because they aren't subscription channels like Sky. They are only free in the sense that you don't need to pay a subscription for the channel. However, you still need a TV licence.

If you are watching any BBC content, whether live or streamed, you need a TV licence, as BBC content is paid for by the licence fee.

If you don't want to pay the licence fee, then you can't receive TV over an aerial. Paying the licence fee is not optional. If you don't want to pay it, then don't watch TV.

I hope that clarifies it for you.

 

[opps]

Your post literally says you must have no TV aerial. Have you been taking PR lessons from Karoline?

When I read @Lucid 's post, I assumed that he meant no connection from a satellite or TV aerial to the telly, and not that he was saying that either needs to be physically removed from the property.

 

[accelerator]

I would agree though that the TV Licence guidelines do not make it very clear what is and isn't allowed, and could easily be made clearer.

 

[foxhole]

You could buy a large monitor and stream internet programs . Cheaper than a tv and requires no aerial or satellite dish,