[jo_Z13]

What on earth is a TV License?? i live in the US so i very don't understand....you have to PAY just to have a television?? please educate me!

[foot-loose]

From Wikipedia:

The United Kingdom has two independent public broadcasters, the BBC which is funded by a TV licence and Channel 4 which is funded by advertising. The BBC is by far the bigger broadcaster in terms of funding and breadth of output.

In the United Kingdom, the current annual cost for a colour television licence (as of 1 April 2008) is £139.50 (approximately €176) and £47.00 (approximately €59) for monochrome TV (black and white).[36] The licence fee is charged on a family unit per household basis, which means there could be many TVs per household covered by a single licence. The majority of UK domestic customers will require one licence per household. The licence fee is used to fund the BBC's radio, television and internet services. A similar licence, mandated by the 1904 Wireless Telegraphy Act, used to exist for radio, but was abolished in 1971.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_license#United_Kingdom


Basically, we need to pay for the BBC but its the best media source in the world by a long shot so it's well worth it. Because the BBC is paid by the public, the only people it needs to keep happy are those watching it. With all other channels, they need to consider the fact that the advertisers are needing kept happy as well.

[jo_Z13]

...so does that mean you don't have to pay a monthly cable bill?? and no commercials, right? that's kinda rad!

[S4B]

No, but most of us choose to have some form of cable/Sky which we also pay for and ITV, channel 4 and Five all have commercials so it's really just most of us stupidly paying twice!

[Yudster]

Compared to the satellite/cable deals the licence fee is almost nothing though. And with all the digital freeview stuff, apart from sport (if you're so inclined), there really isn't much else out there worth watching. Certainly nothing worth the stupid prices Sky charge if you are outside their "special" area.

[ladbroke]

I could quite easily get by with out Sky, but my other half sees it as a must have. I was fine with a hard drive freeview box til she moved in, but my son appreciates it for Nick Jnr, and bloody POP (616). There's very little Sky has to offer in my opinion. I'll change my tune when more HD stuff is available through it though!

[English Bob]

My sister has Sky at her house...I have Freeview. Apart from the movie channels and comedy channels...I don't think I'm missing out on much.

[MK Chris]

I could quite easily get by with out Sky, but my other half sees it as a must have. I was fine with a hard drive freeview box til she moved in, but my son appreciates it for Nick Jnr, and bloody POP (616). There's very little Sky has to offer in my opinion. I'll change my tune when more HD stuff is available through it though!

HD just gives a better quality picture though, it doesn't do anything to the quality of the programme.

[Andy B]

Sky one and Two, the extra +1 channels and maybe some of the documentaries are about it for me really.

[S4B]

Without Sky Sports I wouldn't be able to watch the Tigers V the Ospreys at Welford Road today. 24 is also a huge draw to it for me. I actually got it to start off with so I could watch the last 2 series of Friends without having to wait for it to come onto terrestrial! I know that is sad but I do love Friends. There are some great documentaries on as well plus I can watch CSI, Top Gear and QI whenever I want as they are always on. I don't actually watch much tv to be honest but Mr S4 and the boys have it on ALL the time!

[ladbroke]

I could quite easily get by with out Sky, but my other half sees it as a must have. I was fine with a hard drive freeview box til she moved in, but my son appreciates it for Nick Jnr, and bloody POP (616). There's very little Sky has to offer in my opinion. I'll change my tune when more HD stuff is available through it though!

HD just gives a better quality picture though, it doesn't do anything to the quality of the programme.

This is true, but as I have an HDTV I want to watch HD broadcasts. Even standard def looks better through an HDTV, dependant on how it's connected, but I could do that with freeview. Having Sky and getting better picture, for the programmes I do watch, would (in my mind anyway) justify having it.

[Andy B]

I Still don't see what the big fuss is about HDTV, In my last job we had an HDTV SKY box and a normal one, I used to put Sky sports 1 and Sky sports HD on and I could see no difference. Even in shops the picture just looks exactly the same to me.

Stupid fish swimming around a bunch of coral like Finding Nemo.

[ladbroke]

I Still don't see what the big fuss is about HDTV, In my last job we had an HDTV SKY box and a normal one, I used to put Sky sports 1 and Sky sports HD on and I could see no difference. Even in shops the picture just looks exactly the same to me.

Stupid fish swimming around a bunch of coral like Finding Nemo.

They have over done it on the swimming fish with these HD trailers! I've downloaded a fair bit of full HD stuff, and can tell the difference when played back through my PC (which is connected to the TV). If anything though the colour seems a bit too full on at times. Maybe need to tweak the TV settings a little though. It's never been adjusted, it's as it was the day it came out of the box.

[foot-loose]

I Still don't see what the big fuss is about HDTV, In my last job we had an HDTV SKY box and a normal one, I used to put Sky sports 1 and Sky sports HD on and I could see no difference. Even in shops the picture just looks exactly the same to me.

Stupid fish swimming around a bunch of coral like Finding Nemo.

The picture quality in shops is generally shit. People in Currys have no idea how to set the damn things up, so they just whack all the settings up to full or leave them on default.

You can tell when you are watching a HD movie. The picture is stunning. Sky movies HD is the dawgs baws.

It's never been adjusted, it's as it was the day it came out of the box.

Do a search for it on google. You will find that HD willy wavers have fannied about with their tellies and found the best settings for them. They will have stuck them on a forum or something. Change the settings and you will notice the difference. Default settings are rarely the best ones for HD.

[Andy B]

I've watched a film on my in-laws mahoosive TV (1728"). They recorded it in HD and in normal for me to compare. I couldn't see any bloody difference! Tis a sham I tells ya!

[foot-loose]

Maybe you don't have HD compatible eyes?

[S4B]

What you have to remember Footy is that Andy genuinely believes he is perfect so anything that is not him cannot be wonderful!

[foot-loose]

Is he in 1080p HD then?

[S4B]

Nope. But he thinks he is!

[jo_Z13]

wow - i'm fascinated by the little differences....i pay about $50 a month for like a hundred or so channels, most of which suck, except for BBC America

[Yudster]

See, thats more expensive than a TV licence, but considerably less than youd expect to pay fro a decent Sky or cable package

[TIAL]

wow - i'm fascinated by the little differences....i pay about $50 a month for like a hundred or so channels, most of which suck, except for BBC America

That's pretty expensive - compared to that, the license fee is pretty good value. However, does that include a subscription to HBO? As far as I can see that channel constantly delivers good stuff.

Something else I've been wondering - could you get away with not paying a TV license and only watching TV channels that have adverts?

[Yudster]

Something else I've been wondering - could you get away with not paying a TV license and only watching TV channels that have adverts?

No. I have no idea how the BBC have managed to swing it, but the only way you are allowed to own a TV and not pay the licence fee is if that TV is disabled from receiving ALL TV signals and is used only for DVDs. You also have to pay the licence fee if you are able to access BBC material on the internet these days.

[foot-loose]

Something else I've been wondering - could you get away with not paying a TV license and only watching TV channels that have adverts?

No. I have no idea how the BBC have managed to swing it, but the only way you are allowed to own a TV and not pay the licence fee is if that TV is disabled from receiving ALL TV signals and is used only for DVDs. You also have to pay the licence fee if you are able to access BBC material on the internet these days.

And that's the way it should be.

[foot-loose]

It means you SHOULD. How they would ever prove you were doing it though, I aint so sure.