TV Licensing
When we first arrived here we received notices from TV Licensing indicating that we had not paid for our television license and that we could be subject to hefty fines (£1000) if we were found to be watching the television without a proper license. I tried to explain to the TV licensing folks that we did not watch TV. Yes, we have a TV with a VCR, but we used it only to watch video tapes and DVD’s, and have done so for close to 20 years. They didn’t believe me. (Guilty until proven innocent.) I was told that they had detection equipment to track down illegal TV watching. They have a van that picks up signals from the TV — apparently TV’s have a component called a local oscillator that emits a signal. They also have hand-held scanners so they can catch you even if you live in a flat. They also have the right to enter a home on demand to make sure that no TV is in the house. Retailers who sell televisions are required by law to notify TV Licensing within 60 days of making a sale and give them the purchasers complete name and address.
So, partly out of curiosity about UK programming and mostly because I was concerned about having a TV Licensing representative insisting on looking through the house, we got a TV license. This costs us £116 a year for our color TV. (If it was a black and white TV it would only cost us £38.50.) For our £116 we get five channels. BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, BBC4, and BBC5. For the most part the programming is either dull or far too riské. Occasionally there are good BBC specials and it is enjoyable to watch UK sports we aren’t familiar with like football (soccer) and snooker (pool).
I got to thinking about all this because the TV Licensing department has got a heavy advertising campaign going on on the radio right now. Interestingly enough, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an ad on the TV itself concerning TV licensing. Seems like that would be the place to do it.
Here’s their web site if you’ve got any desire to read more about it: TV Licensing
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