With a lot high quality TV now on-line from the likes of Netflix and Disney, I’ve taken a glance into whether or not paying for the BBC represents good worth for cash.
It’s been introduced that in 2024, the TV Licence is growing by £10.50 a 12 months, with the annual value set to be £169.50.
This can be a under inflation improve (that might have been £15 extra), and follows two years of no will increase in any respect. That’s already led to a variety of cuts on the broadcaster, with extra little doubt set to return.
There can be some who can be happy to listen to there, and advocate that folks cancel their TV Licence now moderately than pay extra. I’ve shared on this article who must have one and who doesn’t.
Nevertheless for me, the large query isn’t learn how to ditch the licence payment, however ought to you?
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Who wants a TV Licence
Right here’s whenever you want a TV Licence:
- Should you watch any reside TV
- Should you file any TV
- Should you watch BBC TV on iPlayer, regardless of the gadget (eg in your cellphone, video games console, TV and so forth)
Regardless of increasingly more of us utilizing streaming companies, that is nonetheless just about most TV viewing.
So realistically the one approach you’re eligible to keep away from the licence payment is in case you solely watch on-line streaming or catch up companies (not together with iPlayer), and in case you by no means watch or file broadcast TV.
Now if that’s the case, you then don’t need to pay, and I’ve shared additional down how one can cancel your TV Licence.
Over 75s
A rule change a number of years in the past meant not throughout 75s get a free TV Licence. Nevertheless, many will nonetheless be capable to declare one so long as they already obtain pension credit score. Right here’s extra info on the TV Licensing web site.
Earlier than we begin
Everybody has an opinion in regards to the BBC, particularly the information output which these on the suitable say is simply too left wing and people on the left say is simply too proper wing. We’re going to place that apart for this evaluation and focus simply on what you get for the cash you pay.
I additionally wish to put my playing cards on the desk right here at the beginning. After I was 5 – 6, I declared that I wished to work for the BBC once I was older. And I did. From 22 to 33 years previous I labored all around the Beeb, earlier than leaving to start out up Be Intelligent With Your Money. So it’s essential to me.
Although it’s actually not good (what massive organisation is?). I do consider we’re higher off as a rustic with the BBC than with out. And that can clearly inform on my evaluation under.
Nevertheless it’s greater than a decade since I left the broadcaster, and a lot has modified in that point – not simply on the BBC, but in addition how we eat our media – which matches for me too.
And the price of dwelling disaster has made each penny we spend a lot extra essential, making worth for cash as a licence payment payer one thing that basically does want interrogating.
What I watch
So do I get worth from BBC TV? Over the previous couple of years my TV viewing has modified drastically. A lot of my favorite dramas and comedies may be discovered on Netflix, Sky Atlantic and Disney+.
But I do nonetheless watch loads of wonderful regular TV, primarily BBC and Channel 4. In truth a few of the finest exhibits I’ve watched during the last 12 months have been on these channels.
Glad Valley, Ghosts, Traitors, Race Throughout the World, Match of the Day, Boiling Level and What We Do In The Shadows (all BBC), by to It’s a Sin, The Nice British Bake Off and The Handmaid’s Story (all C4). And there are many nice older exhibits out there on-demand too, akin to basic Attenborough, Motherland, His Darkish Supplies, Peaky Blinders, The IT Crowd and The Bridge.
And I’m not alone. Most TV viewing is of a free to observe channel, whether or not that’s by way of Freeview or Sky. And the most-watched exhibits yearly are on the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. Even massive import TV exhibits like Sport of Thrones, Loki or Stranger Issues haven’t come shut.
Nonetheless, £169 yearly is some huge cash. And there are some cheaper alternate options with superb programmes.
How the TV Licence value compares to different media companies
Should you pay for the TV Licence month-to-month on the new value it’ll work out as £14.13 a month.
It’s far cheaper than paying for TV by way of Sky or Virgin, the place you’re taking a look at not less than double that quantity each month, and doubtlessly as a lot as £100.
Elsewhere we’ve seen a variety of streaming companies hike costs, closing the hole to the licence payment.
Sky’s “on-demand” service NOW is £9.99 a month for the Leisure channels (not films or sport), or £119.88 a 12 months – although there are offers to get this even cheaper, usually half the value. However if you need HD and to ditch adverts you’ll pay one other £6 every month.
Amazon Prime now is available in at £95 for the 12 months, which is £7.92 a month (and streaming solely is on the market at £5.99 a month).
After clamping down on sharing, Netflix begins at £4.99 a month (with adverts), however the most well-liked package deal is £10.99 a month, understanding at £131.88 a 12 months. You may pay extra, at £17.99 for the highest tier
Disney revamped costs in November 2023, so that you’ll pay both £4.99, £7.99 or £10.99 a month, whereas Apple TV+ additionally elevated month-to-month prices (once more) to £8.99 a month.
And there are others like Paramount+ (£7.99 a month), whilst you pays for further content material and no adverts by way of ITVx (£5.99 a month).
So on the entire, although there are increasingly more of those streaming companies, and so they all maintain getting dearer, they are often cheaper alternate options (in case you get them on their very own, or lower the value you pay by way of affords or go for the fundamental variations with adverts).
That’s a persuasive argument for ditching the Licence Payment so far as value goes. Nevertheless, I consider that so long as you may afford it, you get extra in your cash from the BBC than the premium companies.
What the Licence Payment pays for
The factor folks ranting in opposition to the TV Licence are likely to neglect is the cash doesn’t simply pay for BBC TV drama, documentaries and comedy. It additionally funds BBC information, sport, CBBC, radio and on-line.
And it’s these areas which I believe make that £14.08 abruptly really feel like actually good worth. So I’ve damaged down this value between all of the issues it pays for and calculated under what I believe is a good consultant worth for every BBC service.
These figures are only for me – you should have your individual views on what you utilize and don’t use.
BBC TV & iPlayer
My value: £7 a month
So think about the drama, comedy, leisure and factual a part of the payment was the identical value as the opposite streaming companies at £10. Oh and iPlayer.
It doesn’t matter what you may instinctively suppose in case you simply flip the TV on and watch one thing reside, I believe in case you actually checked out what’s on, you’d discover loads of high quality new and previous content material to maintain you going all year long. We’ve truly bought an extended checklist of exhibits we wish to watch and never bought round to, and add not less than a pair each month.
However let’s say it’s £7, representing half of the cash you pay. That’s even cheaper than many of the different choices (and no adverts). I believe many individuals would suppose that’s fairly honest for what you get.
And don’t neglect this consists of funding the manufacturing of BBC programmes you may truly find yourself watching on a service like Netflix! With out the licence payment they wouldn’t be made within the first place.
BBC Radio & BBC Sounds
My value: £3.50 a month
I’ve bought a cool digital radio for the bathe. There are 4 presets, and we’ve bought BBC 5Live, BBC 6 Music, Coronary heart 80s and Absolute 90s saved. My god, I hate the adverts on the latter two, making BBC radio important.
And in the course of the first lockdown particularly I used to be mainlining 5Live – a unbelievable instance of nationwide broadcasting after we wanted it most.
BBC podcasts are not simply radio exhibits put on-line. Many are commissioned only for BBC Sounds, together with the superb documentary Vishal (produced by my good friend Satiyesh) and music exhibits. Plus it’s an effective way to atone for radio you might need missed.
I do hearken to numerous Spotify, and there are some nice podcasts on the market (have you ever listened to my Money Chats one but?). So it’s doable to get good high quality music and speech content material (although it is advisable to pay to keep away from fixed adverts).
Nevertheless, given the selection between paying for Spotify (at £10.99 a month) and paying for BBC Radio, I’d decide BBC Radio. And at an equal value of £3.50 a month I believe that’s a cut price.
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BBC Sport
My value: £2 a month
Should you needed to pay £2 a month, that’s simply £24 a 12 months, to get Wimbledon, Match of the Day, 6 Nations and smaller sports activities like snooker, athletics and so forth, plus each few years the World Cup, the Olympics and Commonwealth video games, I believe most individuals would suppose it’s unbelievable worth – particularly when in comparison with the £10.99 value to observe Sky Sports activities for in the future on NOW TV.
BBC Information
My value £1 a month
That is actually an space the place my view on worth for cash has modified (although numerous that’s right down to price range cuts enforced by the federal government by frozen or under inflation will increase to the licence payment).
I’ll now go to the Guardian first for my information updates, moderately than the BBC Information web site, and even hearken to podcasts just like the Information Brokers over Newscast.
Nevertheless, BBC Information is the primary place I’ll go for breaking information. And in case you’ve ever watched information within the USA, you’ll recognize not solely simply how good BBC Information is, however the way it makes certain the opposite information networks elevate their requirements.
I’d say it’s effectively price paying £1 a month for this – that’s simply 3.3p a day.
CBeebies and CBBC
My value: 50p a month
Let’s say it prices 50p a month to have these channels – and I don’t even have youngsters! Should you do you in all probability would say it’s price paying extra to get this important content material.
I grew up watching exhibits like Going Dwell, Blue Peter and so forth. And extra lately my niece and nephew beloved programmes like Justin’s Home and Operation Ouch.
And in the course of the pandemic the BBC actually raised the bar in exhibits to assist with homeschooling.
Sure, you may get different youngsters exhibits by way of Sky however these are largely low cost abroad imports and I don’t suppose they’ve the identical schooling and high quality you get from the BBC.
BBC On-line
My value: 0p a month
In earlier years, I’d allocate 50p a month for this, because it was the place I’d go to verify the climate, the information, the soccer scores and extra? Now I hardly go to it apart from to play Sounds or iPlayer, which I’ve coated in different sections. So lets deal with it as one thing you get as a part of your “contribution” to information, sports activities and so forth.
Different stuff
My value: 13p a month
Then there’s loads of stuff we don’t see, however do profit from.
There are know-how developments which make a giant distinction to how we watch TV (akin to iPlayer) and the way different programmes are made by different folks (just like the cameras constructed for Blue Planet, or new “digital actuality sound”).
We’d not hearken to the World Service, nevertheless it does a fab job of selling the UK all over the world and supporting nations that basically want it.
Oh, and the licence payment can be used to ensure everybody within the UK will get broadband, particularly rural areas. It did the identical for digital TV.
Proper, I’ll shut up now. However let’s say we pay 8p a month in direction of all this (a complete of 96p a 12 months).
Cash effectively spent or a waste of money?
So simply to rapidly summarise, for me the £14.13 month-to-month TV licence value could possibly be damaged down like this.
- £7 a month for all of the drama, comedy and documentaries (£84 a 12 months)
- £3.50 a month for all of the radio (£42 a 12 months)
- £2 a month for sport (£24 a 12 months)
- £1 a month for information protection (£12 a 12 months)
- 50p a month for kids’s TV (£6 a 12 months)
- 13p a month for the improvements (£1.50 a 12 months)
- plus all of the BBC web sites
I nonetheless suppose the licence payment is a extremely good funding. In truth I believe these values I’ve assigned are too in all probability too low for what you get, particularly within the instances of sport and radio.
Sure I’ve made up the values above (in actuality the break up is completely different), and there will definitely be components you don’t use in any respect. Nevertheless it’d be simple to justify assigning increased values to those you utilize and fewer to these you don’t – for instance in case you’ve bought youngsters you’d in all probability suppose £2 a month for CBBC is nice worth.
And in case you contemplate what you may pay for all of the separate components at business charges, even in case you solely selected one or two, you’d probably pay simply as a lot.
Ought to the Licence Payment be scrapped?
Andy’s evaluation
The Conservative authorities has been heavy on anti-Licence Payment rhetoric for whereas, and that’s supported as ever by the likes of The Each day Mail and Rupert Murdoch’s Information UK (The Solar & The Instances) whose enterprise pursuits can be boosted by a weaker BBC.
However I do recognise there’s rising resentment in some components of the general public, significantly by individuals who merely don’t watch any BBC (or reside) TV in any respect. I’ll usually see posts in cash saving Fb teams about scrapping it, with the vast majority of the a whole bunch of feedback in favour of ditching it.
A lot of what I see in these conversations is misinformed, and I hope this text may help steadiness a few of the arguments (I discover it irritating that the BBC’s personal impartiality insurance policies forestall it from delivering any respectable defence).
Just like the NHS, we’d actually miss the BBC if it was gone. Regardless of what number of wonderful US imports can be found to observe, there’s nonetheless unbelievable TV made within the UK, and a giant a part of it’s right down to the BBC. Even in case you nonetheless suppose it’s an excessive amount of cash, I do suppose that it’s essential we battle to maintain the BBC impartial and robust.
Options
If folks genuinely don’t use any BBC service then I do suppose it’s unfair that they need to be compelled to pay for it. It appears one thing actually does want to alter. However what?
It’s actually powerful to discover a answer that might defend what the BBC stands for and allow it to supply the companies it does to the usual it does with out the total payment.
A lot of folks discuss a subscription technique, as you’ve with Netflix. It’s actually an choice, however folks don’t realise that Netflix makes little or no revenue, and hardly pays any tax within the UK.
I additionally suppose there’s a probability that for many folks the fee will go up in an effort to get all of the companies. A current report from the BBC stated it’d probably value £37 a month to get all of the companies.
That doesn’t sound too far off. The decide and blend method to Sky by way of NOW TV can prevent money versus a standard Sky subscription, however if you need Leisure, Cinema, Children and Sport you’re nonetheless taking a look at paying £60 a month.
An advert funded mannequin is another choice, however ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 aren’t swimming in money, and including the BBC into the market will imply there’s much less cash to go round. So we’ll see all of the free-to-air channels undergo.
And we may see the BBC outbid for a few of the essential massive occasions and programmes by the likes of Amazon – forcing folks to shell out extra.
I think about it’d need to be some sort of blended mannequin. Maybe some companies funded by a lowered licence payment with others subscription solely.
The right way to cease paying the Licence Payment
Should you genuinely don’t watch any BBC TV, reckon you would do with out, or don’t really feel you need to pay for the opposite BBC companies then you may cancel your licence.
You may inform TV Licensing that you just don’t require a licence right here. Simply be sure you don’t watch any reside TV or use iPlayer.
