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Letters from BBC Television
Licensing
From the beginning of 2006, I decided not to renew my television
licence. I found that my television viewing consisted almost entirely of tapes
of old programmes purchased off Ebay, and that my watching of broadcast
television was less than an hour a week. I therefore decided to stop watching
broadcast television, and I today spend the £169.50 saved from the TV
licence fee on video tapes and DVDs. It is a good decision; I now pay for what
I watch, and not for what I don't watch.
The only fly in the ointment has been aggressive letters from TV
Licensing (TVL), which collects the licence fee on behalf of the BBC. TVL/BBC
sends millions of letters every year to people who do not watch broadcast
television, demanding payment. For many people, these letters can be very
frightening.
But the letters are a bluff; they are computer-generated.
TVL/BBC have none of the powers their letters imply and, with a little
knowledge, people can stand up to the bullies. The purpose of this website is
to share my TVL/BBC letters as I receive them, and to provide useful
information for people who have no time for the BBC.
| Click to view letters from
2006,
2007,
2008,
2009,
2010,
2011,
2012,
2013,
2014,
2015,
2016,
2017,
2018,
2019,,
2020,
2021,
2022, and
2023 and 2024. Stay on this page for letters
in 2025. Most commentary on the letters is during 2006-2009.
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January 2025
This is my twentieth year as someone
who does not pay the BBC. I have saved £2,956 and, assuming 50p a letter,
cost the BBC a further £98 in
postage.
Brown 9 by 6
envelope.
Stay tuned for another TVL/BBC letter,
next month.
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