TV Licence

The Godfather

We pay our TV licence ever year...well were supposed to. This is only for RTE1 and Network 2 so I have been told. is there any device that can be got to stop you TV from receiving these two very boring channels so we don't have to pay the TV licence?

Mossy Monk

i read before about some guy in the UK who did this before and actually got away with it. this would mean fixing up tv's, vcr's etc. and all tv's vcr's bought in the future. then their is when analogue is turned off (long way away i know), chances are STB's then will include RTÉ television channels. it is a lot of hassle to stop paying for a license fee. not that i condone that license fee or anything

Rebel18

Interesting point, but i dont think rte will ever do an encryption system for people who dont pay the licence money.

rlogue

Come on folks, get real! The Irish TV licence fee is *still* one of the lowest in Europe. Here in the UK we pay £120 Sterling for the TV Licence. Of course this pays for BBC tv and radio which I think are excellent - but RTÉ do a very professional job considering they earn a fraction of the income of the BBC. How many Irish made programmes apart from the news does TV3 put out each night? Oh, TV3 do make their own programmes? Eamon Dunphy in the £2.25 version of the Weakest Link? Twink in Perfect Match? Don't ****ing well make me laugh.

Perhaps if the Irish licence fee was higher RTÉ could have more money to make better IRISH MADE programmes. Of course, we could scrap the TV licence altogether and let RTÉ and TV3 fight it out for who has the most American TV Movies and UK relays on each night! Because, that folks, is commercial reality.

The Godfather

That is an interesting point that if they had more money...but there again if they hade more money would they just produce more cr*p?

It's not a case of how much it is, it's a case that we should have a choice not to view these chanels and not pay the fee. Instead we are forced into paying for them. I can honistly say I only view these chanels once in a blue moon. I like Sky Digital and DVD's and thats about it.

rlogue

To answer your point, unless you could physically disconnect the tuners from all your TV equipment, remove all cable TV lines and points and throw out any rabbit ears AND your $ky Digital system or whathaveyou then the answer is no.

Believe it or not there was a court case many years ago where someone was prosecuted for not having a TV licence even though they had no TV. The outdoor aerial on their roof counted as receiving equipment.

Strictly speaking the TV Licence licences you to own TV receiving equipment, rather than to watch RTÉ. There is a disclaimer on the back of UK TV licences that states "it is necessary to purchase a TV licence for any kind of TV receiving apparatus you own, regardless of whether or not you watch the BBC, ITV or satellite only"

Since the digibox is capable of receiving a colour signal you are obliged to purchase a colour licence. This applies even if you were to live somewhere in Ireland where there would be NO RTÉ signal.

I would have thought the law would be similar in Ireland.

I can remember as a student dodging the licence inspector many times-but thats a thing you do when you are counting the pennies on the way to the bar!
The inspectors we came across were all fierce creatures and no strangers to barging past you-whilst your housepals tried in vain to hide the thing....:D
On one occasion, when told by me , we had no tv, the inspector asked to come in and see the cable point just to verify this( we hadn't paid that either...:D ).

I think really to answer the point of this thread-Licence payers should really have more say in how RTE is run, ie on how our money is spent-IMO its actually doing a good job on the programme front .
I would have no problem in letting the likes of Pat Kenny et al,
enter the open market and let RTE use younger" up and coming",less expensive talent instead-There is a raft of it available on local radio stations at the momemt.
mm

Fergus

The way the Wireless and Telegraphy Act is worded, virtually anything can be regarded as licensable apparatus, even if it requries the addition of other equipment. I'm sure you could successfully argue that any metallic object was capable of acting as an antenna and therefore was a receiver of sorts.

The TV licence is just an excuse for more tax. Your opinion on how bad RTE is is not considered irrelevant.

I'd be happy to pay it if RTE would just produce 2-3 hours a day of television worth watching, with no ads. Instead of this endless pathetic second-rate copying of everything the BBC do, propping up of tired old talent, wasting of all the money buying in US sitcoms, UK sitcoms/soap operas, Australian sitcoms/soap operas, making soap operas, stupid game shows, showing last year's US movies, etc. And all this with their main concern of pleasing their advertisers, not the public.

For 23p a day, I'd rather have the apple, thanks.

pd

Remember guys, there is an election due shortly: put this on the list for the politicians at the door. If enough raised it, something might happen.

Rebel18

Originally posted by rlogue
Come on folks, get real! The Irish TV licence fee is *still* one of the lowest in Europe. Here in the UK we pay £120 Sterling for the TV Licence. Of course this pays for BBC tv and radio which I think are excellent - but RTÉ do a very professional job considering they earn a fraction of the income of the BBC. How many Irish made programmes apart from the news does TV3 put out each night? Oh, TV3 do make their own programmes? Eamon Dunphy in the £2.25 version of the Weakest Link? Twink in Perfect Match? Don't ****ing well make me laugh.

Perhaps if the Irish licence fee was higher RTÉ could have more money to make better IRISH MADE programmes. Of course, we could scrap the TV licence altogether and let RTÉ and TV3 fight it out for who has the most American TV Movies and UK relays on each night! Because, that folks, is commercial reality.

Yes maybe the english pay more but rte get ad money from showing ads and the bbc have never showed ads in their lives!

originally posted by Rebel 18 :

Yes maybe the english pay more but rte get ad money from showing ads and the bbc have never showed ads in their lives!

Ah come on now!
how many people pay license fee's in Ireland of 3 million population?
How many are there in the UK?

You are not seriously expecting RTE to provide the same public service output as the BBC with just the license fee are you?
mm

Fergus

The BBC run a much larger transmission network, numerous TV channels (BBC Wales etc), many local radio stations, world service, global shortwave network, worldwide monitoring etc. Way higher costs than RTE..

But apart from all of that, they actually produce quite a lot of high quality programming worthy of the title "public service". RTE on the other hand...

Digi_Tilmitt

RTÉ do the best they can with the small income they have. Give them a break.

Supercell

On a semi-related note, is your tv license still valid if you move apartment as i did last week?

originally posted by Fergus:

The BBC run a much larger transmission network, numerous TV channels (BBC Wales etc), many local radio stations, world service, global shortwave network, worldwide monitoring etc. Way higher costs than RTE..

The BBC in the UK don't run the transmission network.
I don't agree wit your opinions on RTE programmes-but thats democracy for you-Take a look at the TAM ratings-plenty must agree with me!

originally posted by Digi_Tilmitt:

RTÉ do the best they can with the small income they have. Give them a break

Oh thank God for you!
mm

SantaHoe

Originally posted by Digi_Tilmitt
RTÉ do the best they can with the small income they have. Give them a break.

We're paying Marty Whelan's salary... think about it.

edmund

TV3 gets no money from the TV licence so TV3 is free. You shouldn't be complaining about it.

DMC

Originally posted by Longfield
On a semi-related note, is your tv license still valid if you move apartment as i did last week?

No, technically your TV licence is really only for the address where you bought it for, BUT it doesn't say your address anywhere on the licence given back by An Post. So you could flash that piece of paper at the detector van if he passes by your way. The TV licence is not a personal thing registered to your name to bring around, its only registered for the address that it was registered for.

HTH,

Damien.

Tom Dunne

Originally posted by Digi_Tilmitt
RTÉ do the best they can with the small income they have. Give them a break.

I agree RTE do the best they can with limited means, but I also believe in a consumer economy - I want to pay for what I use. I can honsetly say I NEVER watch RTE1 or RTE2 (nor TV3 for that matter).

I am a sky digital addict and I don't mind paying for that. I am bitterly opposed to paying the license fee, but I had to do it the other day (several "legal notices" from An Post). I have even researched the whole "viewing TV on your PC and not having to pay the license" which, as it turns out, is covered in the wording of the license ("...any device capable of receiving a TV signal..").

Just my tuppence worth.

TD.

chernobyl

i ( as in we) never pay the lisence fee.
it is a fee for those who watch RTE, and we have proven twice that we never, nor have the means to watch RTE so therefore dont pay it.


If you watch RTE then you should pay it, but if you dont....


why pay the rent to a house in which you dont live?

Ah shur lets not pay for the hospitals we don't use either!!!
Trust me Chernobyl-Yooou will want RTE some day- and when its not there........
I don't Lurve the Channel my self blindly-but I recognise it as a resource-it's not a whole lot of money.
For me the whole 23p a day thing is not an issue and I aree 100% with rlogue above.
mm

chernobyl

Originally posted by madman
Ah shur lets not pay for the hospitals we don't use either!!!

taxes are a default and not optional and added to that is the health expense when one of my family does actually have to go to one.