TV Licence???

emigrate2012 wrote: »

Wouldn't worry bout it too much, I stupidly anwsered the door to the inspecor with two telly's blaring(sure how would I know?) said yes hadn't a licence,gave me 6 weeks to get one,didn't cos broke got a few reminders,blah blah,got a summons a few months later,didn't go to court, got ANOTHER summons didn't go,got fined in my absense 600 yo-yo's didn't pay that either got reminders from a collection agency threw them in the green bin(gotta recycle that sh!t ye know?) then got a reminder from the inspector that "our records show you haven't had a licence for 2 years now" crap. Just ignore it,what can they do lock you up?Prison's are full,they keep fining you repeatedly they might say a week inside in lieu of the fine(s) but the way it is,show up to the joy,sign your name,go home.I know people that have done just that for motoring fines,in the grand scheme of things just be cool and ignore them,going to court,even to plead that your broke just draws attention to yourself. And if you do get dragged in on a warrant(bloody unlikekly) play dumb."tv licence?reminders?never seen the letters your honour!" F*ck them they get enough money off us as it is. P.S. this all happened in the past eighteen months and I haven't heard anything whatsoever.

Get help, man. Professional help

dxhound2005 wrote: »

The ones that do pay have to make up the shortfall for the evaders, something like €25 million a year.

Cheers man, owe ya pint next time I see ya.

It's not just the minority of RTÉ overpaid staff that the TV licence fee pays. Sure, there are overpaid presenters in there but there are lots of other staff too, and about 80-90% of the Irish shows broadcast on the channels are independently produced and commissioned by RTÉ, supporting thousands of jobs in the TV industry. If the fee didn't exist these jobs wouldn't either.

For the size of our country we actually make decent TV, have you ever seen some of the thrash put out on other Euro stations, in Oz and NZ, and even in the States? Our state broadcaster gets slated a lot in comparison to what we can easily access form across the water, the big boys in BBC. People seem to forget that BBC regularly produce the worlds best television with the worlds biggest television budgets! RTÉ is then unfairly compared to it, eg the guests in the Late Late compared to the guests on Graham Norton. There is no comparison between the stations, BBC is a different animal.

If there was no licence fee all we would see on Irish TV is crap bought in from other countries and cheaply produced muck like what the likes of City Channel used to put out. Imagine if we had no independent productions or home made tv shows? I wish, like everyone that RTÉ would stop overpaying their 'stars' and put their budgets towards production values, but hey, the head of Coillte gets over half a million a year and people don't complain about their tax going to that.

The TV licence is a tax, you are obliged to pay it, and if you don't, you deserve every fine coming to you. Our TV and film industry has a lot of positives and potential for the future and I really think it should be supported. Anyone illegally receiving, downloading and streaming tv and film regularly is showing ignorance and lack of support for the art that they enjoy so much.

Just my two cents.

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

The punishment for refusing to pay your TV license is to be locked in a prison cell most of the day with nothing to do except watch TV RTE.

Fixed your post

I'm about 2 months away from stopping the derict debit on this, going to get rid of the tv and get a HD 3D Projector. I will be sending An Post a letter stating this, and that i will no longer be watching broadcast signals. Fook 'em. I don't watch RTE anyway. The only programs i watch at the moment are broadcast on far superior channels which i pay Sky to provide. I'll be getting rid of Sky too.

Like others, if watching RTE was a premium service which cost €13 a month to access, i would not pay it. It produces complete and utter muck. The only decent program made by RTE ever was Reeling in the Years. They have produced nothing else of note. Nothing.

TV is overrated anyway. I'm only watching 3 programs right now (all recorded so i can watch them when i want and fast forward the ads, and because i might as well get some use from a service that is costing me over €500 a year (Sky and TV Licence)) and i can happily stop watching them right now.

As for this broadcasting act, should the onus of proving that terrestrial tv is being watched be on rte? I think it's madness that they can say you're using your tv/laptop/whatever to watch rte made programs, but don't have to prove it!! I'll happily prove i wasn't watching it, as long as Imagine are willing to give me a list of all the sites i visited. Jesus, all you have to do is combine the times i've spent playing games and you'll realise that i barely have time to watch tv!

Fulton Crown wrote: »

An how is things in "Cloud Cuckoo Land" pal ?

Let's follow your "Logic"...you don't ever (ever ever ever?) watch RTE therefore you should not have to pay for it.

Well this poster never uses public transport and by your logic should not have to subsidise CIE / Irish rail.

I don't use state schools....so should not have to contribute to education ?

Get real pilgrim......you have no logic.....just bulldust......hmmmm?

People do pay for subscription TV - it isn't like schools or public transport :rolleyes:

RTE is going digital so it is a simple matter to abolish the license fee & make RTE a subscription service. Those who want to watch it can pay. There is this ridiculous idea of "public service broadcasting" that needs to be abolished. Stations like Newstalk do just as much "public service" broadcasting as RTE without needing the license fee.