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How and Why I ditched the BBC TV Licence
11/23/2016 3 Comments
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Well I finally did it, after months - nay years of prevarication - I’ve finally gone and dumped the BBC. And it feels good, very, very good. I can only describe the feeling as that of when, after years of giving second, third and fourth chances, you finally rid yourself of that toxic girl/boyfriend.
Oh such relief. I feel like going out into the streets and yelling at the top of my voice: “I did it! I dumped the cultural Marxists! And you can too!”
Like many people I have watched aghast over these past few years as the British Broadcasting Corporation – once a byword for reliability, honesty and integrity – has lurched ever Leftwards in just about its entire output.
When it’s not well-fed BBC pets such as Ian Hislop et al mocking that quaint bunch of people who voted for Brexit, then it’s Punt and Dennis doing much the same thing on the radio waves.
And there’s always the ubiquitous David Mitchell and his sickly-sweet wife Victoria Coren-Mitchell both of whom can be guaranteed to ridicule the knuckle-dragging, cave-dwellers that are Brexiteers. Mind you, if you and I had mortgaged ourselves to the BBC in the way this ghastly couple have, we’d also be singing the anti-Brexit song just as vigorously. Or would we?
When the ‘comedians’ have out-funnied themselves and squeezed every last ounce of fun out of Farage, Boris and Gove (the three Brexiteers) the anti-Brexit gauntlet is taken up by the corporation’s ‘serious’ journalists:
Evan Davis, Emily Maitlis, Andrew Marr, Kirsty Wark and just about any one of a multitude of employees who fanatically promote the anti-Brexit narrative throughout the corporation’s omniscient presence in television, website, radio and social media platforms.
BBC gold is plentiful and can certainly help persuade people to hold the ‘right’ opinions; no matter if you are a Newsnight bigshot, Match of the Day presenter or just a lowly researcher on BBC local radio, every single one of its thousands of employees are singularly dedicated to the anti-Brexit narrative so beloved of their employer.
So what about 'diversity' – that most sacred of BBC cows? What about it? For the BBC diversity is not to be found in opinion, it’s all about the colour of your skin; Different skin colour, same opinion, that’s how they like it.
It doesn’t just end at Brexit. The dear old Beeb has opinions – extremely strong opinions - on just about any subject you care to mention: Grammar schools, Jeremy Corbyn, Palestine, Islam and of course Donald Trump…
In the aftermath of Trump’s landslide victory in the recent US presidential elections the BBC has been in overdrive. The entire artillery from Major Generals down to modest stretcher carriers have been choking back the tears as the reality begins to settle in.
For it transpires that substantial numbers of people have had the temerity to reject the BBC's own brand of Lefty-liberalism, preferring instead the ghastly ‘populism’ of a Trump or a Nigel Farage.
From their many news platforms including shows such as Radio 4’s Today programme through to Women’s Hour and not forgetting the good folk of Newsnight, the corporation’s response has been as predictable as it has petty.
Based on little more than hearsay and vindictiveness, the memes have come thick and fast: The KKK support Trump (a particular favourite) ‘White supremacists’ support Trump (another favourite). And my own particular favourite:
“Somebody once said that (name) - a member of the Trump transition team - once said something racist.”
Oh yes, the smears from our state-funded ‘impartial’ public broadcaster have been coming thick and fast these past months.
How dare people vote for Trump! How dare they vote for Brexit! Pity poor old Evan Davis – so distasteful is the thought of Brexit to him the poor man has to virtually spit the word out of his gentle Liberal mouth as the Newsnight anchor introduces the programme’s latest fearmongering, anti-Brexit story.
It’s not just ‘comedy’ and news/current affairs where you can expect to encounter insufferable bias. Anti-Brexit sentiment was even present during the recent trial of Helen Archer in Radio 4’s long-running soap The Archers.
Jurors who supported poor, innocent Helen were portrayed as being pro-Remain, while those with any sympathy for the villainous Rob were portrayed not only as uncouth, but firmly in the corner of Leave.
Yup, BBC bias is everywhere. Often it’s explicit, but as in the case of The Archers it’s implicit, a way of insisting that all reasonable people, all good people naturally support the Remain side of the debate.
Sinister as well as worrying.
So the time had come to say ‘No thank-you.’
I have to confess it’s a proposition I have been considering for some time. There’s an arrogance about this organisation that is pernicious, corrosive.
Recall that in the run up to the June 23rd EU referendum the corporation happily promoted the narrative that those considering voting for Brexit were nothing more than ‘Little Englanders.'
According to the BBC, this charmingly simplistic bunch of folk wished nothing more but to retreat into the past where they could live their shabby little lives in a long lost Britain - a notion the BBC has happily done their own bit in not just erasing but deriding too.
Remember that ‘narrative?’
Tellingly, for an organisation that pilloried such people mercilessly, the corporation has no qualms in retaining its very own little nod to those glorious days of yore: the television licence fee.
How very contradictory. While the BBC attempted to shame people who they sneeringly suggested wanted to live in the past, they themselves have no qualms about financially benefitting from an anachronism dating from the 1920s!
Oh yes, while those disgusting ‘Little Englanders’ were nightly reviled because they stubbornly refused to accept the BBC’s touchy-feely multi-cultural Islamic Britain, the very same ultra-progressives gleefully doing the smearing refuse to embrace the modern and fast-moving world that is digital TV subscription!
The BBC, you see, prefer the version of TV subscription devised back in the roaring twenties. It gives them a monopoly – a four billion pound monopoly which they are rather keen to keep at all costs.
Yes I know, times have changed somewhat since the 1920s. Amazon Prime, Sky, Netflix… apparently there is a revolution going in television right now, only no-one appears to have told the good old BBC. Bless.
‘Little Broadcasters…’
But I digress. Back to the TV tax.
Actually dumping the licence has been simplicity itself. I simply failed to renew the darned thing. Job done. It really was that simple.
So have I severed my ties with the world of TV? Is my ‘box’ withering slowly away in a corner of my living room, occupied by nothing more than creepy crawlies of the eight-legged variety? Not quite.
While households who do not watch ‘live or recorded’ television are not required in law to purchase said licence, access to On-Demand services require no such licence. Read on, do.
Not only do you save £150 per year (a fee expected to rise substantially over the next few years) but the all-too easy temptation to slob out in front of the telly and watch endless repeats of Last of the Summer Wine is thankfully removed. Hallelujah!
And this wonderful sense of liberation is all down to a little £35 stick – the Roku stick. This bad boy TV stick slots into the back of your television and hey presto, you have got yourself a smart TV!
Once slotted in, Roku presents myriad viewing options. Amongst other things users can hook up to services such as You Tube and take advantage of its extensive catalogue of TV and films. Users can also access the full range of Catch-up and On Demand services from all the usual suspects: ITV, Channels 4 & 5, Yesterday, and Pick etc.
After decades of being spoon-fed your television fare, it does take a little while to get used to the shock of going it alone. But it’s worth the effort. Imagine setting your own TV schedule! Pretty radical, right?
Fortunately the Roku system comes with a customisable home-page where users can store all their favourite channels and programmes. And if you really can’t find a show on YouTube or On Demand, there’s always several thousand films, documentaries, lifestyle and other genres available via this devilishly clever little stick.
Eureka! I can honestly say ditching the licence and going it alone has been a revelation. It’s no longer a case of asking “What’s on?” Rather it’s now a case of “What, if anything, shall we watch tonight and at what time?”
Hell, I even went to the gym for the first time in aeons last week! Where will it all end??
Take last night as an example; normally I would have crashed out in front of the telly all night watching whatever happened to be served up. Six hours of unsolicited telly from six to midnight, seven nights a week, 365 days a year. That’s a whole lot of television.
No more. Perhaps the most positive result of ditching the licence has been that my viewing habits have become that little bit more discerning. For illustration purposes I humbly present my TV activity from the night just past:
It all started at 6.30-ish with a tasty portion of Hitler’s girl: Eva Braun (Roku documentary), Later, at around 8.30 a slice of Spanish TV drama Locked Up (4 OD) followed. These two tasty morsels were washed down at about 10pm with a sparkling Episode (no. 399) of cult Aussie prison drama Prisoner Cell Block H. (YouTube). Yummy!
Just three hours of TV. I also had the time to write the next chapter of my F1 book and did some yoga! Wow! Changing my TV habits has led to places I could never have imagined.
And best of all, no licence money for those lovely cultural Marxists down at Broadcasting House.
If like me you are heartily sick and tired of the constant stream of propaganda emanating from Broadcasting House, then thanks to the Internet and the clever folk at Roku, no longer do you need to be held hostage by the telly fascists.
What’s not to like?
“Like going off crack cocaine to meths,” joked one of my friends who herself had dumped the licence a few years ago. “You’ll never kick the habit entirely, but you can limit the damage.”
So what are you waiting for?
Ditch the TV tax, cut off the BBC’s oxygen. You’ll never go back to being a ‘Little Licencer’ again.
11/23/2016 3 Comments
Picture
Well I finally did it, after months - nay years of prevarication - I’ve finally gone and dumped the BBC. And it feels good, very, very good. I can only describe the feeling as that of when, after years of giving second, third and fourth chances, you finally rid yourself of that toxic girl/boyfriend.
Oh such relief. I feel like going out into the streets and yelling at the top of my voice: “I did it! I dumped the cultural Marxists! And you can too!”
Like many people I have watched aghast over these past few years as the British Broadcasting Corporation – once a byword for reliability, honesty and integrity – has lurched ever Leftwards in just about its entire output.
When it’s not well-fed BBC pets such as Ian Hislop et al mocking that quaint bunch of people who voted for Brexit, then it’s Punt and Dennis doing much the same thing on the radio waves.
And there’s always the ubiquitous David Mitchell and his sickly-sweet wife Victoria Coren-Mitchell both of whom can be guaranteed to ridicule the knuckle-dragging, cave-dwellers that are Brexiteers. Mind you, if you and I had mortgaged ourselves to the BBC in the way this ghastly couple have, we’d also be singing the anti-Brexit song just as vigorously. Or would we?
When the ‘comedians’ have out-funnied themselves and squeezed every last ounce of fun out of Farage, Boris and Gove (the three Brexiteers) the anti-Brexit gauntlet is taken up by the corporation’s ‘serious’ journalists:
Evan Davis, Emily Maitlis, Andrew Marr, Kirsty Wark and just about any one of a multitude of employees who fanatically promote the anti-Brexit narrative throughout the corporation’s omniscient presence in television, website, radio and social media platforms.
BBC gold is plentiful and can certainly help persuade people to hold the ‘right’ opinions; no matter if you are a Newsnight bigshot, Match of the Day presenter or just a lowly researcher on BBC local radio, every single one of its thousands of employees are singularly dedicated to the anti-Brexit narrative so beloved of their employer.
So what about 'diversity' – that most sacred of BBC cows? What about it? For the BBC diversity is not to be found in opinion, it’s all about the colour of your skin; Different skin colour, same opinion, that’s how they like it.
It doesn’t just end at Brexit. The dear old Beeb has opinions – extremely strong opinions - on just about any subject you care to mention: Grammar schools, Jeremy Corbyn, Palestine, Islam and of course Donald Trump…
In the aftermath of Trump’s landslide victory in the recent US presidential elections the BBC has been in overdrive. The entire artillery from Major Generals down to modest stretcher carriers have been choking back the tears as the reality begins to settle in.
For it transpires that substantial numbers of people have had the temerity to reject the BBC's own brand of Lefty-liberalism, preferring instead the ghastly ‘populism’ of a Trump or a Nigel Farage.
From their many news platforms including shows such as Radio 4’s Today programme through to Women’s Hour and not forgetting the good folk of Newsnight, the corporation’s response has been as predictable as it has petty.
Based on little more than hearsay and vindictiveness, the memes have come thick and fast: The KKK support Trump (a particular favourite) ‘White supremacists’ support Trump (another favourite). And my own particular favourite:
“Somebody once said that (name) - a member of the Trump transition team - once said something racist.”
Oh yes, the smears from our state-funded ‘impartial’ public broadcaster have been coming thick and fast these past months.
How dare people vote for Trump! How dare they vote for Brexit! Pity poor old Evan Davis – so distasteful is the thought of Brexit to him the poor man has to virtually spit the word out of his gentle Liberal mouth as the Newsnight anchor introduces the programme’s latest fearmongering, anti-Brexit story.
It’s not just ‘comedy’ and news/current affairs where you can expect to encounter insufferable bias. Anti-Brexit sentiment was even present during the recent trial of Helen Archer in Radio 4’s long-running soap The Archers.
Jurors who supported poor, innocent Helen were portrayed as being pro-Remain, while those with any sympathy for the villainous Rob were portrayed not only as uncouth, but firmly in the corner of Leave.
Yup, BBC bias is everywhere. Often it’s explicit, but as in the case of The Archers it’s implicit, a way of insisting that all reasonable people, all good people naturally support the Remain side of the debate.
Sinister as well as worrying.
So the time had come to say ‘No thank-you.’
I have to confess it’s a proposition I have been considering for some time. There’s an arrogance about this organisation that is pernicious, corrosive.
Recall that in the run up to the June 23rd EU referendum the corporation happily promoted the narrative that those considering voting for Brexit were nothing more than ‘Little Englanders.'
According to the BBC, this charmingly simplistic bunch of folk wished nothing more but to retreat into the past where they could live their shabby little lives in a long lost Britain - a notion the BBC has happily done their own bit in not just erasing but deriding too.
Remember that ‘narrative?’
Tellingly, for an organisation that pilloried such people mercilessly, the corporation has no qualms in retaining its very own little nod to those glorious days of yore: the television licence fee.
How very contradictory. While the BBC attempted to shame people who they sneeringly suggested wanted to live in the past, they themselves have no qualms about financially benefitting from an anachronism dating from the 1920s!
Oh yes, while those disgusting ‘Little Englanders’ were nightly reviled because they stubbornly refused to accept the BBC’s touchy-feely multi-cultural Islamic Britain, the very same ultra-progressives gleefully doing the smearing refuse to embrace the modern and fast-moving world that is digital TV subscription!
The BBC, you see, prefer the version of TV subscription devised back in the roaring twenties. It gives them a monopoly – a four billion pound monopoly which they are rather keen to keep at all costs.
Yes I know, times have changed somewhat since the 1920s. Amazon Prime, Sky, Netflix… apparently there is a revolution going in television right now, only no-one appears to have told the good old BBC. Bless.
‘Little Broadcasters…’
But I digress. Back to the TV tax.
Actually dumping the licence has been simplicity itself. I simply failed to renew the darned thing. Job done. It really was that simple.
So have I severed my ties with the world of TV? Is my ‘box’ withering slowly away in a corner of my living room, occupied by nothing more than creepy crawlies of the eight-legged variety? Not quite.
While households who do not watch ‘live or recorded’ television are not required in law to purchase said licence, access to On-Demand services require no such licence. Read on, do.
Not only do you save £150 per year (a fee expected to rise substantially over the next few years) but the all-too easy temptation to slob out in front of the telly and watch endless repeats of Last of the Summer Wine is thankfully removed. Hallelujah!
And this wonderful sense of liberation is all down to a little £35 stick – the Roku stick. This bad boy TV stick slots into the back of your television and hey presto, you have got yourself a smart TV!
Once slotted in, Roku presents myriad viewing options. Amongst other things users can hook up to services such as You Tube and take advantage of its extensive catalogue of TV and films. Users can also access the full range of Catch-up and On Demand services from all the usual suspects: ITV, Channels 4 & 5, Yesterday, and Pick etc.
After decades of being spoon-fed your television fare, it does take a little while to get used to the shock of going it alone. But it’s worth the effort. Imagine setting your own TV schedule! Pretty radical, right?
Fortunately the Roku system comes with a customisable home-page where users can store all their favourite channels and programmes. And if you really can’t find a show on YouTube or On Demand, there’s always several thousand films, documentaries, lifestyle and other genres available via this devilishly clever little stick.
Eureka! I can honestly say ditching the licence and going it alone has been a revelation. It’s no longer a case of asking “What’s on?” Rather it’s now a case of “What, if anything, shall we watch tonight and at what time?”
Hell, I even went to the gym for the first time in aeons last week! Where will it all end??
Take last night as an example; normally I would have crashed out in front of the telly all night watching whatever happened to be served up. Six hours of unsolicited telly from six to midnight, seven nights a week, 365 days a year. That’s a whole lot of television.
No more. Perhaps the most positive result of ditching the licence has been that my viewing habits have become that little bit more discerning. For illustration purposes I humbly present my TV activity from the night just past:
It all started at 6.30-ish with a tasty portion of Hitler’s girl: Eva Braun (Roku documentary), Later, at around 8.30 a slice of Spanish TV drama Locked Up (4 OD) followed. These two tasty morsels were washed down at about 10pm with a sparkling Episode (no. 399) of cult Aussie prison drama Prisoner Cell Block H. (YouTube). Yummy!
Just three hours of TV. I also had the time to write the next chapter of my F1 book and did some yoga! Wow! Changing my TV habits has led to places I could never have imagined.
And best of all, no licence money for those lovely cultural Marxists down at Broadcasting House.
If like me you are heartily sick and tired of the constant stream of propaganda emanating from Broadcasting House, then thanks to the Internet and the clever folk at Roku, no longer do you need to be held hostage by the telly fascists.
What’s not to like?
“Like going off crack cocaine to meths,” joked one of my friends who herself had dumped the licence a few years ago. “You’ll never kick the habit entirely, but you can limit the damage.”
So what are you waiting for?
Ditch the TV tax, cut off the BBC’s oxygen. You’ll never go back to being a ‘Little Licencer’ again.
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Replies: 32
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I'm not buying another one again
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^^^^^^taken from DAVID SEDGWICK website
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I also had the time to write the next chapter of my F1 book....what,s the novel about ?
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Planet Earth II is worth the License fee on it's own !
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I am ditching mine too.
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Can someone give me a brief summary? I can't be bothered reading all that, but I think I'd be interested in it?
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Thinly-veiled Roku ad, written by a desperately poor writer.
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"Thinly-veiled Roku ad, written by a desperately poor writer."
die linke.....whats poor about it? |
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The License Fee is worth it, even without BBC1 and BBC2
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... I'd also agree, this person needs to improve their writing skills.
It is pretty dreadful. Are they a salaried journalist/writer? |
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enlighten us puppy
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Some people mat think the bbc is wonderful and are happy to pay the licence fee but i am not
Why can the bbc not go as a subscription channel then people could pay for it if they wanted The licence fee is a thing of the past but of course the government is too afraid of the "luvvies" to abolish it.Even having the bbc funded by adverts would suit me The only broadcaster guaranteed income no matter if their programmes are garbage or brilliant |
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This enough for you, broadsword?
It all started at 6.30-ish with a tasty portion of Hitler’s girl: Eva Braun (Roku documentary), Later, at around 8.30 a slice of Spanish TV drama Locked Up (4 OD) followed. These two tasty morsels were washed down at about 10pm with a sparkling Episode (no. 399) of cult Aussie prison drama Prisoner Cell Block H. (YouTube). Yummy! |
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thought it was well written...so no
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Ditch the BBC . Stop paying your licence fee ?
Be careful what you wish for . Do the above - and you widen the crack by which Murdoch can fully take over the media. |
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its a tax. It's something you have to pay to watch tv.
yes you can refuse to pay. I can turn off the gas, I can survive on electricity alone. But it's a necessity, tv isn't. So why treat it like a utility. We ended all the other wonderful institutions - BT,British Rail, sold off Electricity and Gas. Post office and many others. BUT the BBC is the propaganda arm of the country. THATS what it is. It's the face of the beast. |
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Is this legal? Yes, you don't need a licence so long as you are not watching live TV or using BBC iPlayer and are only watching on-demand or catch-up on other services. However, TV Licensing says its figures show less than 2% of people only watch catch-up TV – so don't cancel your licence unless you are absolutely sure you don't need it.
This is what you do Broadsword? |
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"Can someone give me a brief summary? I can't be bothered reading all that, but I think I'd be interested in it?
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Im waiting on poppydog to write something of interest, so we can compare.
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I'm not sure what poppy means when he says that the license is worth it without both BBC channels, maybe he is alluding to the possibility that the license fee would be even more expensive if the fee wasn't paid to the BBC but the government, as you'd still have to pay for it with or without the BBC.
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BBC 4
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Well done broadsword.
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fact
andrew neil owns an apartment trump tower trump is his landlord  |
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cheapest sky is 4 x bbc price
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Sky is optional
BBC is non negotiable. |
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The Olympic coverage was strange, they went way over the top about all things team GB. Some may say it was refreshing and I have no problem with that, I just felt they went a bit far. The things you are prepared to do to gain an all expenses paid holiday. Makes me sick.
As soon as the Olympics was over, it was business as usual again, back to the pathetic bias and forgetting all about the troubles of your average British person. |
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I actualy listen to bbc radio more than tv
radio 5 live |
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Castro dead
BBC will have it, Nations favorite grandpa dies  |
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What a lot of self indulgent rubbish ... Ever thought about Dignitas, as a solution to a life which takes empty to another level? Looking forward to your next mighty prose, when you stop putting brown sauce on your chips.
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