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[otherclive]

And what happens to you if you get caught with no licence? Will they release more criminals from the jail, so they can put you in?

When I lived in my own for a spell working away from home I rented a place with no tv. I didn’t bother getting one either. But I was hounded by letters telling me a needed a licence and I returned them saying I had no tv. Yet still they came until one day an agent called. I told them “ no tv” and invited them into the house. They declined and letters stopped. This was before streaming etc.

 

[Tobes]

This is what the Licence people state:-

You need a TV Licence if you:

• watch or record live TV on any channel or service
• use BBC iPlayer

You may be able to get a free or discounted TV Licence if you’re 75 or over and get Pension Credit, or if you’re blind or in residential care.

You do not need a TV Licence to watch:

• streaming services like Netflix and Disney Plus
• on-demand TV through services like All 4 and Amazon Prime Video
• videos on websites like YouTube
• videos or DVDs

So being pedantic BBC programs that are repeats or pre-recorded would appear to be license free over the air.

I've always question what constitutes live - because by the time it gets to me its probably a few milleseconds later

In this case "Live TV" means as it is transmitted via terrestrial or satellite service, and then watched or recored from that stream.

There are on-line services that will allow you to watch the broadcast channels (other than the BBC) with a 20 second delay that - in-theory - means they are not live. I have not tested this theory, but choose to pay for the license, which I think is good value for the content the BBC produce. We watch _all_ our TV in catch up mode now, and all over the internet.