Why don't most UK homes have TVs?
The average Russian cannot even imagine life without a TV. Meanwhile in the UK people have to buy a special license to view the appliance. And if you don’t have a TV at home at all, you need to write a statement, otherwise a fairly significant fine will be imposed on the citizen.
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Why are TVs unpopular?
In seemingly advanced England, where the telephone, computer, Internet and other modern benefits of civilization were invented, television is completely unpopular. The reason for this is the need to purchase a special license, which will make it possible to watch broadcast TV programs.
Today, there are 480 channels in the UK, both free content and broadcasts provided for a subscription fee. The most popular are only 6 channels, which provide various information to users. In October 2012, all British television switched to digital.
Important! A license fee is charged to each home where programs broadcast on TV are viewed or recorded. The amount of such a tax is determined by agreements between the BBC and the government of the country.
It is noteworthy that in this country broadcasting is also a cocktail of not very intellectual talk shows, entertainment programs, movies, TV series and advertising.But the main difference from television in Russia is the need to pay a tidy sum to watch programs that are not particularly necessary.
However, it turns out to be quite difficult to refuse a TV license. If a person absolutely does not want to look into the zombie box every evening, he is offered to go to the website of a special company that carries out inspections. There is a form there, by filling out which a person can be calm and protected from government extortions. But everything is not so simple, there are a lot of points why a citizen is not going to use the TV. But there is no main point that a person simply does not need this gadget in the house. You have to be smart and have some cunning.
Important! It is noteworthy that a license must be purchased not so much to use the TV, but to watch TV programs.
Therefore, watching programs from a laptop, computer, phone or any other device is also subject to tax. If there is no receipt in the state treasury, specialists from the service involved in inspections (searches) may visit the citizen’s home.
Residents of Foggy Albion, in order to reduce the cost of purchasing a license, often purchase the opportunity to watch exclusively black and white televisions. This comes out cheaper, but makes it possible not to miss your favorite TV shows. Today, the share of monochrome TVs in the country is quite high. This is due to savings in poor families or a lack of desire to use technological progress to improve their lives. Many middle-aged Englishmen simply do not want to change anything in their lives and, out of habit, watch a monochrome picture.
Experts believe that those who want to watch TV exclusively in black and white will most likely not disappear in 10 years. Although their number, of course, will be noticeably reduced.
Important! For English citizens over 75 years of age, a TV license is provided as a gift. In addition, a 50% discount is provided to visually impaired and other categories of citizens.
In general, young Englishmen try to do without television or buy a minimum license. This is why the UK is a leader in watching television shows and programs via the Internet.
How much does it cost to maintain a TV in the UK?
In the UK, there are several tariffs that are offered to users to pay to watch television:
- black and white TV costs around £49 per year;
- color - 145 pounds.
There are also various promotional and discount licenses that can be provided to various categories of citizens, for example, disabled people, pensioners who have reached the age of 74. After the age of 75, the license becomes free and is given to the citizen as a gift.
In the UK, there is a special organization for collecting television licenses, whose representatives have the right to conduct searches in citizens' homes. Upon check-in, you almost immediately receive a letter asking you to pay for the license. If there is no response to the request, another letter arrives, which already talks about penalties for late payment of the TV package.
Important! Paying a fine does not relieve a person from purchasing the license necessary to watch TV. This is reported in the relevant notice.
In modern England, most young people are giving up watching television in favor of Internet broadcasting.This is advisable, since the ability to watch TV programs is quite an expensive pleasure.
One can only sympathize. However, their figure is from 2012.
You also gave good advice to Russian “lawmakers” about this possibility of robbing the population of the Russian Federation.
145 pounds per year is about $200 or about $20/month. Somehow I can’t believe that they are so poor there that because of the savings of this unfortunate 20 they don’t watch TV..
Do they pay for a collective antenna? But our TV is not free either... You have to pay for the antenna.
Not a TV set, but a TV set.
Why such an article, now wait for a new bill
Let's live like the rest of the civilized world. State Duma deputies, this article is food for thought. And for legislative initiative. Deputies, don't miss it. You need to improve your well-being, right?
The author lied about the invention of TV and other things…. It is not comme il faut to appropriate someone else's inventions. In general, the islanders were famous only for piracy and pitting other peoples against each other.
Indeed, why do you need a TV box if you have the Internet?
Russians are not threatened by either a new bill on pay TV or FSB surveillance of those who watch TV online.The fact is that everything that is shown to our people 24 hours a day on all 20 channels of free digital TV is a dangerous ideological poison, a Leninist quasi-patriotic lie that is needed only by those in power, which is why it is free. It zombifies a person and prevents him from thinking and analyzing independently. As a result, TV brings up weak-minded, limited and aggressive bastard people, and it is unknown where their aggression will be directed. Those with power just need it to be directed anywhere, but not at themselves. But life speaks of something else: athletes knocking the spirit out of civilians, motorists crushing them, Kerch shooters blowing up and shooting their classmates, and even an Arkhangelsk bomber appeared who, on Halloween and at the same time, the day of remembrance of victims of political repression, blew up the lobby of the Arkhangelsk FSB department.
They have it all too. Moreover, they had everything you listed earlier. So, “a dangerous ideological poison, Lenin’s quasi-patriotic lie that is needed only by those in power,” and even for money, is an achievement of democracy?
Eh, grumps... Are you not happy about the opportunity, thanks to this tax on the British, to watch wonderful films about nature, animals, cars? This money does not go to the state; the BBC uses this money to make its wonderful films, which we watch on several channels at once.
Author, what’s wrong with the British? I pay 1,750 rubles a month for three TVs in my apartment and 300 Rostelecom channels. For a year, the result is a figure comparable to what you gave in England. What is the problem?
The author has never even seen England. Everyone has a TV, the license fee exists not only in the UK, but in many other countries and this is normal.
Do you think it’s better to watch a zombie movie with fake news, “Dom2” and “let’s get married” for free?
We had a similar system until 1960. Both for the radio and for the TV, although the prices were divine. From 1960 to 1991, an excise tax was applied (the tax began to be included in the cost of the new device).
Thank you for the article. Now I understand why a friend from London once told me that it was prestigious to have a television.
Foggy Albion - you can’t make out anything
It fits very well with the saying: It’s good where we are not. — when you start to delve into it, there are plenty of problems everywhere. In England, I heard that the situation with housing is not very good.
We don't have a TV either. and we pay for the antenna. and by the way for the radio point
Well, that’s it, now our deputies will do the same!
Horror. Here is an island animal.
We have the opportunity to watch a selection of federal channels for free. All you need is an antenna.
Quite strange if this is true. Any modern state tries to fool its citizens as much as possible, filling their heads with all sorts of garbage so that they think less about real problems. But here, hindrances are created for this, especially among disadvantaged people.
I haven't had a TV for about 7 years now. When I was there I didn’t really turn it on
Of course, distorted propaganda. It was especially funny about black and white TV. What idiot would even believe this?
I didn't know that the telephone was invented in England. I thought it was invented in 1860 in the United States by Italian immigrant Antonio Meucci, or in 1861 by German physicist and inventor Johann Philipp Reis. Live and learn.
no £49 a year to watch black and white TV? But what about all this talk about prosperity and a comfortable existence in the respectable West? but here they can’t pay 49 pounds a year.
So they also save water by plugging the sink with a stopper and splashing around in This...
Blind people get 50% discount!!! A blind person does not watch TV, but he must also pay, albeit at a discount!!! )))
And in Russia what? is it free?
Well, what to take from the wild island kingdom!?