From the beginning of 2006, I decided not to renew my television licence. I found that my television viewing consisted almost entirely of tapes of old programmes purchased off Ebay, and that my watching of broadcast television was less than an hour a week. I therefore decided to stop watching broadcast television, and I today spend the £159 saved from the TV licence fee on video tapes and DVDs. It is a good decision; I now pay for what I watch, and not for what I don't watch.
The only fly in the ointment has been aggressive letters from TV Licensing (TVL), which collects the licence fee on behalf of the BBC. TVL/BBC sends millions of letters every year to people who do not watch broadcast television, demanding payment. For many people, these letters can be very frightening.
But the letters are a bluff; they are computer-generated. TVL/BBC have none of the powers their letters imply and, with a little knowledge, people can stand up to the bullies. The purpose of this website is to share my TVL/BBC letters as I receive them, and to provide useful information for people who have no time for the BBC.