Okay, I admit it, I was wrong about the Olympics.
Far from being the national embarrassment I expected they have thus far been a resounding success. I feel the £300 that I and every other UK taxpayer has invested in the Games hasn't gone to waste. They have truly put Britain on the map and their sporting legacy will last for decades.
Team GB has been working its socks off to deliver medals and the nation can be rightly proud of their magnificent achievements so far.
I was right about one thing though: The Olympics has paved the way for TV Licensing's propaganda harlots, Fishburn Hedges et al, to flood the local newspapers with scary tales of how many licence fee dodgers they have collared. Suffice to say, as with most other PR agencies, they don't let the truth get in the way of a good story. Idle journalism means the newspapers print just about anything TV Licensing sends to them without confirming its accuracy.
Remember that a TV licence is only needed if equipment is used to receive or record live broadcast TV programme services. There are many ways you can watch the Olympics perfectly legally without a TV licence. Here are just a few:
1. Watch it non-live on a catch up service: You do not need a licence to
enjoy previously broadcast non-live coverage on the BBC's iPlayer for
example.
2. Watch live at a friend's place: If they've got a TV licence you could
go and watch their telly instead. If you didn't want to impose you
could take your laptop around and stream live TV via their broadband
connection.
3. Watch live at the pub/club: I'm reliably informed by student friends
that you can nurture a soft drink for at least two hours if you sip it
slowly. That's just enough time to see the marathon.
4. Watch live at your local electrical retailer: Electrical retailers do
not need a TV licence for their display sets. If you're a bit of a
cheapskate you could visit Dixons and watch the best events there.
5. Become a TV engineer: If you're a TV fixer upper then you do not need a TV licence to test equipment you're working on.
6. Visit the big screen: Big screens will be showing live Olympics
coverage in cities across the UK. Wrap up warm, take a few tinnies and
watch 'til your heart's content.
The BBC is live streaming every Olympic event on its website. Don't quote me on this, but they have absolutely no way of knowing whether you really do have a TV licence when you're watching online.
2 comments:
I for one shall not be renewing my tv license.Full of brain dead celebrity dancing biased propaganda news and recently 24/7 corporate olympic coverage.To hell with the BBC find yourself another mug to fund you media channels
Actually, the iplayer site will demand that you input your licence info if you want to watch live. I would assume that also applies to the Olympics Streaming.
So, the using the streaming services is a grey area.
Also, if you have a licence, you can watch away from home. So, if I am in my second home or traveling, I can use my main residence's licence--providing there isn't anyone at that home (e.g., spouse, child,etc). I would need two licences in that case.
In that case, don't watch live TV!
The fun part is if you do a lot of foreign travel since the BBC won't sell licences outside the UK.
Not quite sure how that plays out for the military.
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