Thats what is being said on the news just now.
At least for two years.
Good I say as I have been thinking of not renewing.
Because of my age I was exempt up to last year, but then I had to pay, which I did.
But lately I was thinking that I would not be doing so again. I was going to say if asked, “That I am repeating the licence that I bought last year as most of the programs on TV are repeats”.Same old same old.
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That really made me chuckle! 
I wasn’t planning on taking my TV when I move house anyway, but if there’s no licence, I may reconsider 
Wow! You guys still pay a license fee? I’m pretty sure that went out the window here with the Waltons
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Our renewal reminder arrived on Thursday and we too have taken the decision not to pay.
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It’s not being suspended, it’s being suggested that the present annual fee of £159 will be frozen for the next two years instead of rising in line with inflation, as it has been for the past 5 years. It looks as if it will be scrapped by 2028 and may then be a subscription service, much like Netflix.
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Oh well…that’s a shame, never mind. One less thing I need to concern myself with then 
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As I have said before, I cancelled my BBC Tax coming up to two years ago, so I’m expecting an imminent ‘reminder’ from them. I shall, of course, reiterate that I never watch live TV so am not obliged to pay the BBC Tax and they can go and get stuffed.
Actually, although I have thus far been absolutely honest about this, in the unlikely event that there is something of particular interest on live TV I can quickly and easily close the curtains, lock the door and plug in the TV aerial. Should the doorbell ring, the aerial could equally quickly be extracted and stuffed away somewhere.
However, even that would not be necessary as they are not entitled to enter our premises without a warrant signed by a magistrate. If I turn off the TV so there’s no sound, I can go to the door and tell them that we are not watching live TV and, no, they may not come in to check. Goodbye.
All that talk about TV detector vans is an absolute load of nonsense. They don’t work with modern TVs and probably never did do even with the old CRT TVs.
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It is time this tax was scrapped. The BBC is a shadow of its former self chasing ratings rather than quality. To busy showing us how diverse and potitcally correct it is.I for one would not miss it at all.
That’s basically correct, Bathsheba. The next 2 years and Auntie gets no more money than what she gets via the license fee today (£159/yr). The following 2 years will see below inflation rises in the fee. Then nothing at all from the end of 2027.
Already Auntie is weeping in her bone china tea cup about how is she going to pay for high quality drama series, etc. Well, let’s start by reducing staff levels by at least 50%. Then how about cutting the salaries of its talent pool like Linekar, Bruce, Robinson, and anyone else on over £150k/yr.
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Bbc1 TV over Christmas and new year was appalling repeat films from years and years ago . Thank goodness I can watch you tube and catch up . Definitely not worth the licence money
Yes. The BBC should be made to compete with all other TV producers. They’d suddenly find themselves sacking the least-productive and probably the most expensive of their staff and employees. If they fail to compete, like many other firms, they’ll go under.
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Sorry, but I think we need a state run service that isn’t controlled by advertisers and that the BBC is being treated very unfairly.
The Government don’t like the BBC they challenge them and present an alternative point of view. And I think this is being announced now as punishment for reporting on Johnson and partygate.And to try to bury bad news.
I think the BBC is better value than the commercial providers, like Netflix, And when the competition from the BBC is gone, they will put up their prices anyway.
And media that depend on adverts for revenue can’t afford upset or offend those advertisers.
So the advertisers will control the content and the opinions allowed. And as advertisers will be big companies looking at profits, they are likely to support the Conservatives and right-wing opinion.
Which is why the Conservatives want to destroy the BBC of course.
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And I just got old enough…
A state-run TV service?
Effectively run by the political party in government, then?
Do you think that’s wise?
Isn’t that the sort of TV service the Russians and Chinese have?
No! Competition.
Competition benefits the consumer.
If a TV company wants to attract money through advertising, they need to attract viewers or the advertisers won’t pay to advertise with them. The consequence then is that they’d be obliged to produce programmes which people want to watch in order to demonstrate that people are watching the adverts.
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The wall was back this week, then it was accompanied by celebrity, so I switched the shit off.
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But that also means they’ll only make generic programs with mass appeal that attract a lot of viewers.
Programs that aren’t as popular but just interest a minority won’t get a look in. Yet that “minority” may literally be hundreds of thousands of viewers.
And investigative journalism won’t get a look in either. Advertisers don’t want anything controversial, just to sell to the masses.
The money will control.
And I think we’ll lose a lot of good radio.
Yes, you make a very good point.
However, Marge and I never watch any live TV, and certainly not the BBC.
Yet what is available on ‘catch up’ channels, and there are many including those with minority following, which rely on advertising. So it seems to work for them.
And, of course, money has always controlled.
If some channels appeal to the masses, they must compete with other channels that do the same. Those channels which produce minority interests are aware of, as you say, ‘literally hundreds of thousands of viewers’, so they obviously find those numbers adequate to attract advertisers. They must do, because I’ve seen them.
Radio? Well, there are already many independent radio stations independent of the BBC.
Of course, denying the BBC their ‘TV Tax’ doesn’t oblige them to give up completely. On the contrary they will have to compete and become more efficient. Stop paying Lineker millions, for example!
When they scrap it, it might be too late for me, doubt I live that long anyway.
I got it for two years without paying, then they decided pensioners should pay after all. 
Then do what many pensioners now do anyway: don’t pay it.
Do you have WiFi?
If so, buy a FireStick (c.£40) plug it into your TV and watch any and all catch-up (not live) TV channels.
You can, of course, pay extra for Netflix and/or Prime TV, but there’s plenty to watch even without them.
I don’t watch a lot of live TV or the BBC myself. The Apprentice at the moment, but I watch that on catch up. And I prefer Sky news.
But if the BBC goes that will mean less competition, not more.
The BBC was always what the others had to compete with, and without having to please advertisers it can offer a good variety
When the BBCs gone and they don’t have to compete with it, I think the others will go downhill and we’ll be left with a lot of dross, like the US
I think the TV licence is good value for what you get