Thousands in UK still watching black-and-white TV

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Scotsman, Nov 8, 2018.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Scotsman

    Scotsman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Jedburgh Scotland
  2. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Some people just prefer them. Others don't see why they should replace a set that's working perfectly fine.
     
    Siegmund likes this.
  3. andybeau

    andybeau Forum Resident

    Location:
    Coventry, UK
    I might be cynical, but from the article:
    'A black and white licence has one distinct advantage over its colour equivalent: it is a third of the price at £50.50 a year compared with £150.50.'
    And it is a very small portion of the population, some people don't care, can't afford or don't watch much etc.
     
    seed_drill, CrazyCatz and Dave S like this.
  4. KAJ1971

    KAJ1971 Ex-burger flipper/Sapper/book seller, Reg Nurse.

    D'you still get a couple of quid off if you're blind?
     
    Siegmund, dougotte and SandAndGlass like this.
  5. sixtiesstereo

    sixtiesstereo Senior Member

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    The thing that bothers me more than so many still only watching b/w is the following
    in the article:
    "Spokesman Jason Hill said: "Whether you watch EastEnders, Strictly or Question Time in black and white on a 50-year-old TV set, or in colour on a tablet, you need to be covered by a TV licence to watch or record programmes as they are broadcast.

    "You also need to be covered by a TV licence to download or watch BBC programmes on iPlayer, on any device."

    Really? You have to have a license in GB to own and watch TV? Sounds a lot like Big Brother to me......
     
    seed_drill likes this.
  6. KAJ1971

    KAJ1971 Ex-burger flipper/Sapper/book seller, Reg Nurse.

    My grandparents used to have two portable 17" b&w tv's in the 90's. It's why I had to go home to watch Live Aid and missed the last episode of 'Robin Of Sherwood' when the home video failed. It made the snooker more interesting.
     
  7. andybeau

    andybeau Forum Resident

    Location:
    Coventry, UK
    The licence fee is to finance the BBC and allow it to remain non commercial
     
    willboy, Adam9, Dan C and 6 others like this.
  8. KAJ1971

    KAJ1971 Ex-burger flipper/Sapper/book seller, Reg Nurse.

    'Big Brother' is on Channel 5 I think.
    The output of the BBC across TV & radio is worth the money and I'm happy for my girlfriend to pay it. No ads, Blue Planet, sport, live music. Having lived in Australia with their crap tv I'm more than happy with the licence fee. Besides, anything that got up Murdock's nose can't be a bad thing.
     
    willboy, Siegmund, Dan C and 6 others like this.
  9. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    Years back, they used to broadcast BBC shows like Upstairs Downstairs on PBS.

    There are things that color can't improve on.

    How much is color going to improve on an American soap opera?
     
  10. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    I imagine that they have Satellite TV down under in the outback this century, no?

    Now they get all the same crappy stations the same as I do, here in the states.
     
  11. Dude111

    Dude111 An Awesome Dude

    Location:
    US
    In the 80s Paul when we had a BW set it had a fine tuner on it and I could "FINE TUNE" scrambled signals in!!

    Ah man!!
     
  12. JozefK

    JozefK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dixie
    SandAndGlass and Dudley Morris like this.
  13. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Because cable is an option and I can always just watch TV (including PBS) for free here over the air without being made to pay a fee.
     
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2018
    Dudley Morris likes this.
  14. KAJ1971

    KAJ1971 Ex-burger flipper/Sapper/book seller, Reg Nurse.

    When I got there in FNQueensland I tried to watch 'Heroes' I think it was. It took an hour and a half because of the ads. That's why they're crappy. There are no ads on the BBC.
    Far as I could tell, it's still last century there, somewhere around 1986.
     
    Bubbamike, AKA and SandAndGlass like this.
  15. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    If you watched TV on catchup, then you could avoid the license fee, but they closed that loophole.

    NB. The TV license is free if anyone in the household is 75 years or older.
     
  16. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    Yes, it's a lot cheaper. I wonder how many are accessing TV in colour. If you watch TV online, then it will be in colour.
     
    Siegmund likes this.
  17. The Wanderer

    The Wanderer Seeker of Truth

    Location:
    NYC
    Well, I for one am still onboard!
     
  18. rich100

    rich100 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Middle of England
    I see it as a tax, not a big brother thing. It keeps the BBC answerable to the public (theoretically) and more importantly is free of commercials. The quality of output is far higher than other channels, esp for documentaries and radio, BBC4 being my favourite channel. We don't even have a sky/cable package as we get what we want from standard digital TV, so I don't object to paying myself.
     
    Siegmund, Dan C, AKA and 1 other person like this.
  19. Rufus McDufus

    Rufus McDufus Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    All this means is that 7,000 (which is a tiny percentage of licence buyers) buy a monochrome licence. It doesn't necessarily mean they watch TV on a monochrome set. They might see it as a wheeze to avoid buying a "regular" licence or they may just have a regular direct debit set up and not even realise money is still going out year after year.
     
    Bubbamike and Shawn like this.
  20. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    I wish Canadians understood this. Our CBC TV is not very distinguishable from the American commercial TV.
     
    beccabear67 likes this.
  21. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    And we get what we pay for!

    Yeesh, how are people with Amazon, Google and Facebook complaining about "Big Brother"? Over-the-air TV can't document what and when you're watching.
     
    John B Good and AKA like this.
  22. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    I checked over ten years ago and for an hour's worth of TV, there were about 18-minutes worth of TV commercials.

    I stopped watching commercial TV back in the early 90's and only watched movies on VHS tapes.

    Now, I have a 65" TV and besides movies, I will Chromecast Videos and project album art, when I am streaming movies.

    Chromecasting:

    [​IMG]

    More Chromecasting:

    [​IMG]

    Album Art:

    [​IMG]

    Here is how much I hate commercial TV and their commercials.

    I operate a small motel. I provide DirecTV, satellite TV for my guests. I give them the local channels, the Ultimate Package of 150-Channels, Cinemax and Showtime and music channels.

    Not only do I not watch any of this for FREE, but I do not even has a SAT box connected to the TV.

    I hear you loud and clear!
     
  23. KAJ1971

    KAJ1971 Ex-burger flipper/Sapper/book seller, Reg Nurse.

    Ch.4 benefits from the licence fee, I'm not sure who else. I remember them saying they'd be up the creek if the licence fee went.
     
  24. Jack Lord

    Jack Lord Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    Yes we do more or less the same thing here with PBS. It is financed by taxes, although it comes out of the general fund, not a direct license. This means it is always subject to budget cuts and political grandstanding.

    As for B&W televisions, I last had one when I lived in Germany from 1996 to 1997. To be fair, I fished it out of the rubbish and voila, free tv.
     
  25. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    Amen. Fortunately for those in charge, large masses enjoy crap and being abused.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine