QOTW: TV License or Netflix?

[Elspuddy]

Netflix, i don't watch normal tv any more

[Saracen]

TV licence.

The more the internet insinuates its way into my life, the less I use it, and the less I want it, as recently exemplified by the FB/CA farce. I'm not far off going offline entirely and, but for HEXUS, very likely already would have. Onlibe streaming? No, ta

[Unique]

you don't need to pay for a tv licence to watch tv and you don't need to pay to watch netflix either. it's a badly worded question

it would be better to ask which people thought was the better deal financially if they had to pay, the money for tv licence or the money for netflix

personally i think the tv license is a great deal considering how much quality programming comes from it. news, documentaries, comedies and dramas. sure there's lot of stuff i don't watch and think is crap such as pretty much everything in evenings pre watershed like these "talent" shows, but that appeals to certain people who probably find no interest in things i would call good quality tv

netflix is great and good value too. it doesn't have anywhere near as much to watch as what the tv license gives, but pretty much every week there's a brand new series that's a netflix original that i'm interested in watching, so it gives plenty of weekend viewing, plus you can find some other interesting things like documentaries and stand up comedy if you look around. you can of course go from trial to trial without paying, or split the cost between people, or just sign up for a month and watch a bunch of things, and come back a few months later and catch up (i know someone who does that)

similarly spotify like netflix is a good deal, and there's constant deals and cheap or free trials, is with tidal and deezer. i wish i had all that stuff when i was a teenager. i would have spent literally tens of thousands of pounds less on records and videos and stuff

[pumpkin]

Stick with the Licence fee and the Beeb, at least we get more UK content that way. Majority of TV we watch is on the BBC and then always have the radio on, mixture of 1,2 or 4.
Do have access to Netflix and have watched Star Trek Discovery, okay, and a couple of films in the year I've had it, so not worth the money. Also have Amazon prime so watch Lucifer, sometimes the Grand Tour, and that's it.

[Corky34]

If it was just one it would be the TV licence, Netflix's has more of the sort of programs i like to watch than terrestrial TV however the TV licence is (imo) about more than just what i like to watch, like most taxes it's about society as a whole and even though i don't listen to the radio and try to avoid BBC news coverage due to them being little more than government mouthpieces i still feel paying the licence fee is worth it because of the breadth of subjects.

[johnroe]

BBC is lost to me these days. They are stretched too thin & seem to be loosing track of what it is they do. Just an example yesterday - I love BBC 6 music, for the range of music & entertaining light hearted chatter....but I turned it on yesterday to here a women in her 80s selling her book on the Patriarchal society we now live in & how she is against it. After 15mins of listening to her talk about the failed dates she been on & having a good laugh at the previous poor blokes attempts at wooing her I quickly turned it off. Radio 4 maybe, but not 6 Music.

I agree with Unique, it's a strangely specific question. There is as some have indicated a shift happening, from a time when we were fed programmes with their own agendas, just like we were fed music. It's all controlled by monopolistic industries filtered through a State organisation. The main benefit of Netflix seems to be your fees go towards funding unique and innovative programming.

But now we have choice, we can watch or listen to whatever we like, when we like. I actually prefer specialist programmes made by amateurs on YT or a lecture by an expert. And there are plenty of sources online where you can watch the latest films or series. When I watched tv the only BBC I could tolerate were BBC4 educational programmes.

Andehh>I know what you mean, I used to enjoy BBC 6 music, for the music. Being patronised with adolescent politics by very wealthy presenters(Stuart Maconie basic wage £350,000 PY) and lectured to by millionaire musicians who live on country estates; is a real turn off. Thankfully the best music is online radio stations, with unlimited choice(and no talk!)

[Gh0sty]

Haven't had a TV license for years and haven't missed it in the slightest. Most of the programs I'm interested in come to one of the streaming services eventually so its a no brainer afaic.

[aidanjt]

Netflix, without a doubt. It's cheaper; obscenely better value for money; it's infinitely more flexible and convenient; it's a voluntary arrangement; and it doesn't (significantly) fund the BBC, who's gone so far off the radical left deep end, I don't think there's any redeeming them. Netflix, at least, has to face the reality of the voluntary nature of their subscriptions and the viewership of their own content, otherwise they'll cease to exist. While the BBC can just blithely coast along doing pretty much whatever they want, and bully families and pensioners into coughing up a TV license, whether not they want to support the BBC.

[Scryder]

I've been questioning this over the last year. We've not had a TV in the house for over a year, but from what I looked at "you have to pay!" of you got a device that's capable of having the BBC on it. At least that's the impression I got. Seemed such a waste as I'm paying for something that I or anyone else in my family don't use. BBC is just full of crap that I have no interest in anymore. I'm still not sure what the options are... My licence is due for renewal soon, and I still don't see a point of paying for something I don't need or use. Can I actually say that I don't use the BBC and not pay licence?

I had Prime and get a lot of my entertainment from that and online these days, news I can pick up from the internet and/or talking to friends. My kids only watch stuff on youtube on the tablet.

So to the question, Netflix all the way. BBC IMO is not useful to me.

[johnroe]

I was just looking at a graph which shows that in the next few years; the amount of time we spend online daily, will exceed the amount we spend watching tv. So I think the real question in the future will be; what was a tv and why did you let it fill your head full of crap? I mean there have been some great tv, but it's pearls in a lot of dross.

I mainly have problems accessing good films. I mean I can see all the latest releases, but some classic films are difficult. So I think a few specialist film sites and general internet will meet my needs.

[Saracen]

you don't need to pay for a tv licence to watch tv and you don't need to pay to watch netflix either. it's a badly worded question

it would be better to ask which people thought was the better deal financially if they had to pay, the money for tv licence or the money for netflix

....

Well, if you read the "Read more" bit, that is effectively what it is asking. The article poihts out there other options, and multiple choices us an option, but asks specifically

....

If you had to choose just one, which would it be?

Of course, some people would do neither, either because they don't want either, or because they want neither of these but do want something else. For some people, they don't have to pay for a TV licence to be covered, but wiukd have to pay for Netflix, Prime, etc.

Hence, a hypothetical question, IF you had to choose, which would you?

The qusstion seems fine to me, even if you'd ask a different question .... which, 8f course, you could.


Note: For the record, I have no input into these QOTWs, and find out about them when everybody else does, so this is my personal view, not some official HEXUS defence of the question.

[fail_quail]

I rarely watch TV full stop lately, so it'd definitely be netflix or similar.

(My viewing habits are youtube gaming channels mainly, with some anime and dvd/blu-rays)

We have a licence here because my mum watches a lot of TV, but if i had a place of my own i definitely wouldn't get a licence. Not only because i'm not that bothered by TV, but i'm sickened by the sheer naked pro-Tory bias of the BBC in recent years.

The only part left of any worth in the BBC IMHO is the nature documentaries, and i buy those on Blu-ray...

[Rad77]

I have been Netflix only for three years (which sounds somewhat like the start of an AA meeting introduction...).

I bought a house that had no TV aerial and found that I had no compelling reason to get one. Very little on broadcast TV that appeals to me.

I was just looking at a graph which shows that in the next few years; the amount of time we spend online daily, will exceed the amount we spend watching tv.

Already the case with me (and with several of my friends too) and we are in the 50+ age group, so presumably that's even more likely for younger people. My girlfriend does pay for a fairly extensive TV package from Virgin at her house but her kids (both early 20's) are the only people who use that.

She also buys a YouView pass, so that we can watch Game of Thrones when that's broadcast. In both our cases we use TV streaming services as an alternative to watching box sets and tend to pick one programme at a time to chug through when we get the chance to put our feet up.

Even when I did have broadcast TV I almost never watched it live, instead I would use the series record feature on the PVR to store up programmes to watch later.

[Millennium]

Although I like to be exposed to things I wouldn't search for on Youtube by the beeb, and I love bloomberg / bbc news / cnn / music channels, I think overall my choice would be netflix (and I haven't even tried it). But for now I'm happy to be behind the curve, funding the Beeb (a UK institution still) and even Sky's basic package (they gave me a good deal for 2 years non consecutively, which they likely lost money on with install costs and equipment costs, and I hope they are at least funding at least some UK / international media) and still pondering netflix.

I think I might watch 5-7 (?) hours of TV a month, though. I am always online, running out of things to do these days! So that's probably atypical.

The Beeb needs funding but the current system is too draconian and frankly maybe too expensive. Your average household is paying quite a lot for a license + virgin or sky or even now tv and this has to change as time spent in front of the telly decreases.

edit: for most though I would not recommend any sky package or virgin package. Freeview / Freesat + HD and catchup TV would be the best value for the majority still, with the possible additon of Netflix or Prime (which I haven't tried). Forget virgin (unless you need the broadband) or sky or even now tv unless you are a movie nerd.

[Myss_tree]

At the moment i watch Netflix far more than the BBC so the direct answer is Netflix over the tv license.
Have only really had Netflix for a few months so there is lots to see, i like the Marvel stuff and Netflix is strong on that.
Its not really a black and white binary choice though.
I also have Nowtv and Amazon prime.
I tend to use Nowtv then cancel until its got a lot i want to watch or unless they offer me a deal when i go to cancel. I will do the same with Netflix and similar with Amazon.
You do not get that choice with the license fee, its a yearly committment.
I would not subscribe to Sky or BT. Sky is to expensive for what it is.

[Mchotpoon]

Netflix - Greater content, often better quality and far, far better value. Don't really watch BBC content but need licence a licence for live TV viewing. BBC represents exceptionally poor value for money if the content was any good it would have value as a product and not need to be subsidized.