Everything about Television Licence totally explained
A
television licence (or
broadcast receiver licence) is an official
licence required in many countries for the reception of
television (and sometimes also
radio) broadcasts. It is a form of
hypothecation tax to fund
public broadcasting, thus allowing public broadcasters to transmit programmes without, or with only supplemental, funding from
radio and
television commercials.
The television licence was originally known as a
radio licence, and was used to fund public radio broadcasting. With the arrival of television some countries created a separate additional television licence, while others simply increased the radio licence fee to cover the additional cost of TV broadcasting, changing the licence's name from "radio licence" to "TV licence" or "receiver licence". Today most countries fund public radio broadcasting from the same licence fee that's used for television, although a few still have separate radio licences, or apply a lower or no fee at all for consumers who only have a radio. Some countries also have different fees for users with colour or monochrome TV. Many give discounts, or charge no fee, for elderly and/or disabled consumers.
Television licences around the world
The
Museum of Broadcast Communications in
Chicago notes that two-thirds of the countries in
Europe and half of the countries in
Asia and
Africa use television licences to fund public television. TV licensing is rare in the
Americas, largely being confined to
French overseas departments.
The actual cost and implementation of the television licence varies greatly from country to country. The rest of this section looks at the licence fee in a number of countries around the world.
Europe
Albania
The
Albanian licence fee is 800
Lekë (around
€6.30) per year. However, the licence fee makes up only a small part of public broadcaster
RTSh's funding. RTSh is mainly funded directly from the government through taxes (58%), the remaining 42% comes from commercials and the licence fee.
Austria
In accordance with the
Austria RGG (TV and Radio Licence Law) all broadcasting reception equipment in use or operational at a given location must be registered. The location of the equipment is taken to be places of residence or any other premises with a uniform purpose of use.
Responsible for licence administration in Austria is
GIS - Gebühren Info Service GmbH, a 100% subsidiary of the Austrian Broadcasting Company (
ORF), as well as an agency of the Ministry of Finance, charged with performing functions concerning national interests. Transaction volume in 2006 amounted to EUR 668 million, 66% of which are allocated to the ORF for financing the organisation and its programs, and 34% are allocated to the federal government and the local governments (taxes and funding of local cultural activities). GIS employs some 193 people and appr. 125 free lancers in field service. 3.3 million Austrian households are registered at GIS, percentage of licence dodgers in Austria amounts to 4%.
The main principle of GIS' communication strategy is to inform instead of control. To achieve this goal GIS uses a four-channel communication strategy:
- Above-the-line activities (advertising campaigns in print media, radio and TV)
- Direct Mails
- Distribution channels – outlets where people can acquire the necessary forms for registering (post offices, banks, tobacconists, five GIS Service Centers throughout Austria)
- Field service – customer consultants visiting households not yet registered
The annual television &
radio licence varies in price depending on which
state one lives in. Annual fees from June 2006 are:
Belgium (Walloon Region)
The licence fee in
Belgium's
Walloon Region (encompassing the
French and
German speaking communities) is
€149.67 for a TV and €26.72 for a car radio. Only one licence is needed for each household regardless of how many television sets there are. However, each car with a radio must have a separate car radio licence. Household radios don't require a licence. The money raised by the fee is used to fund Belgium's French and German public broadcasters (
RTBF and
BRF respectively).
Bosnia and Herzegovina
The licence fee in
Bosnia and Herzegovina is around
€ 36 per year. The
civil war and the associated collapse of infrastructure caused very high
evasion rates. This has in part been resolved by collecting the licence fee as part of a household's
telephone bill. The licence is used to fund
PBSBiH (Public Broadcasting Service of Bosnia and Herzegovina) which is an umbrella organisation of three separate broadcasters. These are
BHRT (Radio Television of Bosnia Herzegovina), which serves the whole country;
RTFBiH (Radio-Television of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina) that serves Bosnian-Croat and
Bosniak population; and
RTRS (Radio-Television of the Republika
Srpska), which serves the Bosnian Serb people.
Croatia
The licence fee in
Croatia is set each year in accordance with the Croatian Radio Television Act, 2001. The act states that the total licence fee is equal to 1.5% of the average net salary in the previous year. This works out at about €100 per year per household with at least one radio or TV receiver.
The fee is the main source of revenue for the national broadcaster
Hrvatska Radiotelevizija (HRT), and a secondary source of income for other national and local broadcasters, which receive a minority share of this money. Despite the licence money, HRT's programmes are still not free of advertisements, but the percentage of air time which may be devoted to advertising is limited by law and is lower than the one that applies to commercial broadcasters.
Cyprus
The licence fee in
Cyprus is indirect but obligatory and paid through electricity bills. The amount to be paid varies according to the total floor area of the property. Its beneficiary is the state broadcaster
Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC).
Northern Cyprus ("TRNC" only recognised by Turkey) doesn't pay the Cypriot licence fee as Cypriot jurisdiction isn't applicable in the North.
Bayrak Radio and Television Corporation, the North's public broadcaster gets it funds through the North Cypriot government.
Czech Republic
The licence fee in the
Czech Republic, is currently 1440 Kč (€50.58) as from
January 1 2007, This will increase further to 1620 Kč (€56.90) on January 1 2008. Each household pays for one TV Licence regardless of how many televisions they own. Corporations and the self-employed must pay for a licence for each television. The licence currently forms 68% of, public broadcaster,
Česká televize's income, with the rest coming from advertising, sponsorship, and commercial ventures. However, advertising and sponsorship are being phased out as a form of funding for Česká televize. From 2008 no commercials or teleshopping will be allowed except for adverts related to sports and cultural transmissions.
Denmark
The licence fee in
Denmark is 2,150
kr (around
€288) in media licence fee (which applies to all TVs, computers with internet access above 256 kbit/s or with TV tuners or other devices that can receive broadcast TV: which actually means that you've to pay the TV licence if you've a relatively new mobile phone). Radio licence is 320 kr (around
€43). The black/white TV rate is no longer offered after January 1st, 2007. The majority of the licence fee is used to fund the national radio and TV broadcaster
DR. However, a proportion is used to fund
TV 2's regional services.
Finland
The television fee in
Finland is between
€208.15 and
€215.40 (depending on the interval of payments) per annum for a household with TV (as of 2007). It is the primary source of funding for
Yleisradio (YLE). The amount is being adjusted yearly for reasons including transition to
digital television.There are no exemptions from the fee.
In 1999,
television license fee was renamed
television fee, since at that time the new
constitution of Finland was being drafted. This new constitution guarantees everyone the right to receive messages without permission as a part of
freedom of speech. This had little practical effect.
The switch to digital only transmission of TV in Finland has seen a dramatic decline in the number of households with a TV licence. The reason for this isn't clear. It may be that people are recouping the mandatory cost of purchasing a digital receiver (50-100€ for basic models) against the cost of the licence by way of protest. Many (but not all) set top boxes carry encryption technology and YLE, which has lost considerable income and has slashed TV services has said it's considering whether to encrypt the signal to enforce payment of the licence.
France
In 2005, the television licence fee in
France (mainland &
Corsica) was
€116 and in the
overseas departments it was €74. The licence funds services provided by
Radio France,
France Télévisions and
Radio France Internationale. Overseas departments receive the
Reseau France d'Outre Mer ('Télé [nameof department or territory]', Tempo, and France Ô), whilst the mainland receives
France 2,
France 3,
France 5,
Arte,
France 4 and
Gulli. Public broadcasters in France supplement their licence fee income with that from advertising. However, changes in the law in 2000 designed to stop public television chasing ratings, have brought this into steep decline; Between 1998 and 2004 the proportion of France Télévision's income that came from advertising declined from around 40% to 30%. To keep the cost of collection low, the licence fee in France is collected as part of local taxes. It is billed by the month, but typically paid quarterly (yearly payments are possible). The unemployed, disabled and people (nearly) solely dependent on governmental support for living don't need to pay the licence fee. Starting in 2007, the German government will establish a licence fee for every working Internet link (for example mobile phone or PC) if it's the only source for radio and television. These devices will be charged the radio fee. The license fee has to be paid even if the device isn't attached or has no immediate capabilities to connect to internet. According to the official regulation, the fee has to be paid if the device "could potentially connect to internet without significant efforts" (which means one could buy a modem and then connect). Non-possession of internet-capable devices is no obstacle to required fees, but the virtual possibility of potential capability to receive broadband is sufficient to pay.
The licence fee is used to fund the public broadcasters
ZDF,
ARD, and
Deutschlandradio,
ARTE and the public "Third Programmes" TV channels and all public radio stations as well. Their budgets are often supplemented by limited advertisements at certain hours of the day. Germany currently has one of the largest public broadcast budgets in the world. Their annual revenue is roughly EUR 7.6 billion (which is approximately twice as much as the European and Russian space programs combined), plus EUR 500 million in commercial ads. Nevertheless the board of public broadcasters sued the German states for interference with their budgeting process, and on
September 11,
2007, they achieved a total victory at the Supreme Court, rendering their institution as an independent and self-governing body. In addition they're allowed to charge the public for "lost revenues" in their forthcoming fee raise.
Public broadcasters have announced that they're determined to strongly utilize all available ways to access their "customers" and as such have started a very broad internet presence with media portals, news and TV programs. With the intention to "reach their customers" in an appropriate way, the national broadcasters have abandoned their pledge for restricting their internet activities. German society will have the world's most extensive public internet media program in the near future. However, a steep fee raise is announced for 2009.
Greece
The licence fee in
Greece is indirect but obligatory and paid through electricity bills. The amount to be paid is €51.60 (2006) for every separate account of the electrical company (including residence, offices, shops and other places provided with electricity). Its beneficiary is the state broadcaster
Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi (ERT). Predicted 2006 annual revenue of ERT from the licence fee (officially called "retributive" fee) is €262.6M (from €214.3M in 2005).
There has been some discussion about imposing a direct licence fee after complaints from people who don't own a television set and yet are still forced to fund ERT. An often quoted anecdote is that even dead people pay the licence fee (since graveyards pay electricity bills).
Iceland
In
Iceland the TV Licence is 32 460
kr (around
€346.59) (2006). Discounts are available for black and white TVs and those who only have radios. The TV Licence is used to fund
RÚV. However, this income is supplemented by broadcasting commercials.
Ireland
In 2006, the television licence in the
Republic of Ireland is
€158, up from €155 in 2005. It is free to anyone over the age of 70 and to some over 66, and the blind although these licences are in fact paid for by the state. Everybody (regardless of means or circumstances), over the age of 70, is entitled to a free lifetime licence. The Irish Post Office,
An Post, is responsible for collection of the licence fee and commencement of prosecution proceedings in cases of non-payment. However, An Post has signalled its
intention to withdraw from the licence fee collection business. The Irish TV licence makes up 50% of
RTÉ's revenue. The rest comes from RTÉ broadcasting commercials on its radio and TV stations. Furthermore, some RTÉ services, such as
RTÉ 2fm,
RTÉ Aertel,
rte.ie, and the
transmission network operate on an entirely commercial basis.
The licence fee doesn't entirely go to RTÉ. After collection costs, 5% is used for the
Broadcasting Commission of Ireland's "Sound and Vision Scheme", which provides a fund for programme production and restoration of archive material which is open to applications from any quarters. 5% of what RTÉ then receive is granted to
TG4, as well as a requirement to provide them with programming. The remainder of TG4's funding is direct state grants and commercial income.
The licence must be paid for premises that have any equipment that can potentially decode TV signals, even those that are not RTÉ's.
Italy
In 2008, the licence fee in
Italy was
€106.00 per household with a TV set.
It is the primary source of income for
RAI, which does, however, also broadcast
advertising. Italy has problems with collection of the licence, with approximately 10% of viewers not paying their licence. One of the reasons is that the maximum fine is only half that of the licence itself (plus the licence on top of that), compared to the UK where the fine is up to £1000 (about €1500.)
Viewers in the province of
Bolzano-Bozen,
Italy, which has a large German-speaking majority, can also receive Austrian and German public TV and radio channels via terrestrial transmissions. However, they don't have to pay the German or Austrian license fees.
Macedonia
The licence fee in the
Republic of Macedonia is around
€57 per year. It is collected monthly as part of the electricity bill. In addition to licence fee funding,
Macedonian Radio-Television (MRT) also takes advertising and sponsorship.
Malta
The licence fee in
Malta is €34.40. It is used to fund the television (
TVM) and radio channels (Radio Malta and Radju Parliament) run by
Public Broadcasting Services. Approximately two-thirds of TVM's funding comes from the licence fee, with much of the remainder coming from commercials.
Montenegro
In accordance with the Broadcasting Law (Dec. 2002), every household and legal entity, situated in the Republic, where technical conditions for reception of at least one radio or television programme have been provided, is obliged to pay a monthly broadcasting subscription fee. The monthly fee is 3.5 EUR
The Broadcasting Agency of
Montenegro is in charge of collecting the fee (currently through the telephone bills, but after the privatization of state owned Telekom, the new owners - T-com, announced that they won't administer the collection of fee from July 2007).
The funds from the subscription received by the Agency belong to:
the Republic's public broadcasting services (radio and television) - 75%;
the Agency's fund for the support of the local public broadcasting services (radio and television) - 10%;
the Agency's fund for the support of the commercial broadcasting services (radio and television) - 10%;
the Agency - 5%.
Norway
The licence fee in Norway is 2103.84 kr (about €270) per annum (2007). The fee is mandatory for any owner of a TV set, and is the primary source of income for Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK). The licence fee is charged on a per household basis. Therefore addresses with more than one television receiver only require a single licence.
Poland
The current (2007) annual licence fee in Poland for television set is 204 zł (about €53) per annum The licence may be paid monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or annually, there are discounts for early payment (up to 8.5% for paying for full year in advance). Those that have no TV but have a radio must pay the radio-only licence which costs 63.60 zł (about €17) per year.
Around 60% of the fee goes to Telewizja Polska with the rest going to Polskie Radio. In return public television isn't permitted to interrupt its programmes with advertisements. The TV licence is waived for those over 75. Only one licence is required for a single household irrespective of number of sets, but in case of commercial premises one licence for each set must be paid. There is a major problem with licence evasion in Poland, as the inspectors don't have right of entry to inspected premises and must get the owner’s permission to enter, because of this, it's estimated that about 45% households and 98% of businesses don't pay.
Romania
The licence fee in Romania for a household is 48 RON (about € 12) per annum. Small businesses pay about €45 and large businesses about € 150. The licence fee is collected as part of the electricity bill. The licence fee makes up part of Televiziunea Română's funding, with the rest coming from advertising and government grants.
Slovakia
The total licence in Slovakia comes to approximately € 42 per annum. In addition to the licence fee STV also receives state subsidies and money from advertising.
Slovenia
In 2004, the licence fee in Slovenia stood at SIT 31 644 (about €132). The licence fee is used to fund RTV Slovenija, which supplements its licence fee income by broadcasting commercials
Sweden
The current licence fee (literally TV fee) in Sweden is 1968 kr
Viewers in the province of Bolzano-Bozen, Italy, which has a German-speaking majority, can also receive the Swiss German-language channels via terrestrial digital transmissions, but don't have to pay a licence fee.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the current annual cost for a colour television licence (as of 1st April 2008) is £139.50 (approximately €176) and £47.00 (approximately €59) for monochrome TV (black and white). The licence fee is charged on a family unit per household basis, which means there could be multiple licences per household. The majority of UK domestic customers will require one licence per household. The licence fee is used to fund the BBC's radio, television and internet services. A similar licence, mandated by the 1904 Wireless Telegraphy Act, used to exist for radio, but was abolished in 1971.
There are concessions for the elderly (free for over-75s), the licence fee here being paid for by the Department for Work and Pensions. Blind people get a 50% discount on their licence or completely free if only in possession of an audio only receiver. Residents of residential care homes (for the elderly and people with physical/mental disabilities) can apply for a special licence called the licence for Accommodation for Residential Care (ARC) which is £7.50 per year.
The licence fee represents approximately 75% of the BBC's income with most of the rest coming from the sale of its programming overseas and other business allied to broadcasting such as publishing. However, the UK's second public broadcaster, Channel 4, has claimed that it may need licence fee income if it's to continue with public broadcasting after the digital switch-over. To this end, on April 25 2006, it was announced that Channel 4's digital switch-over bill would be paid for from the licence fee.
Some of S4C's programmes such as Pobol y Cwm and Newyddion, are made by BBC Wales and provided free of charge to S4C, meaning they're paid for by the licence fee.
Asia
Israel
The television licence for 2006 in Israel is ₪ 400 (about £50 or €70). The licence fee is the primary source of revenue for the Israel Broadcasting Authority, the state broadcaster; however, its radio stations carry full advertising and its TV programmes sometime receive "sponsorship" from commercial entities to supplement this income.
Japan
In Japan, the annual licence fee for terrestrial television broadcasts is ¥15,490 (about €110) (slightly less if paid by direct debit) and ¥25,520 (about £110 or €164) if you receive satellite broadcasts. There is a separate licence for monochrome TV, and fees are different in Okinawa. The Japanese licence fee pays for the national broadcaster NHK.
While every household in Japan with a television set is required to have a licence, there's no penalty for non-payment, and people are legally entitled to stop licensing inspectors from entering their houses.
Korea, Republic of
In South Korea, the television licence fee is collected for Korean Broadcasting System(KBS) & Korea Educational Broadcasting System(EBS) and is ₩30000 per year (about £15 or €25). It has stood at this level since 1981, and now makes up less than 40% of KBS's income & less than 8% of EBS's income. Its purpose is to maintain public broadcasting in South Korea, and to give public broadcasters the resources to do their best to produce and broadcast public interest programs. The fee is collected by the national electrical company (Korean Electric Power Company).
Pakistan
The television licence in Pakistan is Rs300 per year (around €3.86). It is collected as a Rs25 per month charge to all consumers of electricity. The proceeds of the fee and advertising are used to fund PTV.
Singapore
The cost of the TV licence for a household in Singapore is S$110 (about €57). Additional licences are required for radios and TVs in vehicles (S$27 and S$110 respectively).
Africa
Ghana
The licence fee in Ghana is ¢3,000 (about €0.29) (2006). The fee is used to fund the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC). There has recently been controversy in the Ghanaian Parliament over the number of people who don't pay the licence. It is collected as part of the electricity bill. The proceeds of the licence fee are used to fund the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). The licence fee makes up 60% of MBC's funding with the other 40% coming from television commercials. However, the introduction of private broadcasting in 2002 has put pressure on MBC's revenue from commercials and this is decreasing. Furthermore, MBC is affecting the profitability of the private stations who want the government to make MBC commercial free The fee is used to fund the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC).
South Africa
The licence fee in South Africa is R225 (about €31) per annum (R276 per year if paid on a monthly basis) for TV. A concessionary rate of R65 is available for those over 70, and disabled persons or war veterans who are on social welfare. The licence fee partially funds the public broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation. The SABC does, unlike some other public broadcasters, derive much of its income from advertising.
Countries where the TV licence has been abolished
The following countries have had television licences, but subsequently abolished them:
Australia
Radio licence fees were introduced in Australia in the 1920s to fund the first privately owned broadcasters which were not permitted to sell advertising. With the formation of the government-owned Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932 the licence fees were used to fund ABC broadcasts while the privately owned stations were permitted to seek revenue from advertising and sponsorship. Television licence fees were also introduced in 1956 when the ABC began TV transmissions. All licence fees were abolished in 1974 by the Australian Labor Party government led by Gough Whitlam on the basis that the near-universality of television and radio services meant that public funding was a fairer method of providing revenue for government-owned radio and television broadcasters. The ABC has since then been funded by government grants, now totalling around A$800 million a year, and its own commercial activities (merchandising, overseas sale of programmes, etc.). In the early 1990s, passing criticism of ABC content was often referred to by the term "where your 8 cents a day goes", referring to the cost each Australian was indirectly contributing to the ABC.
Belgium (Flemish region)
The Flemish region of Belgium abolished its television licence in 2001. The Flemish broadcaster VRT is now funded from general taxation.
Gibraltar
It was announced in Gibraltar's budget speech of June 23, 2006 that Gibraltar would abolish its TV licence. The 7,452 TV licence fees were previously used to part fund the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation (GBC). However, the majority of the GBC's funding came in the form of a grant from the government.
Hungary
In Hungary the government took over the payment of all television licence fees from the public in 2002. Effectively this means that funding for Magyar Televízió and Duna TV now comes from the government through taxation. As from Spring 2007 commercial units (hotels, bars etc.) have to pay television licence fees again, on a per TV set basis.
India
India introduced a radio receiver license system in 1928, for All India Radio. With the advent of television broadcasting in 1956-57, television was also licensed. With the spurt in television stations beginning 1971-72, a separate broadcasting company, Doordarshan, was formed. The radio & TV licences in question needed to be renewed at the post offices on a yearly basis.
However in 1977, the licensing system was withdrawn, with both the Indian national public broadcasters, AIR and Doordarshan instead funded by both the Government of India and advertisements.
Malaysia
Malaysia abolished the TV licence at the end of 1999.
Netherlands
The licence fee in the Netherlands was abolished in 2000 due to the excessive collection costs.
Countries that never had a television or broadcasting licence
Europe
Liechtenstein
In Liechtenstein there's the public radio station Radio Liechtenstein. It was founded as private station in 1995, but was nationalized in 2004. Radio Liechtenstein is funded by commercials and government grants. There is no (neither public nor private) television station in Liechtenstein. People in Liechtenstein watch and listen to Swiss, Austrian and German broadcasters.
Luxembourg
Luxembourg has never had a television licence, because when RTL (RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg) was established, it was simply a commercial broadcaster, and acted with public broadcasting dimension in its programming. Plus many Luxembourgers are trilingual in French, German and Luxembourgish, so many watched French, German and Belgian television as well as local TV, so putting a television licence in place would be seen as unfair.
Monaco
Monaco has never had a television licence, because when TMC (Télé Monte Carlo) was established, it was simply a government-owned commercial broadcaster, and acted with public broadcasting dimension in its programming.
North America
The reasons why the idea of a licence fee never caught on in Canada or the United States bear some differences.
Canada
The Canadian public broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, lagged slightly behind the private American broadcasters in providing radio and then television service to Canadians. Many, but not all, Canadians had access to radio and television signals from stations in the northern U.S. Thus unlike the BBC, the CBC had to compete with other English language stations for most of its viewing audience. A licence fee to own a television would almost certainly have been viewed as unfair by Canadians who could only watch one and later two channels, while others would presumably pay the same fee and get four and later five. Moreover, by early 1960s, close to every Canadian household had acquired a television set, giving limited weight to the argument that a licence fee is fair to those who don't own a television. As a result, the Canadian government chose to fund the CBC from its general revenues (funding now totals roughly C$1 billion annually), although CBC Television also sells advertising to cover some of its expenses.
United States
In the United States, historically, privately owned "commercial" radio stations selling advertising quickly proved to be commercially viable enterprises during the first half of the twentieth century; though a few governments owned non-commercial radio stations (such as WNYC, owned by New York City from 1922 to 1997), most were owned by charitable organizations and supported by donations. The pattern repeated itself with television in the second half of that century, except that some governments, mostly states, also established educational television stations alongside the privately owned stations.
The United States did eventually create the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) in 1967, which eventually led to the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio; however, those are loose networks of non-commercial stations owned by state and local governments, educational institutions, or non-profit organizations, more like U.S. commercial networks (though there are some differences) than European public broadcasters. The CPB and virtually all government-owned stations are funded through general revenues, supplemented by funding in the form of memberships, and donations from private citizens and charitable organizations. Additionally, many individual programs on PBS and NPR are also sponsored by companies. While programming isn't interrupted by traditional commercial breaks, brief sponsorship messages typically precede and follow each program.
Since the annual funding for public television in the United States is only about $2 per capita, a separate tax or fee for public television would probably prove unviable.
In some rural portions of the United States, broadcast translator districts exist, which are funded by an ad valorem property tax on all property within the district (External Link
), or a parcel tax on each dwelling unit within the district. Failure to pay the TV translator tax has the same repercussions as failing to pay any other property tax, including a lien placed on the property and eventual seizure. (External Link) In addition, fines can be levied on viewers who watch TV from the signals from the translator without paying the fee. Depending on the jurisdiction, the tax may be charged regardless of whether the resident watches TV from the translator or instead watches it via cable or satellite, or the property owner may certify that they don't use the translator district's services and get a waiver.
Another substitute for TV licenses comes through cable franchise agreements. An itemized tax on customers' bills is included or a tax on the cable TV operator's gross income to fund public-access television for the municipality that granted the franchise agreement. State governments also may add their own taxes. These taxes generate controversy since these taxes sometimes go into the general fund of governmental entities or there's double taxation (for example a tax funds public access television, but the cable TV operator must pay for the equipment or facilities out of its own pocket anyways, or the cable TV operator must pay for earmark projects of the local municipality that are not related to television).
Asia
Iran
Iran has never had a television licence. Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979, the state broadcaster has been Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, which before 1979 was called National Iranian Radio and Television. In Iran private broadcasting is illegal.
Detection of evasion of television licences
In many jurisdictions, television licences are enforced; usually 'television detector vans' are employed, such as those used by TV Licensing in the UK.
Besides claims of (usually undisclosed) sophisticated technological methods (such as TEMPEST) for the detection of operating televisions, detection of illegal television sets is normally limited to simple methods such as the observation of the lights and sounds of an illegal television in a user's home at night. Detection is made a lot easier because nearly all houses do have a license, so only those houses that don't have a license need to be checked.
Opinions of television licensing systems
Many feel that one of the main advantages of TV fully funded by a licence fee is that programming can be enjoyed without interruptions for advertisements. Voluntary funding of public television via subscriptions would require a subscription level higher than the licence fee (because not all people that currently pay the licence would vountarily pay a subscription) if quality and and/or output volume isn't to decline. These higher fees would deter even more people from subscribing leading to further hikes in subscription levels. In time, the poorest in society would be denied access to the many well-funded programmes that public service providers produce today for the relatively low cost of the licence.
The UK government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport, as part of its BBC Charter review, asked the public what they thought of various funding alternatives. Respondents were 2-1 in agreement with the statement "Advertising would interfere with my enjoyment of programmes" (59% sided with the statement and 31% disagreed with it) and 4-1 in agreement with the statement that "subscription funding would be unfair to those that couldn't pay" 71% agreed and 16% disagreed). They concluded, as others have done before, that the licence fee as method of funding public service broadcasting is "the least worse option".
In many countries, radio channels and broadcasters web sites are also funded by a TV licence, giving access to radio and web services free of commercial advertising, so the benefit is wider than just in the sphere of television viewing. However, in countries with a receiver licence there's a minority who oppose the system. Some of the critics dislike the very idea of a mandatory charge for using a television, they regard it as an anomaly that a person can be forced to pay the licence fee, even if they choose not to use the services it pays for. Defenders of licence fees point out that, although the licence fee is a regressive tax, the same is true of many other compulsory payments such as petrol tax, vehicle tax and VAT. Furthermore, some countries attempt to make licence fees fairer to disadvantaged groups by offering discounts.
Opponents point to alternatives such as commercial funding, voluntary subscription, or funding from general taxation. However, opinion polls in most countries with a TV licence have shown that an overwhelming majority prefer the current system, as it can give them access to TV that isn't driven by commercial and political pressures as is sometimes seen with commercial, subscription, and taxation funded broadcasters (and thus "dare" to show "difficult" programmes). While this argument could be seen as valid for countries where the government is likely to wish to control a taxation-funded station, it can fall short in more democratic societies. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, for instance, which is funded by general taxation, shows more political satire shows than any other station. Programmes such as "The Glasshouse", and the multiple Chaser programmes ("CNNNN", "The Chaser's War on Everything"), not only make jokes out of general politics, but are often anti-government, no matter what their policies or political orientation is. Some claim that a licence fee also leads to better programmes on the commercial channels, as commercial broadcasters must compete with the licence fee funded broadcaster(s). There is no doubt that advertising yields more profit than the comparatively small budgets of government-funded stations, as private television station budgets frequently more than double the budgets of government-funded commissions comprising of multiple television stations, multiple AM and FM radio stations, plus publications (magazines, etc).
The British government described the licence fee system as "the best (and most widely supported)
funding model, even though it isn't perfect". That is, they believe that the disadvantages of having a licence fee are less than the disadvantages of all other methods. In fact, the disadvantages of other methods have led to some countries, especially those in the former Eastern Bloc, to consider the introduction of a TV licence.
For example, both Bulgaria and Serbia have attempted to legislate to introduce a television licence. In Bulgaria, a fee is specified in the broadcasting law, but it has never been implemented in practice. Lithuania and Latvia have also long debated the introduction of a licence fee but so far made little progress on legislating for one. In the case of Latvia, many media commentators believe this is partly due to the fact that the government is unwilling to relinquish the control of Latvijas Televīzija that funding from general taxation gives it. In other cases, nations with licence fees, such as the Czech Republic,
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