Watch TV For Free
Photo by liewcf
If you do not own a device capable of watching television or receiving it as it happens, then you do not need a TV licence but you can still watch programmes that have already been aired for free online.
The TV Licensing website clearly states,
You need a TV Licence to use any television receiving equipment such as a TV set, digital box, DVD or video recorder, PC, laptop or mobile phone to watch or record television programmes as they’re being shown on TV.
Source: TV Licensing
Online services such as BBC iPlayer, 4oD and Demand Five give you access to TV content that has already been aired, therefore if you just use these services and do not watch live TV, then according to the licensing laws do not need a TV license.
On the individual websites this is made clear:
You do not need a television licence to watch programmes on the current version of BBC iPlayer.
Source: iPlayer Help
No, you don’t need a TV licence to watch 4oD on your computer. However, you do need a TV licence to watch 4oD on Digital TV.
Source: 4oD Help
No, you do not need a TV licence to watch programmes on Demand Five as long as you do not have a TV in your home.
Source: Demand Five FAQs
The Services
BBC iPlayer
This is my personal favourite for a number of reasons. Firstly, you do not need to download anything or register in order to view programmes. Secondly, it has a well designed and easy to use interface. Thirdly, it has brilliant content. Finally, the quality of video is good and has been made even better by the new high quality button. You can also download programmes enabling you to view them for 30 days instead of the usual 7 and you can view them at a better quality.
Link: iPlayer
ITV Catch Up
I hadn’t even heard of this until I was doing some research for this article. This was probably because I do not really watch ITV except for the obvious (Midsomer Murders). While the interface is good, its not quite as good as iPlayer and it suffers from poor video quality. Another problem is that you can only stream content and not download it.
Link: ITV Catch Up
4oD
This is a favourite among many students due to the excellent content. However, you do need to download the software in order to use it. You also have to pay for some programmes and the video quality is not the best.
Link: 4oD
Demand Five
The main downfall of Demand Five is that it suffers from a lack of decent content because of the obvious, it shows channel five programmes. However, now the classic student favourite neighbours is on channel five, it does have its uses.
Link: Demand Five
WARNING
1. Future changes in all of these services may mean that you require a TV license to view them.
2. If you have a device capable of watching TV you are required to have a TV license.
3. If you are in halls and have a TV you need a license to cover your room or you could face a fine of up to £1,000 plus legal costs. However, if you live in a shared house you only need one license for all the receivers in the house.
Do you have a TV at uni? What is your favourite online tv catch up service?
Little Saver Rating
If your not a big tv watcher, then this a good way to save some money by not taking a TV to uni
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Just so that you get this totally correct you also have to make sure that any programme you are watching on Catchup is not being aired at the same time as a repeat is being shown on the TV Broadcast channel you are receiving it from online.
ie if you are watching for example an episode from “Coronation Street”on a Sunday afternoon on ITV Catchup or whatever it is called then You have to be sure you are not watching it at the same time as that episode is being shown in a “live” Coronation Street Omnibus broadcast by ITV.
And Yes I know, I know it is a very fine line and perhaps you might be completely out of sync with the “repeat” live programme by a few seconds or even minutes and it most definitely sounds really ridiculous but that is part of the definition and letter of the law about this subject