Top Gear - New Series

[Simon350S]

Few, thank goodnes for that...

Please send them a letter telling them that mate incase they've forgotten that point

Edited September 8, 2014 by Simon350S

[mayevora]

Hot off the press.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/10183784/Jeremy-Clarkson-becomes-one-of-highest-paid-presenters-in-BBC-history.html

[Bibs]

Makes the licence fee a little easier to swallow doesn't it. 

[Advantage]

Your idea of Hot off the Press and mine differ somewhat, Ian.

 

Publish date stamp: 6:49PM BST 16 Jul 2013

 

 

Anyway Bibs, the what?

[Bibs]

Are you blind*?

 

*You still have to pay...

[Advantage]

[mayevora]

I never did get on with the small print

[Bibs]

Hang on? Am I the only mug on here?!

[johnpwalsh]

Nope. 04.45 am where I am and I am on

[Simon350S]

I'm a mug, 3 times over....!

Still I'm making up for a few others who may have forgotten to pay

[mayevora]

This is another thread completely. TV licence -Er..... Value for money? Do detector vans really work? Has anybody you've ever known been prosecuted?

[Bibs]

Don't they just loo through the windows of people showing up on their database as not paying? I thought everyone got done! 

 

*logs into online banking, direct debits...

[johnpwalsh]

Yep the vans work, next door neighbours where I used to live were done for no licence a few years back then the van would turn up at about the same time every year after that. Mind you the guy deserved it, mobility car, dissability allowances etc, wore a full back brace and two crutches to walk about with but at the weekends he was building and selling garden sheds from the rear of his house, every weekend you could see him on the top of a shed nailing it together, then 5 minutes later off he would go to the local shop, crutches etc on full show.

[Advantage]

No idea what you're talking about...

[mayevora]

I think it's cut and dried if they can see the 50" on the wall in full view from the street. A couple of mates at the BBC in Bristol told me last year that no prosecutions ever have resulted as a result of vans. I hate paying the £150 but I'll continue paying that until they start making Black and White TV's again.

[mdw]

Why is it every time I buy and pick up a  tv they ask for my  address!!!!!.  Anybody every been asked for an address when you collect a toaster or vacuum cleaner from the same shop.   I would almost put money on vans being a total load of tosh.  How much easier to have a list of people who have bought a new tv in the last 2 years and cross reference with those who don't have a licence. Would save a lot of dicking about would it not. 

[Bibs]

Didnt the vans detect signals from crt tv's?

[Simon350S]

The address info is sent off to TV licensing by the store for exactly the reason you stated, to check for a valid license and they should tell you that's what they are doing.

There mad a modicum of truth about TV vans back in the day of analogue but not any more.

TV licensing also have no authority to enter your property, if you ask the to step outside your boundary you are well within your rights to do so.

Like said earlier. If they spot a 50" TV from walking last your house that's good enough proof for them to send you some naughty boy letters, but I personally have never known anyone ever actually get fined, although I'm sure it must happen from time to time.

[Bibs]

But you can go to jail for not paying...

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26727068

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

As far as I can remember, it was the BBC who cut the budget for Top Gear a couple of years ago, meaning that the series run was halved from 12 shows to 6. At the time I think they intimated that there would be an extra series per year, but that never happened. Similarly at the time of the BBC/Sky F1 carve up they also said that Monaco would always be live on BBC: however, by the time of only the second season of the new agreement the Monaco GP was broadcast live only on Sky....

 

In hindsight, the TG budget cut was probably unwise, since it has left the Beeb with less shows per year to sell globally.

[Nelly]

I would think the three guys schedules are a lot busier than they used to be and that could also has something to do with it.

 

I think series 2 had something like 12 shows and you would get two series in a year

[Bibs]

For £14m a year you'd think Clarkson would free up a bit of time for filming...

[molemot]

Since I used to work for Post Office Telephones...the predecessor of BT....and they used to run the detector vans...I did know something about it. The vans definitely worked...they would detect the intermediate frequency of the receiver and were able to tell which channel was being watched, too. This was back in the Dark Ages before the coming of digital TV....but I see no reason why detection technology would not advance to cope. Detection evidence was always used to obtain a search warrant, and it was the result of this search that was used as evidence in court and not the detection information.

 

However.

 

Although the system worked nicely, it was found that it was just about as efficient to simply drive around an area with a van marked TV DETECTOR VAN and a suitably impressive aerial on the roof....without any of the expensive equipment and trained staff......people would get themselves a license pronto!! These days it is assumed that every house will have a colour TV...so there is a database which shows up any property not having a license, and these are then subject to escalating enforcement action. You can't get sent to prison for license evasion....but you can for non-payment of the resulting fines!!

[Advantage]

For £14m a year you'd think Clarkson would free up a bit of time for filming...

And liposuction...

 

Anyway, linked from the above article this is a concern. Fines could well be issued without a chance of trial for the accused, much like the DVLA: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29114235

It's also worth noting bar the most prolific way of collecting evidence of licence evasion is self incrimination on the doorstep to inspectors.

[Stirling_Villeneuve]

Here's a chap restoring the last van... 

 

http://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?t=73551