TV licence soon required for PCs, laptops, and tablets?

SEPT 23 1989

So every business small and big in the country with an internet connection will now have to pay this tax

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

pilly

SEPT 23 1989 wrote:

So every business small and big in the country with an internet connection will now have to pay this tax

Yeah I wonder how that's going to work?

Skatedude

So what would the legality of forcing a charge on a minor? how would it be legal if a child in the house owns a laptop or pc? they are under age, yet still required to pay the fee?

Or the same issue where schools in ireland have gone digital and replaced books with tablets and laptops, those families are now been penalized because of what school their children go to, again surely there would be a valid legal argument there?

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

ScumLord

I just don't see how this is workable. I use my PC at home to do work, this means they're going to tax my means of work. What next are they going to start putting a tax on holding a hammer, or putting a pen behind your ear?

This highlights our public servants can't think about solutions other than raising tax to make up for their inefficiency.

RTE is a dinosaur, as it is it's a dead duck and they're using money to keep it afloat. It needs a radical overhaul, it's been trying to fight with the big boys for the last decade and it's been losing. Now it's been given a new format and instead of embracing it, it's trying to pull it's saviour under with it.

nosilver

Why do people believe the utter sh1te published by the sensationalist and hysterical indo?

Utterly amazing how many people think that if its in the indo it must be true.

nosilver

Zillah wrote: »

We should definitely have and pay for a public news broadcasting service. We want and need journalism free from economic pressures to avoid undue influence or the need for lowest common denominator click-farming.

So cancel everything RTE do other than the news service, slash the license fee to about 20%, and have a very well run well funded news service. Personally I'm not sure how it is even legal to have a state funded competitor poisoning the market for private broadcasters like TV3.

Did you know Ryan Tubridy gets paid half a million euro every year? Makes me physically sick.

I did some math:
If you sent someone door to door, spending five minutes at each house, and convinced every single homeowner to dig into their pockets and hand over 160 euro cash, and did this non-stop for an eight hour shift every day, to gather enough to cover Tubridy's salary it would take you thirty two days without a day off to do it.

You know that the late late show is rte's most profitable programme and makes several million in net profit.

Live gaa / horse racing / soccer are the highest net losers for rte.

Talk shows are cheap to produce. Live sports is expensive to produce.

The Talking Bread

Maura and Daithi trying a bit of a pro RTE spin PR segment on their show right now! Must feel awkward for them!

OldMrBrennan83

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BoatMad

nosilver wrote: »

Why do people believe the utter sh1te published by the sensationalist and hysterical indo?

Utterly amazing how many people think that if its in the indo it must be true.

it is a current scheme being consider by Denis Naughton , its being bounced around for several years and abandoned several times as unworkable

will it see the light of day with the present Gov, I doubt it

The problem is that there isn't any proper objective independent journalism anymore, not in RTE or anywhere else.

Most news items are based on Press Releases drafted by people with vested interests and given to the media. If the release is drafted correctly you can be sure that it will feature in the news the following day, complete with the spin provided by the organisation that drafted it.

It's not worth paying for this.

Firefox11

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

Watching Netflix hunched over a laptop sounds like great fun.

vkid

Deleted User wrote:

The problem is that there isn't any proper objective independent journalism anymore, not Rte or anywhere else,
Most news items are based on Press Releases drafted by people with vested interests and given to the media. If the release is drafted correctly you can be sure that it will feature in the news the following day, complete with the spin provided by the organisation that drafted it.

100% agree. What's particularly sad is rte are one of the worst for spin.

Grayson

Firefox11 wrote: »

Watching Netflix hunched over a laptop sounds like great fun.

A hell of a lot of people who play computer games have large computer monitors. they generally have a far higher quality than most TV sets. It's not unusual to see those monitors also being quite large.

BoatMad

Grayson wrote: »

A hell of a lot of people who play computer games have large computer monitors. they generally have a far higher quality than most TV sets. It's not unusual to see those monitors also being quite large.

then the household will need a license . :P:P:P

q2ice

nosilver wrote: »

You know that the late late show is rte's most profitable programme and makes several million in net profit.

Live gaa / horse racing / soccer are the highest net losers for rte.

Talk shows are cheap to produce. Live sports is expensive to produce.

It might sound cynical but the reason why The Late Late Show is so profitable is due to the large viewership which in turn leads to RTE being able to charge more for the ads being shown while it is being aired (and at a lesser extend during the replay).
One of the other reasons being that a lot of the content on it now is paid for advertising. Mentioned it on another post but I would love to know how much they were paid to include DNA testing segment. They got "celebrities" to appear and trace their potential heritage based on their DNA.
Not a single disclaimer to point out that it was paid for advertising nor the ethical nor privacy concerns over supplying your DNA to a private company which will keep your data on record for a small fee.

nosilver

q2ice wrote: »

It might sound cynical but the reason why The Late Late Show is so profitable is due to the large viewership which in turn leads to RTE being able to charge more for the ads being shown while it is being aired (and at a lesser extend during the replay).
One of the other reasons being that a lot of the content on it now is paid for advertising. Mentioned it on another post but I would love to know how much they were paid to include DNA testing segment. They got "celebrities" to appear and trace their potential heritage based on their DNA.
Not a single disclaimer to point out that it was paid for advertising nor the ethical nor privacy concerns over supplying your DNA to a private company which will keep your data on record for a small fee.

Yes, its more profitable because it has a large audience - 40% of available audience at the time of broadcast (graham norton gets 18%) - and can charge more for advertising. One of the reasons for the audience is the presenter.

I think if paid promotion is on, it states it in the credits. I do know that audience prize has no cost associated with it, but you have to provide a product value of €100 for 220 audience members.

The Talking Bread

The loss of the 6 Nations, whilst I am not a huge rugby fan, and especially with Royyyyall as head of sporting affairs must have really hurt the hearts of RTE and may be one of the reasons for these suggestions of upping their fees.

Along with the Rugby World Cup, Heineken Cup matches, some big GAA games, Tuesday night Champ League coverage, some big horse racing festivals coverage, losing a lot of pro boxing bouts with Irish contestants they had a good few years back, the station is evergrowingly losing one of it's prime attractions, it's sporting coverage as they can't afford to bid for them.

Billy86

Firefox11 wrote: »

Watching Netflix hunched over a laptop sounds like great fun.

You're aware you can also use a laptop while lying down, right?

Also, you can grab one of these on Amazon for €200-300 (often as much as half of that on sale) and play at high quality up to 100 inches without a TV licence applying. They range from about the size of a large smartphone to the size of one of the smaller, more modern DVD players and you need to mount anything to the wall of give up a pile of space for a table to put your TV on.

A 60+ inch TV at barely half the size is going to set you back at least 2-3 times that, and then if/when the licence cost doubles you're looking at €1,000 bare minimum for the first year (e.g. when you but the telly) and €320 thereafter just for the standard channels without any choice in the matter

A 100 inch projector with a subscription for Netflix and Sky Sports 1 + 2 Prime would be about €400-450 year one and €165 thereafter (or more like €13-14/mo since you can unsubscribe and/or switch to other services as and when you wish).


"Flicking between a dozen or so terrestrial channels on a box half the size and twice the price sounds like great fun".

Billy86

The Talking Bread wrote: »

The loss of the 6 Nations, whilst I am not a huge rugby fan, and especially with Royyyyall as head of sporting affairs must have really hurt the hearts of RTE and may be one of the reasons for these suggestions of upping their fees.

Along with the Rugby World Cup, Heineken Cup matches, some big GAA games, Tuesday night Champ League coverage, some big horse racing festivals coverage, losing a lot of pro boxing bouts with Irish contestants they had a good few years back, the station is evergrowingly losing one of it's prime attractions, it's sporting coverage as they can't afford to bid for them.

But here's the thing, it didn't stop them from continuing to bid on the likes of Castle, Blue Bloods, Silent Witness, Eastenders, Neighbours, Home and Away, The Big Bang Theory, Masterchef UK, Homeland or Father Ted (kind of a free pass on this one, but they are still paying for someone else's production)... and that's just tomorrow's slate on RTE 1 & 2!

Dravokivich

Billy86 wrote: »

You're aware you can also use a laptop while lying down, right?

Also, you can grab one of these on Amazon for €200-300 (often as much as half of that on sale) and play at high quality up to 100 inches without a TV licence applying. They range from about the size of a large smartphone to the size of one of the smaller, more modern DVD players and you need to mount anything to the wall of give up a pile of space for a table to put your TV on.

A 60+ inch TV at barely half the size is going to set you back at least 2-3 times that, and then if/when the licence cost doubles you're looking at €1,000 bare minimum for the first year (e.g. when you but the telly) and €320 thereafter just for the standard channels without any choice in the matter

A 100 inch projector with a subscription for Netflix and Sky Sports 1 + 2 Prime would be about €400-450 year one and €165 thereafter (or more like €13-14/mo since you can unsubscribe and/or switch to other services as and when you wish).


"Flicking between a dozen or so terrestrial channels on a box half the size and twice the price sounds like great fun".

1280*768

With a resolution as bad as most laptops these days, doesn't matter if it's 14 inches or 124 inches. It's gonna look squashed.

Beyondgone

Huge Morkeshing opportunity for someone to start selling 10 9/10ths inch Tablets. Duck in under the old radar.. Fock ye and your rulez..

Herself insists on paying the TV licence fee, so won't be affected..but ohh the resentment of paying for rubbish. I never watch RTE, it burns my eyes.

BoatMad

Beyondgone wrote: »

Huge Morkeshing opportunity for someone to start selling 10 9/10ths inch Tablets. Duck in under the old radar.. Fock ye and your rulez..

Herself insists on paying the TV licence fee, so won't be affected..but ohh the resentment of paying for rubbish. I never watch RTE, it burns my eyes.

oh well, if they dont get you on the water charges ......

probably felt that the AAA types have loads of cheap IT, get them on that instead, and no meters needed either !!!

__Alex__

gramar wrote: »

I never got the fuss about water charges. The TV/broadcasting license is much more worth potesting about.

Agreed.

__Alex__

jester77 wrote: »

It's been that way for years where I live. Mobile phones also count here towards the fee, strange omission that they are not included as they are capable of streaming content.

So Germany isn't perfect? :P

BoatMad

__Alex__ wrote: »

So Germany isn't perfect? :P

i remember visiting germany and a friend said

you need a license to walk across the street in germany !!

Beyondgone

BoatMad wrote: »

oh well, if they dont get you on the water charges ......

probably felt that the AAA types have loads of cheap IT, get them on that instead, and no meters needed either !!!

They should abolish the licence fee and introduce a satellite dish Tax on all dishes bigger than 9". It would be a pita initially but you'd see such a leap in dish technology and size reduction it wouldn't be right. And you wouldn't have to look at house doing a Mary Poppins - dishes like umberellas poking out everywhere.

Actually, they shouldn't. Every bloody move you make these days involves "a tax" or "Legislation" or "fees". They ought to feck off and reduce their costs, so they can slash their taxes levied, so people who live in Ireland and actually work don't wake up every day feeling like a Friesian second-calver, ripe to be milked to death.

BoatMad

Actually, they shouldn't. Every bloody move you make these days involves "a tax" or "Legislation" or "fees". They ought to feck off and reduce their costs, so they can slash their taxes levied, so people who live in Ireland and actually work don't wake up every day feeling like a Friesian second-calver, ripe to be milked to death.

sadly " people who live in Ireland" whether they work or not, also want there share of " free" public services , hence the need for taxes ( and these need to be raised unfortunately )

Beyondgone

BoatMad wrote: »

sadly " people who live in Ireland" whether they work or not, also want there share of " free" public services , hence the need for taxes ( and these need to be raised unfortunately )

I don't get any.
Is there an "opt-out" clause?

uck51js9zml2yt

Beyondgone wrote: »

I don't get any.
Is there an "opt-out" clause?

Massey's do a good range of coffins...They're a sure way to avoid those pesky license inspectors;)

Beyondgone

Harlan Slow Meaty wrote: »

Massey's do a good range of coffins...They're a sure way to avoid those pesky license inspectors;)

I never liked Masseys. Their frontages always looked decadent. Black bags out the back for me. Masseys? No recession down your way.

Billy86

Dravokivich wrote: »

1280*768

With a resolution as bad as most laptops these days, doesn't matter if it's 14 inches or 124 inches. It's gonna look squashed.

If resolution is a big concern, the 1080p version is £377 (€435) and I've noticed Amazon can be very good for sales on this kind of stuff if you're patient. Might be some a bit cheaper too; still way less than a 60" TV and without the additional (soon to be) TV licence.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/fan/Optoma-HD141X-Full-HD-3D-1080p-Projector/B00M2YDBXK/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490656315&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=optoma+hd28d

batistuta9

Billy86 wrote: »

If resolution is a big concern, the 1080p version is £377 (€435) and I've noticed Amazon can be very good for sales on this kind of stuff if you're patient. Might be some a bit cheaper too; still way less than a 60" TV and without the additional (soon to be) TV licence.

The trouble with projectors is they're not very practical for most houses. Really need a room for them, even the tiny ones aren't that neat when you've everything connected up to them, can be a mess of cables going up walls over ceilings, etc.

You're right though you can get a v.good 1080p projector for about the price of a 42'' TV. however i wouldn't bother wasting money on any of the cheap or low resolution ones.

jimbobaloobob

Will the rule stand up if it's in imperial meausrment?
I thought all our efforts to impress the heads of Europe would insist we had a metric measurement for what meets the licence standard

hatrickpatrick

How thoroughly do license inspectors search a gaff? Just have a secret hidey hole for all electronics any time someone rings the doorbell

BoatMad

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

How thoroughly do license inspectors search a gaff? Just have a secret hidey hole for all electronics any time someone rings the doorbell

they have no entitlement to enter your home at all.

gormdubhgorm

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

FFS RTE have plenty of land left to sell.
Get rid of the high earners instead as well please?
Journalism/politics students would be cheaper.

I wouldn't mind if they put out any decent programmes, but TG4 does it well and is creative, on a shoestring budget with a fraction of what RTE gets!

RayM

I watch a bit of RTE, so I'm happy enough to pay for a licence (especially now that they've lost the stupid rugby), but I think I'd stop buying one if they changed the rules like that. If I could no longer afford a licence, I could get rid of my television. I can't get rid of my laptop though.

Thelomen Toblackai

RayM wrote: »

I watch a bit of RTE, so I'm happy enough to pay for a licence (especially now that they've lost the stupid rugby), but I think I'd stop buying one if they changed the rules like that. If I could no longer afford a licence, I could get rid of my television. I can't get rid of my laptop though.

The rugby was the only thing on RTE worth watching.

topmanamillion

Thelomen Toblackai wrote: »

The rugby was the only thing on RTE worth watching.

It really wasn't.
Watching the goys blow the load at finishing 2nd in a tournament against 5 other teams was not worth watching.

Thelomen Toblackai

topmanamillion wrote: »

It really wasn't.
Watching the goys blow the load at finishing 2nd in a tournament against 5 other teams was not worth watching.

Ah it was though. You can't beat high level international sport for entertainment and the 6 nations gave you about 5/6 hours of that over 3 games every weekend it was on. What else is on RTE that comes close to that ?

RayM

Thelomen Toblackai wrote: »

The rugby was the only thing on RTE worth watching.

I'm sure it is, if you don't hate it. RTE certainly gave it plenty of coverage and promotion anyway. I'm just glad I'll no longer be paying for it.

JupiterKid

TBH I would miss RTÉ if it was disbanded. I still watch it for the news, for Nationwide (comfort TV!) a few shows and the odd Late Late. But then I'm an auld wan at 42.:o I doubt many twentysomething's would miss RTÉ.

But RTÉ needs to change. They should sell Montrose - it would be a cash cow for them to sell - and move to studios out along the M50. Also some presenters' salaries are ridiculously over-bloated. Cut out the fat and make it a leaner TV station. But Ireland still needs a national broadcaster and RTÉ is here to stay for quite a while yet.

topmanamillion

JupiterKid wrote: »

TBH I would miss RTÉ if it was disbanded. I still watch it for the news, for Nationwide (comfort TV!) a few shows and the odd Late Late. But then I'm an auld wan at 42.:o I doubt many twentysomething's would miss RTÉ.

But RTÉ needs to change. They should sell Montrose - it would be a cash cow for them to sell - and move to studios out along the M50. Also some presenters' salaries are ridiculously over-bloated. Cut out the fat and make it a leaner TV station. But Ireland still needs a national broadcaster and RTÉ is here to stay for quite a while yet.

This is highly debateable. I'm not sure at all that we "need" a national broadcaster.
Apart from public service television like Prime time investigates which has done excellent work in blowing the lid on many national scandals the need for a national broadcaster is negligible certainly far less that it was even 15 or so years ago i.e pre on demand TV.

I would say the amount of people watching live TV has greatly diminished. Personally I watch very little of it as 90% of it seems to be soaps, mundane celebrity chat shows or in RTE`s case if they find one of their mates in the RTE canteen they`ll throw them on the Late Late or Ray Darcy and reality crap, all of which I cant stand.

Its not like years ago when every home only had RTE and Network 2 and maybe a few English channels if they knew a lad that was handy with that kind of stuff.

In my view RTE is well past its sell by date and has had long enough to change its ways. Time to cut the apron strings and let it sink or swim.

Míshásta

I don't understand people who say they never view or listen to RTE programmes. How do they keep informed about news, current affairs, sports, investigative documentaries or entertainment/culture events, etc., relevant to this island.

RTE may have its faults but unless you want to live on a diet of Hollywood movies, Aussie soaps and Judge Judy, it's the best source. TV3 does provide some Irish content programmes but it's a very limited service.

osarusan

JupiterKid wrote: »

But Ireland still needs a national broadcaster and RTÉ is here to stay for quite a while yet.

Agreed with this. The question is, though, in what form.

As another poster mentioned, there was a time not that many years ago when RTE were the only channels available to much of the country, so buying in soaps and comedies and so on was understandable. These days people can and do get that elsewhere. There isn't any need for RTE to be competing in this way, yet they still do. I think RTE needs to really examine what its role as a broadcaster is.

As well as stuff already mentioned like News, sports, investigative journalism and so on, RTE should be making stuff that wouldn't otherwise be made at all - programmes like Nationwide and stuff like documentaries on aspects of our culture, such as music, sport, history. This is part of our culture and should be cherished.

I think RTE must allocate a certain amount/% of its budget for commissioning of Irish-made programmes, and I'd support that too. There's no reason to completely dry up our pool of talent.

I don't have a problem with the idea of a national broadcaster and don't have a problem with paying for it either. I do have a problem paying for a broadcaster that competes in terms of content with other private broadcasters whose content I can choose to pay for or not, as I wish.

filbert the fox

Thelomen Toblackai wrote: »

The rugby was the only thing on RTE worth watching.

No I don't agree. So there

Bob24

osarusan wrote: »

I don't have a problem with the idea of a national broadcaster and don't have a problem with paying for it either. I do have a problem paying for a broadcaster that competes in terms of content with other private broadcasters whose content I can choose to pay for or not, as I wish.

Absolutely and for me this is the crux of the matter.

The thing is, it seems like RTE as an organisation is not willing to acknowledge what you express here and the government is probably not willing to force it upon them because starting a war with a large media outlet seems like a bad idea when you are in politics (unless you want a Trump strategy with constant tensions but clearly this is not what the people we have in government are after).

So the question is: what do we do from there?

I love Sean nos

Míshásta wrote: »

I don't understand people who say they never view or listen to RTE programmes. How do they keep informed about news, current affairs, sports, investigative documentaries or entertainment/culture events, etc., relevant to this island.

RTE may have its faults but unless you want to live on a diet of Hollywood movies, Aussie soaps and Judge Judy, it's the best source. TV3 does provide some Irish content programmes but it's a very limited service.

Mostly reading for me. Including Boards.

I don't get RTE in my house. I cancelled my Sky account a number of years ago, but continue to use the box for the free-to-air channels. RTE isn't included, so I go without. Still have a TV, so I buy the licence.