UK TV License to watch the BBC iPlayer

After 4 months in quarantine, my husband managed to see all the interesting stuff on Amazon & Netflix Argentina and US.

Now he's whining that the BBC is better and how he'd like to watch British television, especially the BBC's documentaries which are 'premium quality' (his words).

So yesterday we went out and bought a Amazon Fire Stick 2nd gen for $6800. In Italy is €40, and with today's exchange rate little bump (127) we ended up paying it 53 USD, i.e. €45, which is well worth the €5 difference to have it right here right now. The device was sold as new but the package was opened and there was an account associated to it in the name of Guillermo. Maybe it was smuggled into the country... which is odd because we bought it at a legit store on Santa Fe after viewing the ad on Mercadolibre.

On a side note, on ML it was listed at $6890, and my husband ended up paying $6800 in cash at the store (outside of ML). The owner said to my husband 'I gave you ML's price', like it was less than the usual price. My husband was left confused by this comment because it doesn't make sense - how could it be cheaper on ML? Anyway, by the time we were back at home, I refresh the ML listing and it was now $6,999!!!

Anyway, back to the device...

After 6 hours of fighting back and forth with the device, I was able to download the app of the BBC iPlayer, and it's 157.50 GBP a year for a TV License. The system is based on the trust method - you can still watch the content, but there is a 1,000 GBP fine if you download the app and don't have a license.

Therefore, in the next days my husband will have the dire assignment to browse the BBC catalogue to see if it is indeed worth the 157.50 GBP TV License. There is an exemption for those over 75 years old, by the way. The license is valid for up to 15 properties.

Quote from Splinter

I may be wrong, but you'll probably have to have a UK postal address/post code to get a UK TV license.

It asked for a UK address, true. But there is no paper mailing involved anymore.

Quote from Rice

I volunteer my eons-ago Oxford address for your use!

20, Polstead Road

(My memory doesn’t extend to recalling the post code)

I couldn't resist and I had to google it. What a lovely brickstone house!

If we will ever get a license, I'll sure put that lovely address.

Quote from GlasgowJohn

I would not pay the cash for a licence . Would a VPN allow you to see the programme?

Yes, I have Express VPN like I described in another post, and it works. I could keep watching it for free, but it doesn't seem fair. If they provide good quality content, is because they have enough funds and if I don't pay, they won't be able to keep it up!

SpaceNut, the TV License website has been down intermittently. I recall reading that merely by downloading the BBC iPlayer app you are liable to pay for a TV License, even if you don't use the app. The TV License is also necessary for content accessed through tablets, smartphones, computers etc.

Thank you, Splinter. I think the other content available to watch is through website and not through an app. I'll tell my husband to see if there is something there interesting him, but he watches mostly history documentaries and I don't think these are included in the content accessible from abroad.

On the BBC iPlayer, masking IP using a UK IP address, there is a whole 'History' category.