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Television licence

A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts or the possession of a television set. In some countries, a licence is also required to own a radio or receive radio broadcasts. In such countries, some broadcasts are funded in full or in part by the licence fees. Licence fees are effectively a hypothecated tax to fund public broadcasting.

History edit

Radio broadcasters in the early 20th century needed to raise funds for their services. In some countries, this was achieved via advertising, while others adopted a compulsory subscription model with households that owned a radio set being required to purchase a licence. The United Kingdom was the first country to adopt compulsory public subscription with a licence, originally known as a wireless licence, used to fund the BBC. In most countries that introduced radio licensing, possession of a licence was simply an indication of having paid the fee. However in Canada, between 1914 and 1922 people needed to pass an "Amateur Experimental Certificate of Proficiency", demonstrating the ability to send and receive Morse code at five words per minute, to be allowed to use a radio receiver.[1]

With the arrival of television, some countries created separate television licences. Other countries increased radio licence fees to cover the additional cost of television broadcasting, changing the name from "radio licence" to "TV licence" or "receiver licence". Today, most countries fund public radio broadcasting from the same licence fee that is used for television, although a few still have separate radio licences. Some countries, such as the United Kingdom and Japan, have lower fees for households that only own monochrome television sets. In many countries, elderly and disabled consumers have a reduced or zero licence fee.

Faced with licence fee evasion, some countries chose to fund public broadcasters directly from taxation or via methods such as a co-payment with electricity billing. In some countries, national public broadcasters carry advertising.

In 1989, the Council of Europe created the European Convention on Transfrontier Television. Among other things, this regulates advertising.[citation needed] The treaty came into force in 1993 when it had been ratified by seven countries, including five EU member states. As of 2010, 34 countries have acceded to the treaty.[2]

Television licensing by country edit

Usage and costs of television licences vary greatly between countries. The Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago[3] reports that two-thirds of countries in Europe and half of countries in Asia and Africa use television licences to fund public television. Television licensing is rare in the Americas, largely confined to British Overseas Territories. In some countries, radio channels and broadcasters' websites are also funded by a licence, giving access to radio and online services free of advertising.

Television licences in Europe edit

Country TV licence required? Prices and notes
  Albania yes €7,73/month - (800 L)
  Austria yes 15.30–€20 per month[4]
  Belarus no None exists
  Belgium no Abolished in 2018:
  • Flemish region and Brussels in 2001
  • Walloon region on 1 January 2018[5]
  Bosnia and Herzegovina yes €3,83/month - (7.5 KM per month[6])
  Bulgaria no Abolished
  Croatia yes €11,41/month - (Annually Up to €137[7])
  Cyprus no Abolished
  Czech Republic yes €5,36 - (135 Kč per month (TV),[8] 45 Kč per month (radio)[9])
  Denmark no Abolished[10]
  Estonia no None exists
  Finland no Abolished[11]
  France no Abolished in 2022[12]
  Georgia no None exists
  Germany yes €18,36/month - (per month[13])
  Greece yes €3,00/month - (fee on monthly electricity bills[14])
  Hungary no Abolished[15]
  Iceland no Abolished in 2007[16]
  Ireland yes €13,33 - (€160.00 per year[17])
  Israel no Car owners pay €41 radio fee
  Italy yes €70,00/year - (fee on electricity bills)[18]
  Latvia no None exists
  Liechtenstein no Abolished
  Lithuania no None exists
  Luxembourg no None exists
  Malta no Abolished
  Monaco no None exists
  Montenegro yes €3,50 - (per month)
  Netherlands no Abolished
  North Macedonia no Abolished
  Norway yes €26,50 - (annual €318,00, old: Compulsory income-related tax up to Kr1700 per person
  Poland yes €5,22 - (€62,67 - 272.40 per year)
  Portugal no €36.24 fee on electricity bills
  Romania no Abolished
  Russia no None exists
  Serbia yes ??? Fee on electricity bills
  Slovakia no Abolished in 2023 [19]
  Slovenia yes €12,75/month - (€153,00; radio €45.24)
  Spain no None exists
  Sweden no Abolished[20]
   Switzerland yes €28,96/month - (€347,50 - CHF 335.00[21])
  Turkey yes €0,57 - (e.g. 20 Lira/month, 2% of electricity bill and indirect charge on the appliance at purchase (average electricity bill 50-200 Turkish lira, up to 500 lira))
  Ukraine no None exists
  United Kingdom yes €15,48/month - (€185,73 annually)
  • colour TV: £159.00
  • monochrome TV: £53.50
  • blind people: 50% discount

Albania edit

The Albanian licence fee is 100 lekë per month, paid as part of the electricity bill.[22] This makes up part of RTSH's funding: 58 per cent comes directly from the government through taxes with the remainder from commercials and the licence fee.

Austria edit

Under Austria's TV and Radio Licence Law (Fernseh- und Hörfunklizenzrecht), all operational broadcast reception equipment must be registered. Since 1998, the Gebühren Info Service [de] (GIS) has been responsible for licence administration. It is a fully-owned subsidiary of the Austrian public broadcaster, (ORF) and an agency of the Federal Ministry of Finance. GIS aims to inform people about licensing, using a four-channel communication strategy consisting of:

  • advertising campaigns in printed media, radio and television,
  • direct mail,
  • outlets such as post offices, banks, tobacconists and the five GIS Service Centres where people can register,
  • field service customer consultants visiting households not yet registered.

In 2007 the total licensing income was €682 million, 66 per cent of which was allocated to the ORF. The remaining 34 per cent was allocated to the federal government and local governments to fund cultural activities. GIS employs 191 people and has approximately 125 freelancers in the field service. 3.4 million Austrian households are registered with the GIS with 2.5 per cent evading the licence.

The television & radio licence fee varies between states. As of 2022, Styria has the highest annual television licence cost, at €343.80, and Salzburg and Burgenland have the highest annual radio licence cost, at €94.92. Annual fees from July 2022 are:[23]

State Television Radio
Burgenland €341.40 €94.92
Carinthia €330.60 €92.52
Lower Austria €339.00 €93.72
Upper Austria €269.40 €75.72
Salzburg €325.80 €94.92
Styria €343.80 €94.92
Tyrol €317.40 €88.92
Vorarlberg €269.40 €75.72
Vienna €339.00 €94.20

From January 2024, the GIS will be abolished and its associated TV licensing fee is expected to be replaced with a new compulsory ORF household tax, similar to Germany. As a result, some loopholes such as removing the antenna or tuner from television sets in order to declare them "GIS-Free" and hence exempt from the GIS fee (declared legal in a report to the Austrian Parliament in 2008,[24] and confirmed as such by the Supreme Administrative Court of Austria in 2015,[25] hence creating a market for selling regular and smart TVs without built-in antennas or tuners[26]) will be closed under the new system.[27]

Bosnia and Herzegovina edit

The licence fee in Bosnia and Herzegovina is approximately €46 per year.[28] The Bosnian War and associated collapse of infrastructure caused very high evasion rates. This has partly been resolved by collecting the licence fee as part of each household's monthly telephone bill. The licence fee is divided between three broadcasters:

Croatia edit

The licence fee in Croatia is regulated by the Croatian Radiotelevision Act, 2003.[29][30] This law was written to ensure compliance with the European Convention on Transfrontier Television, which Croatia joined between 1999 and 2002.[2] In addition to the licensing, the law regulates television advertising. Up to 9 per cent of air time on HRT may be given to advertising, with a limit of only one commercial during short breaks and no breaks during films. This is less than the limit permitted for commercial broadcasters.

The licence fee is charged to all owners of equipment capable of receiving television or radio broadcasts. It is set at 1.5 per cent of the previous year's average net salary,[29] which is[when?] €137 per year per household with at least one radio or television receiver. It 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. Within HRT, 66 per cent of the licence fee income goes to television and 34 per cent to radio.[31]

Czech Republic edit

The licence fee in the Czech Republic is 135 Kč per month for television and 45 Kč per month for radio, amounting to 2160 Kč per year.[8][9] Paid advertisements are not permitted on television except in narrowly defined circumstances during a transitional period. Each household that owns at least one television pays for one licence, regardless of how many televisions they own. Corporations and the self-employed must pay for a licence for each television and radio.

Germany edit

The licence fee in Germany is €18.36 per month (€220 per annum) for all apartments, secondary residences, holiday homes and summer houses. Since 2003 it has been payable regardless of possession or use of television and radio.[32] Businesses and institutions must pay, based on factors including numbers of employees, vehicles and, for hotels, beds.[33] The fee is billed monthly but typically paid quarterly or yearly. It is collected by Beitragsservice von ARD, ZDF und Deutschlandradio which is sometimes criticized for its enforcement measures.[34] Since 2013, only recipients of certain social benefits such as Arbeitslosengeld II or student loans and grants are exempt from the licence fee. People with certain disabilities can apply to pay a reduced fee of €5.83. Low income, in general, is no longer a reason for exemption.[35] Since the fee is billed to a person and not to a dwelling, empty dwellings are exempt.

 
Nine members of ARD

The licence fee is used to fund the public broadcasters ZDF and Deutschlandradio, as well as the nine regional broadcasters of the ARD network. Together, they run 22 television channels (10 regional, 10 national, 2 international: Arte and 3sat) and 61 radio stations (58 regional, 3 national). Two national television stations and 32 regional radio stations carry limited advertising. The 14 regional regulatory authorities for private broadcasters are also funded by the licence fee, and in some states, non-profit community radio stations get small amounts of the licence fee. Germany's international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, is fully funded by the German federal government, though much of its new content is provided by the ARD.

Germany's per capita budget for public broadcasting is close to the European average but the total is one of the largest in the world. In 2006, annual income from licence fees was more than €7.9 billion.[36]

The board of public broadcasters sued the German states for interference with their budgeting process, and on 11 September 2007, the Supreme Court decided in their favour. This effectively rendered the public broadcasters independent and self-governing. Public broadcasters have announced that they are determined to use all available ways to reach their "customers" and as such have started a very broad Internet presence with media portals, news and TV programs. National broadcasters abandoned an earlier pledge to restrict their online activities. This resulted in newspapers taking court action against the ARD, claiming that its Tagessschau smartphone app was unfairly subsidised by the licence fee, to the detriment of free-market providers of news content apps. The case was dismissed with the court advising the two sides to find a compromise.

Greece edit

The licence fee in Greece is paid through electricity bills. It is charged to every electricity account, including private residences and businesses. There has been discussion of replacing it with a direct licence fee after complaints from people who do not own a television set. An often-quoted joke is that even the dead pay the licence fee, since graveyards have electricity bills.[37]

Licensing income is paid to the state broadcaster, Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi (ERT). In June 2013, ERT was closed down to save money for the Greek government and licence fees were temporarily suspended.[38] In June 2015, ERT reopened and the licence fee resumed at a rate of €36 per year.

Ireland edit

As of 2020, the cost of a television licence in Ireland is €160 per year.[39] The licence applies to premises so a separate licence is required for holiday homes or motor vehicles which contain a television.[40] The licence must be paid for premises that have any equipment that can potentially decode TV signals, regardless of whether they view RTÉ's content. The licence is free to anyone over the age of 70, to some people over 66, to people on a disability allowance, and people who are blind (these licences are paid for by the state). The Irish post office, An Post, is responsible for the collection of the licence fee and commencement of prosecution proceedings in cases of non-payment, but An Post has signalled its intention to withdraw from its licence fee business.[41] The licence fee makes up 50 per cent of the revenue of RTÉ, the national broadcaster with the rest coming from radio and television advertisements.[42] Some RTÉ services have not historically relied on the licence for income, such as RTÉ 2fm, RTÉ Aertel, RTÉ.ie but since 2012 RTÉ 2FM has had some financial support from the licence. The RTÉ Transmission Network operates on an entirely commercial basis.

Five per cent of the licence fee goes to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland's "Sound and Vision Scheme", which provides funds for programme production and restoration of archive material. From 2011 until 2018, five per cent of RTÉ's licence income was granted to TG4. RTÉ is now required to provide TG4 with programming. The remainder of TG4's funding is from direct state grants and commercial income.

Italy edit

The licence fee in Italy is charged to each household with a television set, regardless of use,[43] and to all public premises with one or more televisions or radios. In 2016, the government reduced the licence fee to €100 per household and incorporated it into electricity bills in an attempt to eliminate evasion,[44][45] and as of 2018, the fee was €90.00.[46]

Sixty-six per cent of RAI's income comes from the licence fee (up from about half of total income seven years ago), with another twenty-five per cent from advertising,[47] which is aired pretty regularly every 20 minutes or so, with very few exceptions (football matches, special events, Eurovision Song Contest)

Montenegro edit

Under the Broadcasting Law of December 2002, each household and legal entity in Montenegro able to receive radio or television programmes is required to pay a broadcasting subscription fee. The monthly fee is €3.50, or €42.00 per annum. Funds are distributed,

  • 75 per cent to the republic's public broadcasting radio and television services,
  • 10 per cent to support local public broadcasting services
  • 10 per cent to support commercial broadcasting services,
  • 5 per cent to support the Broadcasting Agency of Montenegro.

The Broadcasting Agency of Montenegro collected the fee through telephone bills, but after the privatization of Telekom, the new owners, T-com, announced they would not administer the fee after July 2007.

Poland edit

As of 2023, the licence fee in Poland for a television set is 27.30 per month, or for radio only is 8.70 per month. One licence is required per household, irrespective of the number of sets. The fee is waived for people over 75.[48] Public health institutions, nurseries, educational institutions, hospices and retirement homes need only one licence per building or building complex they occupy. Commercial premises need a licence for each set, including radios and televisions in company vehicles.

Around 60 per cent of the fee goes to Telewizja Polska with the rest going to Polskie Radio. Advertisements are allowed between programmes on public television but it is not permitted to interrupt its programmes for advertisements.

The licence is collected and maintained by the Polish post office, Poczta Polska. There is a major problem with licence evasion in Poland: in 2012 around 65 per cent of households evaded the licence fee (compared to an average of 10 per cent in the European Union),[49] and in 2020, only 8 per cent of Polish households paid the licence fee. Reasons for non-payment include the opt-in system in which there is no effective means to compel people to register or to prosecute those that fail to do so. Licensing inspectors, who are usually postal workers, do not have the right of entry to inspect premises and must get the owner's or occupier's permission to enter. Also, the public media are frequently accused of producing pro-government propaganda and not being independent public broadcasters.[50] Due to widespread non-payment of the licence fee, in 2020 the government gave a 2 billion złoty grant for public media.[51]

Portugal edit

From September 2003, the Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) was financed through government grants and the "Taxa de Contribuição Audiovisual" (Portuguese for Broadcasting Contribution Tax), charged monthly through the electricity bills.[52] Following the 2010–2014 Portuguese financial crisis, government grants ended and RTP was financed only through the "Taxa de Contribuição Audiovisual" and advertising.[53] Since July 2016, the fee is €2.85 + VAT per month.[54]

RTP1 can broadcast only 6 minutes of commercial advertising per hour (commercial channels can broadcast 12 minutes per hour). RTP2 and the public radios stations have no commercial advertising. RTP3 and RTP Memória can broadcast commercial advertising on cable, satellite and IPTV platforms but not on digital terrestrial television.

Serbia edit

Licence fees in Serbia are bundled together with electricity bills and collected monthly. There have been increasing indications that the Government of Serbia is considering the temporary cessation of the licence fee until a more effective financing solution is found.[55] However, as of 28 August 2013 this has yet to be realized.

Slovenia edit

Since June 2013, the annual licence fee in Slovenia is €12.75 per household per month to receive both television and radio services, or €3.77 per month for radio only, regardless of the number of devices capable of receiving television or radio broadcasts. Businesses and the self-employed pay this amount for each set, and pay higher rates where they are intended for public viewing rather than private use by employees.[56]

The licence fee is used to fund the national broadcaster RTV Slovenija. In 2007, the licence fee raised €78.1 million, approximately 68 per cent of the broadcaster's operating revenue. RTV Slovenija's advertising income in 2007 was €21.6 million.[57]

Switzerland edit

Any household that receives radio or television programs from the Swiss national public broadcaster SRG SSR must be registered and pay licence fees. The fee is CHF 335 per year for TV and radio for single households, and CHF 670 for multiple households, e.g. nursing homes.[58] Households unable to receive broadcast transmissions are exempt from the fees until 2023 if residents apply to opt out.[59] Residential licence fees are collected by Serafe AG, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the insurance collections agency Secon.[60] Non-payment of licence fees incurs fines of up to CHF 100,000. For businesses, the fee is on a scale based on the company's annual turnover and is collected by the Swiss Federal Tax Administration.[61] The majority of the fee, CHF 1.2 billion, goes to SRG SSR, with the rest going to a collection of small regional radio and television broadcasters.

On 4 March 2018, there was a referendum on whether TV licensing should be scrapped, with the slogan "No Billag", a reference to the previous collector of the licence fees.[62][63][64] Parliament have advocated a no vote.[65] Voters overwhelmingly rejected the proposal by 71.6 to 28.4 per cent and in all cantons.[66] Following the vote, the fee was significantly reduced.

Turkey edit

A licence fee of up to 16 per cent is paid to the state broadcaster TRT by the producer or importer of the television receiving equipment. Consumers indirectly pay this fee when purchasing equipment. No registration is required for television receiving equipment, except for cellular phones as mandated by a separate law.

TRT also receives funding via advertisements. Previously a 2 per cent tax was added to monthly electricity bills but this has been abolished.

United Kingdom edit

A television licence is required for each household where television programmes are watched or recorded as they are broadcast, irrespective of the signal method (terrestrial, satellite, cable or the Internet). As of September 2016, users of BBC iPlayer must also have a television licence to watch on-demand television content from the service.[67] As of 1 April 2017, after a price freeze that began in 2010, the cost of a licence may now increase to account for inflation. As of January 2022, the licence fee is £159 for a colour and £53.50 for a black and white television Licence[68] As it is classified in law as a tax, evasion of licence fees is a criminal offence.[69] 204,018 people were prosecuted or fined in 2014 for TV licence offences: 173,044 in England, 12,536 in Wales, 4,905 people in Northern Ireland and 15 in the Isle of Man.[70][71]

The licence fee is used almost entirely to fund BBC domestic radio, television and internet services. Money received from the licence represents approximately 75 per cent of the cost of these services, with most of the remainder coming from the profits of BBC Studios, a commercial arm of the corporation which distributes content outside of the United Kingdom, and operates or licences BBC-branded television services and brands.[72] The BBC also receives some funding from the Scottish Government via MG Alba to finance the BBC Alba Gaelic-language television service in Scotland. The BBC used to receive a direct government grant from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to fund television and radio services broadcast to other countries, such as the BBC World Service radio and BBC Arabic Television. These services run on a non-profit, non-commercial basis. The grant was abolished on 1 April 2014, leaving these services to be funded by the UK licence fee, a move which has caused some controversy.[73][74]

Channel 4 is also a public television service but it is funded through advertising.[75] The Welsh language S4C is funded through a combination of a direct grant from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and advertising, and receives some programming free of charge from the BBC. These other broadcasters are much smaller than the BBC.

In addition to public broadcasters, the United Kingdom has a wide range of commercial television funded by advertising and subscription. A television licence is still required of viewers who solely watch such commercial channels, although 74.9 per cent of the population watches BBC One in any given week, making it the most popular channel in the country.[76] A similar licence existed for radio but was abolished in 1971.

Television licences in Africa edit

Ghana edit

The licence fee in Ghana was reintroduced in 2015, and is used to fund the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC). Households have to pay between GH¢36 and GH¢60 per year for using one or more televisions at home.[77]

Mauritius edit

The licence fee in Mauritius is Rs 1,800 per year (around €29),[78] collected as part of the electricity bill. The fee provides 60 per cent of the income for Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). Most of the remaining funds come from television and radio commercials.[79] The introduction of private broadcasting in 2002 has put pressure on MBC's commercial revenues. Private stations argue that MBC affects their profitability and they want the government to make MBC commercial-free.[78]

Namibia edit

The licence fee in Namibia was N$204 (about €23) in 2001.[80] The fee is used to fund the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation.[81]

South Africa edit

The licence fee in South Africa is R265 (about €23) per annum (R312 per year if paid on a monthly basis) for television.[82] A concessionary rate of R70 is available for those over 70, disabled persons and war veterans who are on social welfare. The licence fee partially funds the public broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), providing R972 million (almost €90 million) in 2008–9. SABC derives much of its income from advertising. Proposals to abolish licensing have circulated since October 2009. The national carrier hopes to receive funding entirely from state subsidies and commercials.

Television licences in Asia edit

Japan edit

In Japan, the annual licence fee (Japanese: 受信料, jushin-ryo) for terrestrial television broadcasts is ¥14,205, and ¥24,740 for those receiving satellite broadcasts.[83] The fee is slightly less if paid by direct debit. There is a separate licence for monochrome TV, and fees are slightly less in Okinawa.

The Japanese licence fee pays for the national broadcaster, Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK). Every household in Japan with a television set is required to have a licence, but in 2006 non-payment was described as "epidemic" following a series of scandals involving NHK.[84] In 2005, it was reported that, "there is no fine or any other form of sanction for non-payment".[85] The NHK Party, often called the Anti-NHK Party, was founded in 2013 as a single-issue political party to oppose the license fee, with its only policy being to encrypt NHK's broadcast signal, meaning only those who watch NHK pay for it.[86]

Pakistan edit

The television licence in Pakistan is Rs 420 per year, collected as monthly charge on all electricity bills.[87] The fee plus advertising revenue fund the Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV).

South Korea edit

In South Korea, the television licence fee (Korean: 수신료 징수제) is collected for the Korean Broadcasting System and the Educational Broadcasting System. The fee is 30,000 per year[88] (about €20.67), and is bundled with electricity bills. It has stood at this level since 1981, and now makes up less than 40 per cent of KBS's income and less than 8 per cent of EBS's income.[89] Its purpose is to maintain public broadcasting in South Korea, and give public broadcasters the resources to do their best to produce and broadcast public interest programs.

Countries where the TV licence has been abolished edit

The following countries have had television licences, but subsequently abolished them:

Australia edit

 
1950s Postmaster-General's Department advertisement regarding broadcast licences

Radio licence fees were introduced in Australia in the 1920s to fund privately owned broadcasters, which were not permitted to sell advertising. With the formation of the government-owned Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932, licence fees were used to fund ABC broadcasts while privately-owned stations were permitted to seek revenue from advertising and sponsorship. Television licence fees were introduced in 1956 when the ABC began television transmissions. In 1964 a television licence, issued on a punched card, cost £6 (A$12); the fine for not having a licence was £100 (A$200).

All licence fees were abolished on 18 September 1974 by the Whitlam government on the basis that the near-universality of television and radio use meant that public funding was fairer.[90] Since then, the ABC has been funded by government grants, now totalling around A$1.13 billion per year, plus its own commercial activities (merchandising, overseas sale of programmes, etc.).

Belgium edit

Flemish region and Brussels edit

The Flemish region of Belgium and Brussels abolished its television licence in 2001. The Flemish broadcaster VRT is now funded from general taxation.

Walloon region edit

From 1 January 2018, the licence fee in the Walloon region (encompassing the French and German-speaking communities) was abolished. Licences in effect at that remained payable until their period was up but were not renewed after that period.[5]

The licence fee in Belgium's Walloon region was €100.00 for a television and €0.00 for a radio in a vehicle.[91] One licence was needed per household with a functional television receiver, regardless of the number, but each car with a radio had to have a separate car radio licence. Household radios did not require a licence. The money raised by the fee was used to fund Belgium's French and German public broadcasters (RTBF and BRF respectively). The television licence fee was paid by people with surnames beginning with a letter between A and J between 1 April and 31 May inclusive, and those with surnames beginning with a letter between K and Z paid between 1 October and 30 November inclusive. People with certain disabilities were exempt from paying the fee. Hotels and similar lodging establishments paid an additional fee of €50.00 for each additional functional TV receiver and paid between 1 January and 1 March inclusive.

Bulgaria edit

A fee for use of television and radio was included the fee in the Bulgarian Radio and Television Law passed in the 1990s. Following public criticism, the president vetoed the law. The Bulgarian National Assembly retained the power to impose a fee but added a temporary measure funding Bulgarian National Television (BNT) and Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) directly from the national budget. This funding mechanism has been retained since then.

Canada edit

 
From 1922 to 1953 individual members of the public were required to pay for annual Private Receiving Station licences to legally receive broadcasting stations.

The Radiotelegraph Act 1913 required anyone possessing a radio receiver to hold an "Amateur Experimental Station" licence,[92][93] and pass an "Amateur Experimental Certificate of Proficiency", demonstrating the ability to send and receive Morse code at five words per minute.[1] In January 1922 the government introduced a Private Receiving Station licence for people who only intended to receive radio, rather than transmit.[94][95] The receiving station licences initially cost $1 per year. Over time this increased to $2.50 to cover radio and television broadcasts by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The licence fee was abolished in 1953 and replaced with television equipment excise taxes.[96]

Cyprus edit

Cyprus had an indirect tax for CyBC, its state-run public broadcasting service, paid through electricity bills dependent on home size. It was abolished in the late 1990s and CyBC is now funded by advertising and government grants.

Denmark edit

Until 2022 a Danish media licence fee of 1353 kr (€182) per year was charged for any devices that could receive broadcast television.[97][98] The majority of the licence fee funded the national radio and television broadcaster DR, with a smaller proportion funding TV 2's regional services.[99] The media licence was abolished in 2022.[100] Funding for DR is now provided through general taxation.[10] TV 2 is now funded through advertising revenue,[101] and it receives indirect subsidies through favourable loans from the Danish state.

Finland edit

 
Stamped in Loviisa. The price for half a year was 3,000 Mk in 1960s

The television fee in Finland was between €244.90 and €253.80 per year for each household with a television. It was the primary source of funding for Yleisradio (Yle). In 2013 it was replaced with the Yle public broadcasting tax (Finnish: yleisradiovero, Swedish: rundradioskatt), a progressive income tax up to €163 per person.[11][102][103] People with low incomes, under the age of eighteen years, or resident in Åland are exempt from the tax.[104]

France edit

Until 2022 a broadcasting licence fee (contribution à l'audiovisuel public) funded Radio France and France Télévisions.[105] People under the age of 21, under 25 and in full-time education, and those who had a household income below a certain threshold were exempt from the fee. The fee was abolished in 2022 and replaced with direct funding from the French Treasury.[106][12]

Gibraltar edit

Until 2006 television licence fees provided funds to the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation (GBC).[107][108] Even before the abolition of the licence fee, the majority of GBC's funding came as a grant from the government.

Hungary edit

In Hungary, licence fees nominally exist, but since 2002 residential fees have been paid from the state budget.[109] This means that funding for Magyar Televízió and Duna TV comes directly from taxation. Commercial venues such as hotels and bars also had their fees paid between 2002 and 2007, but since then they have needed to make a payment per television set.

Ever since privatisation in 1995,[110][111] the public broadcaster MTV has had persistent financial difficulties.[112] During the 2009 financial crisis, parliament cut their funding by more than 30 per cent, a move that was publicly condemned by the EBU.[113]

Hong Kong edit

Hong Kong previously had a radio and television licence fee for Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) and Rediffusion Television, costing 36 Hong Kong dollars per year. RTHK is now funded by the Hong Kong Government.

Iceland edit

The television licence fee for Iceland's state broadcaster RÚV was abolished in 2007 and replaced with a poll tax of 17,200 kr. from everyone who pays income tax, regardless of whether they use television and radio.[114]

India edit

India introduced a radio receiver licence system in 1928 for All India Radio (AIR) Akashvani. Television licensing began in 1956–57. In 1976, public television was separated from AIR as a separate company, Doordarshan. In the 1970s and 1980s, radio licences cost Rs 15 per year and television licences cost Rs 50. The wireless licence inspector from the post office was authorized to check every house and shop for a Wireless License Book, and to issue penalties or seize the receiving equipment for non-payment. In 1984, the licensing system was withdrawn. AIR and Doordarshan are both funded by the Government of India and by income from advertising.

Indonesia edit

A radio tax for RRI funding was introduced in 1947,[115] during the Indonesian National Revolution. The television fee was introduced soon after TVRI started broadcasting in 1962. The radio tax was abolished in the 1980s.[citation needed] The television fee continued into the 1990s. Its abolition started after public protests about the company that collected the fee, which was run by the Indonesian President's son,[116] but areas such as Bandung and Surabaya continued to have a television fee throughout the 1990s.[117][118] A "broadcasting fee" (Indonesian: iuran penyiaran) was included in legislation in 2002 but has not been implemented. Public radio and television are currently funded through a combination of advertising and funds from the state budget.

Israel edit

Licence fees were the primary source of revenue for the Israel Broadcasting Authority when it was the state broadcaster. Every household was charged 345 (€73) for a television licence and car owners were charged 136 (€29) for a radio licence. The television licence was abolished in 2015,[119] but a radio licence is still required of car owners.[120] The Israel Broadcasting Authority was replaced by the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation in May 2017. Its radio stations carry advertising and some of its television programmes are sponsored by commercial entities.

Liechtenstein edit

An annual licence was required between 1978 and 1998 for households with broadcast receiving equipment. The income was divided between PTT and the Swiss national broadcaster, SRG. Since 1998, an annual government grant for public media is administrated by the Mediakommision.

The sole radio station in the principality, Radio Liechtenstein, was founded as a private commercial music station in 1995. It was nationalised in 2004 under Liechtensteinischer Rundfunk to create a domestic public broadcasting station. It is funded by commercials and the public broadcasting grant.

Malaysia edit

The annual television licence fee for television in 1990 was at RM 24,[121] previously RM 36 in 1986 and RM 12 in 1985,[122] while the radio licence fee in 1990 was at RM 12;[121] unchanged since the 1960s.[123] The licence fee for the former was also the lowest in the world as of 1989.[124] The licence fee for monochrome televisions in 1985 was at RM 24.[122]

Licences for home-use radios were abolished by late 1985 with the amendments to the Telecommunications Act 1960,[125] while radio licences were abolished on 1 January 1991, due to Malaysia's improved economic performance.[121]

46.5% of television owners did not pay for the television licence in 1995.[126]

In 1995, the government had planned to introduce pre-payment of television licence fees for people who have purchased a new television once every ten years, amounting RM 240 for each, replacing the annual payment which caused the government to lose millions of ringgit every year.[127]

The government planned to add a separate licence for cable and satellite television owners and an increase of television licence fee for such users in 1996;[128] it also had planned to increase the television licence fee to RM 36 in 1998.[123]

The television licence fees were abolished in April 1999; however people still paid for the fees. The government decided to refund the fees that amounted to RM 67 million,[129] becoming just RM 21 million in 2000.[130]

Until April 2000,[131] Malaysia had an annual television licence fee of MYR 24 (MYR 2 per month), one of the lowest television licence fees in the world. Now, RTM is funded by the government and advertising.

Malta edit

The licence fee in Malta funded Television Malta (TVM), and the radio stations Radio Malta and Radju Parliament run by Public Broadcasting Services. Approximately two-thirds of TVM's funding came from the licence fee, with much of the remainder coming from commercials.[132] Malta's television licence was abolished in 2011 when the free-to-air system was discontinued.

Netherlands edit

Advertising on public television and radio started in 1967 but was tightly regulated. Initially there was only a small advertising segment before and after news broadcasts. In the late 1980s, commercial breaks of 1 to 3 minutes were allowed between programmes. Advertising on Sundays was not permitted until 1991. Due to excessive collection costs, the fee was abolished around 2000.[133] Income tax was increased and the maximum duration of commercial breaks was extended to 5 and 7 minutes.[133] The Netherlands Public Broadcasting is now funded by government subsidy and advertising. The amount of time used by commercial breaks may not exceed 15 per cent of daily broadcasting time or 10 per cent of total annual broadcasting time.

New Zealand edit

Licence fees were first used in New Zealand to fund the radio services of what was to become the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation. Television was introduced in 1960 and with it the television licence fee, later known as the public broadcasting fee. This was capped at NZ$100 a year in the 1970s, and the country's two television channels, while still publicly owned, became increasingly reliant on advertising. From 1989, it was collected and disbursed by the Broadcasting Commission (NZ On Air) on a contestable basis to support local content production. The public broadcasting fee was abolished in July 1999.[134] NZ On Air was then funded by a direct appropriation from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

North Macedonia edit

The licence fee in the Republic of North Macedonia was around €26 per year.[135] Until 2005 it was collected monthly as part of the electricity bill. From November 2005, Macedonian Radio-Television (MRT) collected the fee until this responsibility was taken over by the Public Revenue Office. The fee was paid per household, with exemptions for households not covered by a broadcasting signal, and households of people with severe vision or hearing impairment. Hotels and motels were charged one broadcasting fee for every five rooms, legal persons and office space owners paid for one broadcasting fee for each 20 employees or other users of the office space, and owners of catering and other public facilities paid per television set. MRT also received income from advertising and sponsorship.

In January 2017, the licence fee was abolished. MRT, Macedonian Broadcasting and the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services are now financed directly from the Budget of the Republic of North Macedonia.[136]

Norway edit

The licence fee in Norway was abolished in January 2020. Before that, every household with a television needed to pay a fee of c. 3000 kr (c. €305). The fee was charged per household. People in a house who had a separate television and were not in the parental care of the householders needed to pay a separate licence fee.[137] The fee was the primary source of income for Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK).[138] Since 2020, funding for NRK comes through taxation from each individual liable for income taxes in Norway.[139]

Romania edit

Until 2017 a licence fee was collected as part of the electricity bill. It made up part of Televiziunea Română's (TVR) funding, with the rest coming from advertising and government grants. Everyone with a television receiver or a computer needed to pay. In 2016, the Parliament of Romania decided to abolish the fee from 1 January 2017.[140] Since then, TVR's funding mainly comes from government grants and advertising.

Singapore edit

Residents of Singapore with televisions in their households, or televisions or radios in their vehicles, were required to acquire the appropriate licences from 1963 to 2010. The licence fee in 1963 was at $24 per year ($2 per month), touted at the time as being "one of the cheapest in this part of the world".[141] The licence fees are channelled to the Singapore Broadcasting Authority where they would be used to fund minority and public service programmes.[142]

The licence fees were abolished from 1 January 2011. Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam reported that he was abolishing the fees as they were "losing their relevance".[143]

Slovakia edit

The TV licence fee in Slovakia was €4.64 per month (€55.68 per year).[144] In addition to the licence fee, RTVS also received state subsidies and money from advertising. The license fee was abolished from 1 July 2023.[19]

Soviet Union edit

Until 1961, all radio and television receivers in the Soviet Union were required to be registered in local telecommunication offices and a subscription fee was to be paid monthly. Compulsory registration and subscription fees were abolished on 18 August 1961, with prices of radio and television receivers raised to compensate for the lost fees.[145]

Sweden edit

On 1 January 2019, the television licence (Swedish: TV-avgift, literally TV fee) in Sweden was scrapped and replaced by a "general public service fee" (Swedish: allmän public service-avgift), which is a flat income-based public broadcasting tax of 1 per cent, capped at 1,300 Swedish kronor (approximately US$145 or 126) per person per year.[146] The fee is administered by the Swedish Tax Agency (Swedish: Skatteverket),[147] on behalf of the country's three public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT), Sveriges Radio (SR) and Sveriges Utbildningsradio (UR). The fee pays for 5 television channels, 45 radio channels, and online television and radio.

Previously the television licence was a household-based flat fee. Originally it was referred as the "television licence" (Swedish: TV-licens), but in the 2000s was renamed "television fee". It was last charged in 2018 at SKr 2,400 per annum.[148] It was payable in monthly, bimonthly, quarterly or annual instalments,[149] to the agency Radiotjänst i Kiruna, which was jointly owned by SVT, SR and UR. The fee was collected by every household or company containing a television set, and possession of such a device had to be reported to Radiotjänst by law. One fee was collected per household regardless of the number of television sets in the home or at other locations owned by the household, such as summer houses. Although the fee also paid for radio broadcasting, there was no specific fee for radios since the radio licence was abolished in 1978.[150] Television licence evasion was suspected to be around 11 to 15 per cent.[151]

Taiwan edit

 
A Taiwanese TV licence

Between 1959 and the 1970s, all radio and TV receivers in Taiwan were required to have a licence with an annual fee of NT$60. This was to prevent influence from mainland China's (the People's Republic of China) channels.[152]

Thailand edit

The Radio Broadcasting and Television Act, B.E. 2498 (1955) set a lifetime licence fee of 200 baht (equivalent to 2,334 baht in 2020) for ownership of radio and television sets or parts.[153] It was abolished in 1959 as television and radio quickly became a vital source of information.[154]

Countries that have never had a television or broadcasting licence edit

Andorra edit

Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra, the public broadcaster, is funded by advertising and government grants with no fee for viewers.

Brazil edit

The federal company Empresa Brasil de Comunicação, which manages TV Brasil and public radio stations (Rádio MEC and Rádio Nacional), is financed from the Federal Budget, besides profit from licensing and production of programs, institutional advertisement, and service rendering to public and private institutions.[155]

The Padre Anchieta Foundation, which manages TV Cultura and the Cultura FM and Cultura Brasil radio stations in São Paulo, receives funds from the state government, advertisements and fundraising from the private sector. In December 1997, the "Education and Culture Tax", a state tax in São Paulo, was instituted to fund the state's public broadcasters, TV Cultura and Rádio Cultura.[156] The tax was charged monthly through electricity bills according to consumers' energy consumption.[157][158] However, the collection of the fee was declared unconstitutional by the Court of Justice of the State of São Paulo.[159]

China edit

The current state broadcaster, China Central Television (CCTV), established in 1958, is funded almost entirely through the sale of commercial advertising time, although this is supplemented by government funding and a tax of ¥2 per month from all cable television subscribers in the country.

Estonia edit

In Estonia there are three public TV channels: Eesti Televisioon ETV, ETV2, and ETV+ (ETV+ was launched on 27 September 2015 and mostly targets people who speak Russian). The funding comes from government grant-in-aid. ETV is currently one of only a few public television broadcasters in the European Union which has neither advertising nor a licence fee and is solely funded by national government grants. Commercials in public broadcasting television were stopped in 2002 over concerns that its low prices were damaging the ability of commercial broadcasters to operate. The introduction of a licence fee system was considered but ultimately rejected in the face of public opposition.[160]

Iran edit

Iran has never levied television licence fees. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, National Iranian Radio and Television was renamed Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, and became the state broadcaster. In Iran, private broadcasting is illegal.

Latvia edit

Public Broadcasting of Latvia is a consortium of the public radio broadcaster Latvijas Radio and the public TV broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija, which operates the LTV1 and LTV7 channels. After years of debate, the public broadcasters ceased airing commercial advertising from January 1, 2021, and became fully government-funded by the national budget.[161] The introduction of a television licence has been previously debated, but this was opposed by the government.

Luxembourg edit

Luxembourg has never had a television licence requirement. Until 1993, it had no national public broadcaster, and it still has no public television broadcaster.

Radio 100,7 is a radio station funded by the country's Ministry of Culture and by sponsorship arrangements. Television in Luxembourg is provided by the commercial network RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg and channels serving nearby countries.

Monaco edit

Monaco has never had any listener or viewer broadcasting licence fee. Since the establishment of Radio Monte-Carlo in 1943 and Télévision Monte-Carlo in 1954, both have been funded on a commercial basis with no charge for the audience.

Nigeria edit

Television licences are not used in Nigeria, except in the sense of broadcasting licences granted to private networks. The federal government's television station, NTA (Nigerian Television Authority), has two broadcast networks: NTA 1 is partly funded by central government and partly by advertising revenue, and NTA 2 is wholly funded by advertisements. Almost all thirty-six states have their own television stations, funded wholly or substantially by their respective governments.

Philippines edit

Television licensing has never been enacted in the Philippines. The state-owned television (PTV and IBC) and radio (PBS) stations have been funded directly by the government's annual budget.

Post-Soviet states edit

See #Soviet Union.

Spain edit

RTVE, the public broadcaster, had been funded by government grants and advertising income since it launched its radio services in 1937 and television services in 1956. Although the state-owned national radio station removed advertising in 1986, its TV channels continued broadcasting commercials until 2009. Since 2010, the public broadcaster is funded by government grants and taxes paid by private nationwide TV broadcasters and telecommunications companies.[162]

United States edit

In the United States, privately owned commercial radio and television stations funded by advertising proved to be commercially viable. Some governments owned non-commercial radio stations (such as WNYC, owned by New York City from 1922 to 1997) or educational television stations, but most broadcasters were private companies or were owned by charitable organizations supported by donations.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was created by the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, and this led to the creation of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR). These are loose networks of non-commercial educational (NCE) stations owned by state and local governments, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations. They are more similar to U.S. commercial networks than European public broadcasters.

Annual funding for public television in the United States was US$445.5 million in 2014 (including interest revenue).[163] The CPB, and virtually all government-owned stations, are funded through general taxes, donations from individuals (usually in the form of "memberships"), and charitable organizations. Individual programs on public broadcasters may be supported by underwriting spots paid for by sponsors. Between 53 and 60 percent of public television's revenues come from private membership donations and grants,[164] so most stations solicit individual donations by fundraising, pledge drives or telethons which can disrupt regularly scheduled programming. Normal programming can be replaced with specials aimed at a wider audience to solicit new members and donations.[165]

In some rural areas of the United States, broadcast translator districts exist, which are funded by an ad valorem property tax on all property within the district,[166] or by 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.[167] In addition, fines can be levied on viewers who watch TV from the translator signals without paying the fee. As the Federal Communications Commission has exclusive jurisdiction over broadcast stations, whether a local authority can legally impose a fee merely to watch an over-the-air broadcast station is questionable. In some areas the tax is charged regardless of whether the resident watches TV from the translator. In other areas the property owner may certify that they do not use the translator district's services and get a waiver.

Cable television franchise fee agreements are added to cable TV bills to fund public, educational, and government access (PEG) television for the municipality that granted the franchise agreement. State governments may also add taxes. These taxes generate controversy since they sometimes go into the general taxation fund, or there is "double taxation" where public-access television is paid for by taxes but the cable television operator has to pay for equipment or facilities, or has to pay for local municipality projects that are not related to television.

Uruguay edit

Uruguay does not have a fee or TV licence. The two public broadcasters in the country, Canal 5 and RNU, are funded by government grants.[168]

Vietnam edit

Vietnam has never had a television licence fee. Advertising was introduced in the early 1990s as a way to generate revenue for television stations. The current state broadcaster, Vietnam Television, receives the majority of its funds through advertising and some from government subsidies. Local television stations in Vietnam are operated in a similar way.

Detection of television licence evasion edit

In many jurisdictions, television licences are enforced. Detection of illegal television sets can be as simple as observing the lights and sounds of a television used in a property without a licence.

Television detector vans have been employed by TV Licensing in the United Kingdom, with various detection techniques reported. An effort to compel the BBC to release key information about the television detection equipment under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 was rejected.[169] The BBC stated, "Detection equipment is complex to deploy as its use is strictly governed by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (British Broadcasting Corporation) Order 2001. RIPA and the Order outline how relevant investigatory powers are to be used by the BBC and ensure compliance with human rights."[169] The BBC resisted further Freedom of Information Act requests seeking data on the estimated evasion rate for each of the nations of the UK.[170]

Opinions of television licensing systems edit

Advocates argue that a main advantage of television fully funded by a licence fee is that programming can be enjoyed without interruptions for advertisements. Europeans tend to watch television for one hour less per day than North Americans,[171] but because of differences in advertising may be enjoying the same amount of television content in that shorter time. Television funded by advertising is not truly free of cost to consumers as the cost of advertising is passed on in the price of products.

Critics of receiver licensing point out that a licence is a regressive form of taxation.[172] In contrast, costs from advertising are paid proportion to the consumption of advertised goods. The experience with broadcast deregulation in Europe suggests that demand for commercial-free content is not as high as once thought.[citation needed]

In 2004, the UK government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport asked the public what it thought of various funding alternatives. Fifty-nine per cent of respondents agreed with the statement "Advertising would interfere with my enjoyment of programmes", while 31 per cent disagreed. 71 per cent agreed with the statement "subscription funding would be unfair to those that could not pay", while 16 per cent disagreed. An independent study showed that more than two-thirds of people polled thought that the licence fee should be dropped due to other subscription television services. The Department concluded that the licence fee was "the least worse [sic] option",[173] and in 2005 the British government described the licence fee system as "the best (and most widely supported) funding model, even though it is not perfect".[174][175]

In 2018 there was a referendum in Switzerland on whether TV licensing should be scrapped,[176][63][64] in which voters rejected abolition by 71.6 per cent to 28.4 per cent.[66] Legislators in Bulgaria[177] and Serbia[178] have attempted to introduce a television licence. In Bulgaria, a fee is specified in the broadcasting law but has never been implemented. Lithuania[179] and Latvia have debated the introduction of a licence fee but have not legislated for one. In the case of Latvia, some analysts believe this is partly because the government is unwilling to relinquish control of Latvijas Televīzija, which it gains from directly funding the service.[who?][180]

The Czech Republic[181] increased the proportion of funding that the public broadcaster gets from licence fees, justifying the move with the argument that the existing public service broadcasters cannot compete with commercial broadcasters for advertising revenues.

Internet-based broadcast access edit

The Internet allows television and radio programmes to be easily accessed outside their country of origin. Where national broadcasters have streaming services, there would be no technological difficulties in accessing these programmes internationally. However, countries with TV licensing systems often do not have a way for potential international viewers to pay for a licence. Instead, they work to prevent international access because licensing rules have not adapted to the possible global audience.

See also edit

References edit

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External links edit

TV licensing authorities edit

  • – international organisation for television licence fee collecting organisations
  • Billag (Switzerland)
  • Serafe (Switzerland)
  • Licenskontoret (Denmark)
  • PEMRA (Pakistan)
  • Beitragsservice (Germany)
  • TV Licences (South Africa)
  • TV Licensing (United Kingdom)
  • TV-maksuhallinto (Finland) 17 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine

television, licence, this, article, about, licence, paid, television, radio, users, licence, broadcast, broadcast, licence, redirects, here, proposed, funding, mechanism, local, canadian, stations, described, opponents, carriage, television, licence, broadcast. This article is about a licence paid by television or radio users For a licence to broadcast see Broadcast licence TV tax redirects here For the proposed funding mechanism for local Canadian TV stations described by opponents as a TV tax see Fee for carriage A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts or the possession of a television set In some countries a licence is also required to own a radio or receive radio broadcasts In such countries some broadcasts are funded in full or in part by the licence fees Licence fees are effectively a hypothecated tax to fund public broadcasting Contents 1 History 2 Television licensing by country 3 Television licences in Europe 3 1 Albania 3 2 Austria 3 3 Bosnia and Herzegovina 3 4 Croatia 3 5 Czech Republic 3 6 Germany 3 7 Greece 3 8 Ireland 3 9 Italy 3 10 Montenegro 3 11 Poland 3 12 Portugal 3 13 Serbia 3 14 Slovenia 3 15 Switzerland 3 16 Turkey 3 17 United Kingdom 4 Television licences in Africa 4 1 Ghana 4 2 Mauritius 4 3 Namibia 4 4 South Africa 5 Television licences in Asia 5 1 Japan 5 2 Pakistan 5 3 South Korea 6 Countries where the TV licence has been abolished 6 1 Australia 6 2 Belgium 6 2 1 Flemish region and Brussels 6 2 2 Walloon region 6 3 Bulgaria 6 4 Canada 6 5 Cyprus 6 6 Denmark 6 7 Finland 6 8 France 6 9 Gibraltar 6 10 Hungary 6 11 Hong Kong 6 12 Iceland 6 13 India 6 14 Indonesia 6 15 Israel 6 16 Liechtenstein 6 17 Malaysia 6 18 Malta 6 19 Netherlands 6 20 New Zealand 6 21 North Macedonia 6 22 Norway 6 23 Romania 6 24 Singapore 6 25 Slovakia 6 26 Soviet Union 6 27 Sweden 6 28 Taiwan 6 29 Thailand 7 Countries that have never had a television or broadcasting licence 7 1 Andorra 7 2 Brazil 7 3 China 7 4 Estonia 7 5 Iran 7 6 Latvia 7 7 Luxembourg 7 8 Monaco 7 9 Nigeria 7 10 Philippines 7 11 Post Soviet states 7 12 Spain 7 13 United States 7 14 Uruguay 7 15 Vietnam 8 Detection of television licence evasion 9 Opinions of television licensing systems 10 Internet based broadcast access 11 See also 12 References 13 External links 13 1 TV licensing authoritiesHistory editThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed March 2023 Learn how and when to remove this message Radio broadcasters in the early 20th century needed to raise funds for their services In some countries this was achieved via advertising while others adopted a compulsory subscription model with households that owned a radio set being required to purchase a licence The United Kingdom was the first country to adopt compulsory public subscription with a licence originally known as a wireless licence used to fund the BBC In most countries that introduced radio licensing possession of a licence was simply an indication of having paid the fee However in Canada between 1914 and 1922 people needed to pass an Amateur Experimental Certificate of Proficiency demonstrating the ability to send and receive Morse code at five words per minute to be allowed to use a radio receiver 1 With the arrival of television some countries created separate television licences Other countries increased radio licence fees to cover the additional cost of television broadcasting changing the name from radio licence to TV licence or receiver licence Today most countries fund public radio broadcasting from the same licence fee that is used for television although a few still have separate radio licences Some countries such as the United Kingdom and Japan have lower fees for households that only own monochrome television sets In many countries elderly and disabled consumers have a reduced or zero licence fee Faced with licence fee evasion some countries chose to fund public broadcasters directly from taxation or via methods such as a co payment with electricity billing In some countries national public broadcasters carry advertising In 1989 the Council of Europe created the European Convention on Transfrontier Television Among other things this regulates advertising citation needed The treaty came into force in 1993 when it had been ratified by seven countries including five EU member states As of 2010 update 34 countries have acceded to the treaty 2 Television licensing by country editUsage and costs of television licences vary greatly between countries The Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago 3 reports that two thirds of countries in Europe and half of countries in Asia and Africa use television licences to fund public television Television licensing is rare in the Americas largely confined to British Overseas Territories In some countries radio channels and broadcasters websites are also funded by a licence giving access to radio and online services free of advertising Television licences in Europe editCountry TV licence required Prices and notes nbsp Albania yes 7 73 month 800 L nbsp Austria yes 15 30 20 per month 4 nbsp Belarus no None exists nbsp Belgium no Abolished in 2018 Flemish region and Brussels in 2001Walloon region on 1 January 2018 5 nbsp Bosnia and Herzegovina yes 3 83 month 7 5 KM per month 6 nbsp Bulgaria no Abolished nbsp Croatia yes 11 41 month Annually Up to 137 7 nbsp Cyprus no Abolished nbsp Czech Republic yes 5 36 135 Kc per month TV 8 45 Kc per month radio 9 nbsp Denmark no Abolished 10 nbsp Estonia no None exists nbsp Finland no Abolished 11 nbsp France no Abolished in 2022 12 nbsp Georgia no None exists nbsp Germany yes 18 36 month per month 13 nbsp Greece yes 3 00 month fee on monthly electricity bills 14 nbsp Hungary no Abolished 15 nbsp Iceland no Abolished in 2007 16 nbsp Ireland yes 13 33 160 00 per year 17 nbsp Israel no Car owners pay 41 radio fee nbsp Italy yes 70 00 year fee on electricity bills 18 nbsp Latvia no None exists nbsp Liechtenstein no Abolished nbsp Lithuania no None exists nbsp Luxembourg no None exists nbsp Malta no Abolished nbsp Monaco no None exists nbsp Montenegro yes 3 50 per month nbsp Netherlands no Abolished nbsp North Macedonia no Abolished nbsp Norway yes 26 50 annual 318 00 old Compulsory income related tax up to Kr1700 per person nbsp Poland yes 5 22 62 67 272 40 zl per year nbsp Portugal no 36 24 fee on electricity bills nbsp Romania no Abolished nbsp Russia no None exists nbsp Serbia yes Fee on electricity bills nbsp Slovakia no Abolished in 2023 19 nbsp Slovenia yes 12 75 month 153 00 radio 45 24 nbsp Spain no None exists nbsp Sweden no Abolished 20 nbsp Switzerland yes 28 96 month 347 50 CHF 335 00 21 nbsp Turkey yes 0 57 e g 20 Lira month 2 of electricity bill and indirect charge on the appliance at purchase average electricity bill 50 200 Turkish lira up to 500 lira nbsp Ukraine no None exists nbsp United Kingdom yes 15 48 month 185 73 annually colour TV 159 00monochrome TV 53 50blind people 50 discount Albania edit The Albanian licence fee is 100 leke per month paid as part of the electricity bill 22 This makes up part of RTSH s funding 58 per cent comes directly from the government through taxes with the remainder from commercials and the licence fee Austria edit Under Austria s TV and Radio Licence Law Fernseh und Horfunklizenzrecht all operational broadcast reception equipment must be registered Since 1998 the Gebuhren Info Service de GIS has been responsible for licence administration It is a fully owned subsidiary of the Austrian public broadcaster ORF and an agency of the Federal Ministry of Finance GIS aims to inform people about licensing using a four channel communication strategy consisting of advertising campaigns in printed media radio and television direct mail outlets such as post offices banks tobacconists and the five GIS Service Centres where people can register field service customer consultants visiting households not yet registered In 2007 the total licensing income was 682 million 66 per cent of which was allocated to the ORF The remaining 34 per cent was allocated to the federal government and local governments to fund cultural activities GIS employs 191 people and has approximately 125 freelancers in the field service 3 4 million Austrian households are registered with the GIS with 2 5 per cent evading the licence The television amp radio licence fee varies between states As of 2022 Styria has the highest annual television licence cost at 343 80 and Salzburg and Burgenland have the highest annual radio licence cost at 94 92 Annual fees from July 2022 are 23 State Television Radio Burgenland 341 40 94 92 Carinthia 330 60 92 52 Lower Austria 339 00 93 72 Upper Austria 269 40 75 72 Salzburg 325 80 94 92 Styria 343 80 94 92 Tyrol 317 40 88 92 Vorarlberg 269 40 75 72 Vienna 339 00 94 20 From January 2024 the GIS will be abolished and its associated TV licensing fee is expected to be replaced with a new compulsory ORF household tax similar to Germany As a result some loopholes such as removing the antenna or tuner from television sets in order to declare them GIS Free and hence exempt from the GIS fee declared legal in a report to the Austrian Parliament in 2008 24 and confirmed as such by the Supreme Administrative Court of Austria in 2015 25 hence creating a market for selling regular and smart TVs without built in antennas or tuners 26 will be closed under the new system 27 Bosnia and Herzegovina edit The licence fee in Bosnia and Herzegovina is approximately 46 per year 28 The Bosnian War and associated collapse of infrastructure caused very high evasion rates This has partly been resolved by collecting the licence fee as part of each household s monthly telephone bill The licence fee is divided between three broadcasters 50 per cent to BHRT Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina the main radio and television broadcaster in Bosnia and Herzegovina at national level and Bosnia s only member of the European Broadcasting Union 25 per cent to RTVFBiH Radio Television of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina a radio and television broadcaster that primarily serves the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina 25 per cent to RTRS Radio Television of the Republika Srpska a radio and television broadcaster which primarily serves the Republika Srpska Croatia edit The licence fee in Croatia is regulated by the Croatian Radiotelevision Act 2003 29 30 This law was written to ensure compliance with the European Convention on Transfrontier Television which Croatia joined between 1999 and 2002 2 In addition to the licensing the law regulates television advertising Up to 9 per cent of air time on HRT may be given to advertising with a limit of only one commercial during short breaks and no breaks during films This is less than the limit permitted for commercial broadcasters The licence fee is charged to all owners of equipment capable of receiving television or radio broadcasts It is set at 1 5 per cent of the previous year s average net salary 29 which is when 137 per year per household with at least one radio or television receiver It 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 Within HRT 66 per cent of the licence fee income goes to television and 34 per cent to radio 31 Czech Republic edit The licence fee in the Czech Republic is 135 Kc per month for television and 45 Kc per month for radio amounting to 2160 Kc per year 8 9 Paid advertisements are not permitted on television except in narrowly defined circumstances during a transitional period Each household that owns at least one television pays for one licence regardless of how many televisions they own Corporations and the self employed must pay for a licence for each television and radio Germany edit The licence fee in Germany is 18 36 per month 220 per annum for all apartments secondary residences holiday homes and summer houses Since 2003 it has been payable regardless of possession or use of television and radio 32 Businesses and institutions must pay based on factors including numbers of employees vehicles and for hotels beds 33 The fee is billed monthly but typically paid quarterly or yearly It is collected by Beitragsservice von ARD ZDF und Deutschlandradio which is sometimes criticized for its enforcement measures 34 Since 2013 only recipients of certain social benefits such as Arbeitslosengeld II or student loans and grants are exempt from the licence fee People with certain disabilities can apply to pay a reduced fee of 5 83 Low income in general is no longer a reason for exemption 35 Since the fee is billed to a person and not to a dwelling empty dwellings are exempt nbsp Nine members of ARD The licence fee is used to fund the public broadcasters ZDF and Deutschlandradio as well as the nine regional broadcasters of the ARD network Together they run 22 television channels 10 regional 10 national 2 international Arte and 3sat and 61 radio stations 58 regional 3 national Two national television stations and 32 regional radio stations carry limited advertising The 14 regional regulatory authorities for private broadcasters are also funded by the licence fee and in some states non profit community radio stations get small amounts of the licence fee Germany s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle is fully funded by the German federal government though much of its new content is provided by the ARD Germany s per capita budget for public broadcasting is close to the European average but the total is one of the largest in the world In 2006 annual income from licence fees was more than 7 9 billion 36 The board of public broadcasters sued the German states for interference with their budgeting process and on 11 September 2007 the Supreme Court decided in their favour This effectively rendered the public broadcasters independent and self governing Public broadcasters have announced that they are determined to use all available ways to reach their customers and as such have started a very broad Internet presence with media portals news and TV programs National broadcasters abandoned an earlier pledge to restrict their online activities This resulted in newspapers taking court action against the ARD claiming that its Tagessschau smartphone app was unfairly subsidised by the licence fee to the detriment of free market providers of news content apps The case was dismissed with the court advising the two sides to find a compromise Greece edit The licence fee in Greece is paid through electricity bills It is charged to every electricity account including private residences and businesses There has been discussion of replacing it with a direct licence fee after complaints from people who do not own a television set An often quoted joke is that even the dead pay the licence fee since graveyards have electricity bills 37 Licensing income is paid to the state broadcaster Elliniki Radiofonia Tileorasi ERT In June 2013 ERT was closed down to save money for the Greek government and licence fees were temporarily suspended 38 In June 2015 ERT reopened and the licence fee resumed at a rate of 36 per year Ireland edit Main article Television licensing in the Republic of Ireland As of 2020 the cost of a television licence in Ireland is 160 per year 39 The licence applies to premises so a separate licence is required for holiday homes or motor vehicles which contain a television 40 The licence must be paid for premises that have any equipment that can potentially decode TV signals regardless of whether they view RTE s content The licence is free to anyone over the age of 70 to some people over 66 to people on a disability allowance and people who are blind these licences are paid for by the state The Irish post office An Post is responsible for the collection of the licence fee and commencement of prosecution proceedings in cases of non payment but An Post has signalled its intention to withdraw from its licence fee business 41 The licence fee makes up 50 per cent of the revenue of RTE the national broadcaster with the rest coming from radio and television advertisements 42 Some RTE services have not historically relied on the licence for income such as RTE 2fm RTE Aertel RTE ie but since 2012 RTE 2FM has had some financial support from the licence The RTE Transmission Network operates on an entirely commercial basis Five per cent of the licence fee goes to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland s Sound and Vision Scheme which provides funds for programme production and restoration of archive material From 2011 until 2018 five per cent of RTE s licence income was granted to TG4 RTE is now required to provide TG4 with programming The remainder of TG4 s funding is from direct state grants and commercial income Italy edit Main article Television licensing in Italy The licence fee in Italy is charged to each household with a television set regardless of use 43 and to all public premises with one or more televisions or radios In 2016 the government reduced the licence fee to 100 per household and incorporated it into electricity bills in an attempt to eliminate evasion 44 45 and as of 2018 the fee was 90 00 46 Sixty six per cent of RAI s income comes from the licence fee up from about half of total income seven years ago with another twenty five per cent from advertising 47 which is aired pretty regularly every 20 minutes or so with very few exceptions football matches special events Eurovision Song Contest Montenegro edit This section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed March 2023 Learn how and when to remove this message Under the Broadcasting Law of December 2002 each household and legal entity in Montenegro able to receive radio or television programmes is required to pay a broadcasting subscription fee The monthly fee is 3 50 or 42 00 per annum Funds are distributed 75 per cent to the republic s public broadcasting radio and television services 10 per cent to support local public broadcasting services 10 per cent to support commercial broadcasting services 5 per cent to support the Broadcasting Agency of Montenegro The Broadcasting Agency of Montenegro collected the fee through telephone bills but after the privatization of Telekom the new owners T com announced they would not administer the fee after July 2007 Poland edit As of 2023 the licence fee in Poland for a television set is 27 30 zl per month or for radio only is 8 70 zl per month One licence is required per household irrespective of the number of sets The fee is waived for people over 75 48 Public health institutions nurseries educational institutions hospices and retirement homes need only one licence per building or building complex they occupy Commercial premises need a licence for each set including radios and televisions in company vehicles Around 60 per cent of the fee goes to Telewizja Polska with the rest going to Polskie Radio Advertisements are allowed between programmes on public television but it is not permitted to interrupt its programmes for advertisements The licence is collected and maintained by the Polish post office Poczta Polska There is a major problem with licence evasion in Poland in 2012 around 65 per cent of households evaded the licence fee compared to an average of 10 per cent in the European Union 49 and in 2020 only 8 per cent of Polish households paid the licence fee Reasons for non payment include the opt in system in which there is no effective means to compel people to register or to prosecute those that fail to do so Licensing inspectors who are usually postal workers do not have the right of entry to inspect premises and must get the owner s or occupier s permission to enter Also the public media are frequently accused of producing pro government propaganda and not being independent public broadcasters 50 Due to widespread non payment of the licence fee in 2020 the government gave a 2 billion zloty grant for public media 51 Portugal edit From September 2003 the Radio e Televisao de Portugal RTP was financed through government grants and the Taxa de Contribuicao Audiovisual Portuguese for Broadcasting Contribution Tax charged monthly through the electricity bills 52 Following the 2010 2014 Portuguese financial crisis government grants ended and RTP was financed only through the Taxa de Contribuicao Audiovisual and advertising 53 Since July 2016 the fee is 2 85 VAT per month 54 RTP1 can broadcast only 6 minutes of commercial advertising per hour commercial channels can broadcast 12 minutes per hour RTP2 and the public radios stations have no commercial advertising RTP3 and RTP Memoria can broadcast commercial advertising on cable satellite and IPTV platforms but not on digital terrestrial television Serbia edit Licence fees in Serbia are bundled together with electricity bills and collected monthly There have been increasing indications that the Government of Serbia is considering the temporary cessation of the licence fee until a more effective financing solution is found 55 However as of 28 August 2013 this has yet to be realized Slovenia edit Since June 2013 the annual licence fee in Slovenia is 12 75 per household per month to receive both television and radio services or 3 77 per month for radio only regardless of the number of devices capable of receiving television or radio broadcasts Businesses and the self employed pay this amount for each set and pay higher rates where they are intended for public viewing rather than private use by employees 56 The licence fee is used to fund the national broadcaster RTV Slovenija In 2007 the licence fee raised 78 1 million approximately 68 per cent of the broadcaster s operating revenue RTV Slovenija s advertising income in 2007 was 21 6 million 57 Switzerland edit Any household that receives radio or television programs from the Swiss national public broadcaster SRG SSR must be registered and pay licence fees The fee is CHF 335 per year for TV and radio for single households and CHF 670 for multiple households e g nursing homes 58 Households unable to receive broadcast transmissions are exempt from the fees until 2023 if residents apply to opt out 59 Residential licence fees are collected by Serafe AG a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance collections agency Secon 60 Non payment of licence fees incurs fines of up to CHF 100 000 For businesses the fee is on a scale based on the company s annual turnover and is collected by the Swiss Federal Tax Administration 61 The majority of the fee CHF 1 2 billion goes to SRG SSR with the rest going to a collection of small regional radio and television broadcasters On 4 March 2018 there was a referendum on whether TV licensing should be scrapped with the slogan No Billag a reference to the previous collector of the licence fees 62 63 64 Parliament have advocated a no vote 65 Voters overwhelmingly rejected the proposal by 71 6 to 28 4 per cent and in all cantons 66 Following the vote the fee was significantly reduced Turkey edit A licence fee of up to 16 per cent is paid to the state broadcaster TRT by the producer or importer of the television receiving equipment Consumers indirectly pay this fee when purchasing equipment No registration is required for television receiving equipment except for cellular phones as mandated by a separate law TRT also receives funding via advertisements Previously a 2 per cent tax was added to monthly electricity bills but this has been abolished United Kingdom edit Main article Television licensing in the United Kingdom A television licence is required for each household where television programmes are watched or recorded as they are broadcast irrespective of the signal method terrestrial satellite cable or the Internet As of September 2016 users of BBC iPlayer must also have a television licence to watch on demand television content from the service 67 As of 1 April 2017 after a price freeze that began in 2010 the cost of a licence may now increase to account for inflation As of January 2022 the licence fee is 159 for a colour and 53 50 for a black and white television Licence 68 As it is classified in law as a tax evasion of licence fees is a criminal offence 69 204 018 people were prosecuted or fined in 2014 for TV licence offences 173 044 in England 12 536 in Wales 4 905 people in Northern Ireland and 15 in the Isle of Man 70 71 The licence fee is used almost entirely to fund BBC domestic radio television and internet services Money received from the licence represents approximately 75 per cent of the cost of these services with most of the remainder coming from the profits of BBC Studios a commercial arm of the corporation which distributes content outside of the United Kingdom and operates or licences BBC branded television services and brands 72 The BBC also receives some funding from the Scottish Government via MG Alba to finance the BBC Alba Gaelic language television service in Scotland The BBC used to receive a direct government grant from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to fund television and radio services broadcast to other countries such as the BBC World Service radio and BBC Arabic Television These services run on a non profit non commercial basis The grant was abolished on 1 April 2014 leaving these services to be funded by the UK licence fee a move which has caused some controversy 73 74 Channel 4 is also a public television service but it is funded through advertising 75 The Welsh language S4C is funded through a combination of a direct grant from the Department for Culture Media and Sport and advertising and receives some programming free of charge from the BBC These other broadcasters are much smaller than the BBC In addition to public broadcasters the United Kingdom has a wide range of commercial television funded by advertising and subscription A television licence is still required of viewers who solely watch such commercial channels although 74 9 per cent of the population watches BBC One in any given week making it the most popular channel in the country 76 A similar licence existed for radio but was abolished in 1971 Television licences in Africa editGhana edit The licence fee in Ghana was reintroduced in 2015 and is used to fund the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation GBC Households have to pay between GH 36 and GH 60 per year for using one or more televisions at home 77 Mauritius edit The licence fee in Mauritius is Rs 1 800 per year around 29 78 collected as part of the electricity bill The fee provides 60 per cent of the income for Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation MBC Most of the remaining funds come from television and radio commercials 79 The introduction of private broadcasting in 2002 has put pressure on MBC s commercial revenues Private stations argue that MBC affects their profitability and they want the government to make MBC commercial free 78 Namibia edit The licence fee in Namibia was N 204 about 23 in 2001 80 The fee is used to fund the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation 81 South Africa edit The licence fee in South Africa is R265 about 23 per annum R312 per year if paid on a monthly basis for television 82 A concessionary rate of R70 is available for those over 70 disabled persons and war veterans who are on social welfare The licence fee partially funds the public broadcaster the South African Broadcasting Corporation SABC providing R972 million almost 90 million in 2008 9 SABC derives much of its income from advertising Proposals to abolish licensing have circulated since October 2009 The national carrier hopes to receive funding entirely from state subsidies and commercials Television licences in Asia editJapan edit In Japan the annual licence fee Japanese 受信料 jushin ryo for terrestrial television broadcasts is 14 205 and 24 740 for those receiving satellite broadcasts 83 The fee is slightly less if paid by direct debit There is a separate licence for monochrome TV and fees are slightly less in Okinawa The Japanese licence fee pays for the national broadcaster Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai NHK Every household in Japan with a television set is required to have a licence but in 2006 non payment was described as epidemic following a series of scandals involving NHK 84 In 2005 it was reported that there is no fine or any other form of sanction for non payment 85 The NHK Party often called the Anti NHK Party was founded in 2013 as a single issue political party to oppose the license fee with its only policy being to encrypt NHK s broadcast signal meaning only those who watch NHK pay for it 86 Pakistan edit The television licence in Pakistan is Rs 420 per year collected as monthly charge on all electricity bills 87 The fee plus advertising revenue fund the Pakistan Television Corporation PTV South Korea edit In South Korea the television licence fee Korean 수신료 징수제 is collected for the Korean Broadcasting System and the Educational Broadcasting System The fee is 30 000 per year 88 about 20 67 and is bundled with electricity bills It has stood at this level since 1981 and now makes up less than 40 per cent of KBS s income and less than 8 per cent of EBS s income 89 Its purpose is to maintain public broadcasting in South Korea and give public broadcasters the resources to do their best to produce and broadcast public interest programs Countries where the TV licence has been abolished editThis article needs additional citations for verification Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Television licence news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2007 Learn how and when to remove this message The following countries have had television licences but subsequently abolished them Australia edit nbsp 1950s Postmaster General s Department advertisement regarding broadcast licences Radio licence fees were introduced in Australia in the 1920s to fund privately owned broadcasters which were not permitted to sell advertising With the formation of the government owned Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932 licence fees were used to fund ABC broadcasts while privately owned stations were permitted to seek revenue from advertising and sponsorship Television licence fees were introduced in 1956 when the ABC began television transmissions In 1964 a television licence issued on a punched card cost 6 A 12 the fine for not having a licence was 100 A 200 All licence fees were abolished on 18 September 1974 by the Whitlam government on the basis that the near universality of television and radio use meant that public funding was fairer 90 Since then the ABC has been funded by government grants now totalling around A 1 13 billion per year plus its own commercial activities merchandising overseas sale of programmes etc Belgium edit Flemish region and Brussels edit The Flemish region of Belgium and Brussels abolished its television licence in 2001 The Flemish broadcaster VRT is now funded from general taxation Walloon region edit From 1 January 2018 the licence fee in the Walloon region encompassing the French and German speaking communities was abolished Licences in effect at that remained payable until their period was up but were not renewed after that period 5 The licence fee in Belgium s Walloon region was 100 00 for a television and 0 00 for a radio in a vehicle 91 One licence was needed per household with a functional television receiver regardless of the number but each car with a radio had to have a separate car radio licence Household radios did not require a licence The money raised by the fee was used to fund Belgium s French and German public broadcasters RTBF and BRF respectively The television licence fee was paid by people with surnames beginning with a letter between A and J between 1 April and 31 May inclusive and those with surnames beginning with a letter between K and Z paid between 1 October and 30 November inclusive People with certain disabilities were exempt from paying the fee Hotels and similar lodging establishments paid an additional fee of 50 00 for each additional functional TV receiver and paid between 1 January and 1 March inclusive Bulgaria edit A fee for use of television and radio was included the fee in the Bulgarian Radio and Television Law passed in the 1990s Following public criticism the president vetoed the law The Bulgarian National Assembly retained the power to impose a fee but added a temporary measure funding Bulgarian National Television BNT and Bulgarian National Radio BNR directly from the national budget This funding mechanism has been retained since then Canada edit nbsp From 1922 to 1953 individual members of the public were required to pay for annual Private Receiving Station licences to legally receive broadcasting stations The Radiotelegraph Act 1913 required anyone possessing a radio receiver to hold an Amateur Experimental Station licence 92 93 and pass an Amateur Experimental Certificate of Proficiency demonstrating the ability to send and receive Morse code at five words per minute 1 In January 1922 the government introduced a Private Receiving Station licence for people who only intended to receive radio rather than transmit 94 95 The receiving station licences initially cost 1 per year Over time this increased to 2 50 to cover radio and television broadcasts by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The licence fee was abolished in 1953 and replaced with television equipment excise taxes 96 Cyprus edit Cyprus had an indirect tax for CyBC its state run public broadcasting service paid through electricity bills dependent on home size It was abolished in the late 1990s and CyBC is now funded by advertising and government grants Denmark edit Until 2022 a Danish media licence fee of 1353 kr 182 per year was charged for any devices that could receive broadcast television 97 98 The majority of the licence fee funded the national radio and television broadcaster DR with a smaller proportion funding TV 2 s regional services 99 The media licence was abolished in 2022 100 Funding for DR is now provided through general taxation 10 TV 2 is now funded through advertising revenue 101 and it receives indirect subsidies through favourable loans from the Danish state Finland edit nbsp Stamped in Loviisa The price for half a year was 3 000 Mk in 1960s The television fee in Finland was between 244 90 and 253 80 per year for each household with a television It was the primary source of funding for Yleisradio Yle In 2013 it was replaced with the Yle public broadcasting tax Finnish yleisradiovero Swedish rundradioskatt a progressive income tax up to 163 per person 11 102 103 People with low incomes under the age of eighteen years or resident in Aland are exempt from the tax 104 France edit Until 2022 a broadcasting licence fee contribution a l audiovisuel public funded Radio France and France Televisions 105 People under the age of 21 under 25 and in full time education and those who had a household income below a certain threshold were exempt from the fee The fee was abolished in 2022 and replaced with direct funding from the French Treasury 106 12 Gibraltar edit Until 2006 television licence fees provided funds to the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation GBC 107 108 Even before the abolition of the licence fee the majority of GBC s funding came as a grant from the government Hungary edit In Hungary licence fees nominally exist but since 2002 residential fees have been paid from the state budget 109 This means that funding for Magyar Televizio and Duna TV comes directly from taxation Commercial venues such as hotels and bars also had their fees paid between 2002 and 2007 but since then they have needed to make a payment per television set Ever since privatisation in 1995 110 111 the public broadcaster MTV has had persistent financial difficulties 112 During the 2009 financial crisis parliament cut their funding by more than 30 per cent a move that was publicly condemned by the EBU 113 Hong Kong edit Hong Kong previously had a radio and television licence fee for Radio Television Hong Kong RTHK and Rediffusion Television costing 36 Hong Kong dollars per year RTHK is now funded by the Hong Kong Government Iceland edit The television licence fee for Iceland s state broadcaster RUV was abolished in 2007 and replaced with a poll tax of 17 200 kr from everyone who pays income tax regardless of whether they use television and radio 114 India edit India introduced a radio receiver licence system in 1928 for All India Radio AIR Akashvani Television licensing began in 1956 57 In 1976 public television was separated from AIR as a separate company Doordarshan In the 1970s and 1980s radio licences cost Rs 15 per year and television licences cost Rs 50 The wireless licence inspector from the post office was authorized to check every house and shop for a Wireless License Book and to issue penalties or seize the receiving equipment for non payment In 1984 the licensing system was withdrawn AIR and Doordarshan are both funded by the Government of India and by income from advertising Indonesia edit A radio tax for RRI funding was introduced in 1947 115 during the Indonesian National Revolution The television fee was introduced soon after TVRI started broadcasting in 1962 The radio tax was abolished in the 1980s citation needed The television fee continued into the 1990s Its abolition started after public protests about the company that collected the fee which was run by the Indonesian President s son 116 but areas such as Bandung and Surabaya continued to have a television fee throughout the 1990s 117 118 A broadcasting fee Indonesian iuran penyiaran was included in legislation in 2002 but has not been implemented Public radio and television are currently funded through a combination of advertising and funds from the state budget Israel edit Licence fees were the primary source of revenue for the Israel Broadcasting Authority when it was the state broadcaster Every household was charged 345 73 for a television licence and car owners were charged 136 29 for a radio licence The television licence was abolished in 2015 119 but a radio licence is still required of car owners 120 The Israel Broadcasting Authority was replaced by the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation in May 2017 Its radio stations carry advertising and some of its television programmes are sponsored by commercial entities Liechtenstein edit An annual licence was required between 1978 and 1998 for households with broadcast receiving equipment The income was divided between PTT and the Swiss national broadcaster SRG Since 1998 an annual government grant for public media is administrated by the Mediakommision The sole radio station in the principality Radio Liechtenstein was founded as a private commercial music station in 1995 It was nationalised in 2004 under Liechtensteinischer Rundfunk to create a domestic public broadcasting station It is funded by commercials and the public broadcasting grant Malaysia edit The annual television licence fee for television in 1990 was at RM 24 121 previously RM 36 in 1986 and RM 12 in 1985 122 while the radio licence fee in 1990 was at RM 12 121 unchanged since the 1960s 123 The licence fee for the former was also the lowest in the world as of 1989 124 The licence fee for monochrome televisions in 1985 was at RM 24 122 Licences for home use radios were abolished by late 1985 with the amendments to the Telecommunications Act 1960 125 while radio licences were abolished on 1 January 1991 due to Malaysia s improved economic performance 121 46 5 of television owners did not pay for the television licence in 1995 126 In 1995 the government had planned to introduce pre payment of television licence fees for people who have purchased a new television once every ten years amounting RM 240 for each replacing the annual payment which caused the government to lose millions of ringgit every year 127 The government planned to add a separate licence for cable and satellite television owners and an increase of television licence fee for such users in 1996 128 it also had planned to increase the television licence fee to RM 36 in 1998 123 The television licence fees were abolished in April 1999 however people still paid for the fees The government decided to refund the fees that amounted to RM 67 million 129 becoming just RM 21 million in 2000 130 Until April 2000 131 Malaysia had an annual television licence fee of MYR 24 MYR 2 per month one of the lowest television licence fees in the world Now RTM is funded by the government and advertising Malta edit The licence fee in Malta funded Television Malta TVM and the radio stations Radio Malta and Radju Parliament run by Public Broadcasting Services Approximately two thirds of TVM s funding came from the licence fee with much of the remainder coming from commercials 132 Malta s television licence was abolished in 2011 when the free to air system was discontinued Netherlands edit Advertising on public television and radio started in 1967 but was tightly regulated Initially there was only a small advertising segment before and after news broadcasts In the late 1980s commercial breaks of 1 to 3 minutes were allowed between programmes Advertising on Sundays was not permitted until 1991 Due to excessive collection costs the fee was abolished around 2000 133 Income tax was increased and the maximum duration of commercial breaks was extended to 5 and 7 minutes 133 The Netherlands Public Broadcasting is now funded by government subsidy and advertising The amount of time used by commercial breaks may not exceed 15 per cent of daily broadcasting time or 10 per cent of total annual broadcasting time New Zealand edit Licence fees were first used in New Zealand to fund the radio services of what was to become the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation Television was introduced in 1960 and with it the television licence fee later known as the public broadcasting fee This was capped at NZ 100 a year in the 1970s and the country s two television channels while still publicly owned became increasingly reliant on advertising From 1989 it was collected and disbursed by the Broadcasting Commission NZ On Air on a contestable basis to support local content production The public broadcasting fee was abolished in July 1999 134 NZ On Air was then funded by a direct appropriation from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage North Macedonia edit The licence fee in the Republic of North Macedonia was around 26 per year 135 Until 2005 it was collected monthly as part of the electricity bill From November 2005 Macedonian Radio Television MRT collected the fee until this responsibility was taken over by the Public Revenue Office The fee was paid per household with exemptions for households not covered by a broadcasting signal and households of people with severe vision or hearing impairment Hotels and motels were charged one broadcasting fee for every five rooms legal persons and office space owners paid for one broadcasting fee for each 20 employees or other users of the office space and owners of catering and other public facilities paid per television set MRT also received income from advertising and sponsorship In January 2017 the licence fee was abolished MRT Macedonian Broadcasting and the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services are now financed directly from the Budget of the Republic of North Macedonia 136 Norway edit The licence fee in Norway was abolished in January 2020 Before that every household with a television needed to pay a fee of c 3000 kr c 305 The fee was charged per household People in a house who had a separate television and were not in the parental care of the householders needed to pay a separate licence fee 137 The fee was the primary source of income for Norsk Rikskringkasting NRK 138 Since 2020 funding for NRK comes through taxation from each individual liable for income taxes in Norway 139 Romania edit Until 2017 a licence fee was collected as part of the electricity bill It made up part of Televiziunea Romană s TVR funding with the rest coming from advertising and government grants Everyone with a television receiver or a computer needed to pay In 2016 the Parliament of Romania decided to abolish the fee from 1 January 2017 140 Since then TVR s funding mainly comes from government grants and advertising Singapore edit Residents of Singapore with televisions in their households or televisions or radios in their vehicles were required to acquire the appropriate licences from 1963 to 2010 The licence fee in 1963 was at 24 per year 2 per month touted at the time as being one of the cheapest in this part of the world 141 The licence fees are channelled to the Singapore Broadcasting Authority where they would be used to fund minority and public service programmes 142 The licence fees were abolished from 1 January 2011 Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam reported that he was abolishing the fees as they were losing their relevance 143 Slovakia edit The TV licence fee in Slovakia was 4 64 per month 55 68 per year 144 In addition to the licence fee RTVS also received state subsidies and money from advertising The license fee was abolished from 1 July 2023 19 Soviet Union edit Until 1961 all radio and television receivers in the Soviet Union were required to be registered in local telecommunication offices and a subscription fee was to be paid monthly Compulsory registration and subscription fees were abolished on 18 August 1961 with prices of radio and television receivers raised to compensate for the lost fees 145 Sweden edit Main article Television licensing in Sweden On 1 January 2019 the television licence Swedish TV avgift literally TV fee in Sweden was scrapped and replaced by a general public service fee Swedish allman public service avgift which is a flat income based public broadcasting tax of 1 per cent capped at 1 300 Swedish kronor approximately US 145 or 126 per person per year 146 The fee is administered by the Swedish Tax Agency Swedish Skatteverket 147 on behalf of the country s three public broadcasters Sveriges Television SVT Sveriges Radio SR and Sveriges Utbildningsradio UR The fee pays for 5 television channels 45 radio channels and online television and radio Previously the television licence was a household based flat fee Originally it was referred as the television licence Swedish TV licens but in the 2000s was renamed television fee It was last charged in 2018 at SKr 2 400 per annum 148 It was payable in monthly bimonthly quarterly or annual instalments 149 to the agency Radiotjanst i Kiruna which was jointly owned by SVT SR and UR The fee was collected by every household or company containing a television set and possession of such a device had to be reported to Radiotjanst by law One fee was collected per household regardless of the number of television sets in the home or at other locations owned by the household such as summer houses Although the fee also paid for radio broadcasting there was no specific fee for radios since the radio licence was abolished in 1978 150 Television licence evasion was suspected to be around 11 to 15 per cent 151 Taiwan edit nbsp A Taiwanese TV licence Between 1959 and the 1970s all radio and TV receivers in Taiwan were required to have a licence with an annual fee of NT 60 This was to prevent influence from mainland China s the People s Republic of China channels 152 Thailand edit The Radio Broadcasting and Television Act B E 2498 1955 set a lifetime licence fee of 200 baht equivalent to 2 334 baht in 2020 for ownership of radio and television sets or parts 153 It was abolished in 1959 as television and radio quickly became a vital source of information 154 Countries that have never had a television or broadcasting licence editAndorra edit Radio i Televisio d Andorra the public broadcaster is funded by advertising and government grants with no fee for viewers Brazil edit The federal company Empresa Brasil de Comunicacao which manages TV Brasil and public radio stations Radio MEC and Radio Nacional is financed from the Federal Budget besides profit from licensing and production of programs institutional advertisement and service rendering to public and private institutions 155 The Padre Anchieta Foundation which manages TV Cultura and the Cultura FM and Cultura Brasil radio stations in Sao Paulo receives funds from the state government advertisements and fundraising from the private sector In December 1997 the Education and Culture Tax a state tax in Sao Paulo was instituted to fund the state s public broadcasters TV Cultura and Radio Cultura 156 The tax was charged monthly through electricity bills according to consumers energy consumption 157 158 However the collection of the fee was declared unconstitutional by the Court of Justice of the State of Sao Paulo 159 China edit The current state broadcaster China Central Television CCTV established in 1958 is funded almost entirely through the sale of commercial advertising time although this is supplemented by government funding and a tax of 2 per month from all cable television subscribers in the country Estonia edit In Estonia there are three public TV channels Eesti Televisioon ETV ETV2 and ETV ETV was launched on 27 September 2015 and mostly targets people who speak Russian The funding comes from government grant in aid ETV is currently one of only a few public television broadcasters in the European Union which has neither advertising nor a licence fee and is solely funded by national government grants Commercials in public broadcasting television were stopped in 2002 over concerns that its low prices were damaging the ability of commercial broadcasters to operate The introduction of a licence fee system was considered but ultimately rejected in the face of public opposition 160 Iran edit Iran has never levied television licence fees After the 1979 Islamic Revolution National Iranian Radio and Television was renamed Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting and became the state broadcaster In Iran private broadcasting is illegal Latvia edit Public Broadcasting of Latvia is a consortium of the public radio broadcaster Latvijas Radio and the public TV broadcaster Latvijas Televizija which operates the LTV1 and LTV7 channels After years of debate the public broadcasters ceased airing commercial advertising from January 1 2021 and became fully government funded by the national budget 161 The introduction of a television licence has been previously debated but this was opposed by the government Luxembourg edit Luxembourg has never had a television licence requirement Until 1993 it had no national public broadcaster and it still has no public television broadcaster Radio 100 7 is a radio station funded by the country s Ministry of Culture and by sponsorship arrangements Television in Luxembourg is provided by the commercial network RTL Tele Letzebuerg and channels serving nearby countries Monaco edit Monaco has never had any listener or viewer broadcasting licence fee Since the establishment of Radio Monte Carlo in 1943 and Television Monte Carlo in 1954 both have been funded on a commercial basis with no charge for the audience Nigeria edit Television licences are not used in Nigeria except in the sense of broadcasting licences granted to private networks The federal government s television station NTA Nigerian Television Authority has two broadcast networks NTA 1 is partly funded by central government and partly by advertising revenue and NTA 2 is wholly funded by advertisements Almost all thirty six states have their own television stations funded wholly or substantially by their respective governments Philippines edit Television licensing has never been enacted in the Philippines The state owned television PTV and IBC and radio PBS stations have been funded directly by the government s annual budget Post Soviet states edit See Soviet Union Spain edit RTVE the public broadcaster had been funded by government grants and advertising income since it launched its radio services in 1937 and television services in 1956 Although the state owned national radio station removed advertising in 1986 its TV channels continued broadcasting commercials until 2009 Since 2010 the public broadcaster is funded by government grants and taxes paid by private nationwide TV broadcasters and telecommunications companies 162 United States edit In the United States privately owned commercial radio and television stations funded by advertising proved to be commercially viable Some governments owned non commercial radio stations such as WNYC owned by New York City from 1922 to 1997 or educational television stations but most broadcasters were private companies or were owned by charitable organizations supported by donations The Corporation for Public Broadcasting CPB was created by the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 and this led to the creation of the Public Broadcasting Service PBS and National Public Radio NPR These are loose networks of non commercial educational NCE stations owned by state and local governments educational institutions and non profit organizations They are more similar to U S commercial networks than European public broadcasters Annual funding for public television in the United States was US 445 5 million in 2014 including interest revenue 163 The CPB and virtually all government owned stations are funded through general taxes donations from individuals usually in the form of memberships and charitable organizations Individual programs on public broadcasters may be supported by underwriting spots paid for by sponsors Between 53 and 60 percent of public television s revenues come from private membership donations and grants 164 so most stations solicit individual donations by fundraising pledge drives or telethons which can disrupt regularly scheduled programming Normal programming can be replaced with specials aimed at a wider audience to solicit new members and donations 165 In some rural areas of the United States broadcast translator districts exist which are funded by an ad valorem property tax on all property within the district 166 or by 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 167 In addition fines can be levied on viewers who watch TV from the translator signals without paying the fee As the Federal Communications Commission has exclusive jurisdiction over broadcast stations whether a local authority can legally impose a fee merely to watch an over the air broadcast station is questionable In some areas the tax is charged regardless of whether the resident watches TV from the translator In other areas the property owner may certify that they do not use the translator district s services and get a waiver Cable television franchise fee agreements are added to cable TV bills to fund public educational and government access PEG television for the municipality that granted the franchise agreement State governments may also add taxes These taxes generate controversy since they sometimes go into the general taxation fund or there is double taxation where public access television is paid for by taxes but the cable television operator has to pay for equipment or facilities or has to pay for local municipality projects that are not related to television Uruguay edit Uruguay does not have a fee or TV licence The two public broadcasters in the country Canal 5 and RNU are funded by government grants 168 Vietnam edit Vietnam has never had a television licence fee Advertising was introduced in the early 1990s as a way to generate revenue for television stations The current state broadcaster Vietnam Television receives the majority of its funds through advertising and some from government subsidies Local television stations in Vietnam are operated in a similar way Detection of television licence evasion editIn many jurisdictions television licences are enforced Detection of illegal television sets can be as simple as observing the lights and sounds of a television used in a property without a licence Television detector vans have been employed by TV Licensing in the United Kingdom with various detection techniques reported An effort to compel the BBC to release key information about the television detection equipment under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 was rejected 169 The BBC stated Detection equipment is complex to deploy as its use is strictly governed by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 RIPA and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers British Broadcasting Corporation Order 2001 RIPA and the Order outline how relevant investigatory powers are to be used by the BBC and ensure compliance with human rights 169 The BBC resisted further Freedom of Information Act requests seeking data on the estimated evasion rate for each of the nations of the UK 170 Opinions of television licensing systems editAdvocates argue that a main advantage of television fully funded by a licence fee is that programming can be enjoyed without interruptions for advertisements Europeans tend to watch television for one hour less per day than North Americans 171 but because of differences in advertising may be enjoying the same amount of television content in that shorter time Television funded by advertising is not truly free of cost to consumers as the cost of advertising is passed on in the price of products Critics of receiver licensing point out that a licence is a regressive form of taxation 172 In contrast costs from advertising are paid proportion to the consumption of advertised goods The experience with broadcast deregulation in Europe suggests that demand for commercial free content is not as high as once thought citation needed In 2004 the UK government s Department for Culture Media and Sport asked the public what it thought of various funding alternatives Fifty nine per cent of respondents agreed with the statement Advertising would interfere with my enjoyment of programmes while 31 per cent disagreed 71 per cent agreed with the statement subscription funding would be unfair to those that could not pay while 16 per cent disagreed An independent study showed that more than two thirds of people polled thought that the licence fee should be dropped due to other subscription television services The Department concluded that the licence fee was the least worse sic option 173 and in 2005 the British government described the licence fee system as the best and most widely supported funding model even though it is not perfect 174 175 In 2018 there was a referendum in Switzerland on whether TV licensing should be scrapped 176 63 64 in which voters rejected abolition by 71 6 per cent to 28 4 per cent 66 Legislators in Bulgaria 177 and Serbia 178 have attempted to introduce a television licence In Bulgaria a fee is specified in the broadcasting law but has never been implemented Lithuania 179 and Latvia have debated the introduction of a licence fee but have not legislated for one In the case of Latvia some analysts believe this is partly because the government is unwilling to relinquish control of Latvijas Televizija which it gains from directly funding the service who 180 The Czech Republic 181 increased the proportion of funding that the public broadcaster gets from licence fees justifying the move with the argument that the existing public service broadcasters cannot compete with commercial broadcasters for advertising revenues Internet based broadcast access editThe Internet allows television and radio programmes to be easily accessed outside their country of origin Where national broadcasters have streaming services there would be no technological difficulties in accessing these programmes internationally However countries with TV licensing systems often do not have a way for potential international viewers to pay for a licence Instead they work to prevent international access because licensing rules have not adapted to the possible global audience See also editBroadcast licence City of license Public broadcasting Public radio Public televisionReferences edit a b Regulations 97 Amateur Experimental Certificate The Canadian Gazette 27 June 1914 page 4550 a b European Convention on Transfrontier Television CETS No 132 Council of Europe 5 May 1989 Retrieved 14 June 2010 License Fee Encyclopedia of Television 1st Edition Chicago Museum of Broadcast Communications 1997 Archived from the original on 4 September 2013 Retrieved 21 November 2006 https www derstandard at story 3000000199068 orf beitrag plus landesabgabe die steirer zahlen am meisten a b Redevance TV questions suite a sa suppression en 2018 Portail de la Wallonie in French Retrieved 24 February 2018 BHRT pressured by debts faces hard times 25 April 2022 Croatian Radio Television HRT Monthly Fee Everything You Need to Know total croatia news com 2 March 2023 Archived from the original on 1 April 2023 Retrieved 2 March 2023 a b Czech Television license fees in Czech a b Czech Radio license fees in Czech a b 1 statista com Retrieved on January 2 2023 Annual TV and radio license fees in Denmark from 2010 to 2021 a b End of the road for TV license fees Yle Uutiset 27 November 2012 Retrieved 12 July 2015 a b France s TV licence scrapped to help with cost of living crisis 4 August 2022 What is the German TV tax Rundfunkbeitrag 2 March 2023 ERT Greek Radio and Television fee Law 4324 29 04 15 Public Power Corporation Retrieved 18 May 2021 Ujra eltorlik az uzembentartasi dijat NEPSZAVA online Archived from the original on 17 October 2017 Retrieved 12 July 2015 About licensing fees in Iceland in icelandic Ruv is Archived from the original on 9 October 2014 Retrieved 27 January 2018 TV licences 2 March 2023 https www informazionefiscale it esenzione canone Rai 2024 chi non paga domanda scadenza esonero a b Za RTVS uz nebudete platit ani cent Koncesionarske poplatky sa definitivne rusia tvnoviny sk 22 February 2023 The radio and TV fee is being replaced Radiotjanst Archived from the original on 16 November 2018 Retrieved 1 January 2019 Fee Overview SERAFE AG Retrieved 27 June 2022 Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on 1 May 2015 Retrieved 31 July 2018 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link Ubersicht GIS in German Retrieved 24 February 2018 https www parlament gv at dokument XXIV III 63 imfname 159777 pdf https web archive org web 20150723110038 https www vwgh gv at medien ro 2015150015 pdf 4zdiv7 Warum die GIS freien TVS jetzt noch besser werden 13 September 2021 Haushaltsabgabe Alle Infos uber den ORF Beitrag der ab 2024 die GIS Gebuhr ersetzt 12 July 2023 Open Society Institute EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program Network Media Program 2005 Television across Europe regulation policy and independence Bosnia and Herzegovina PDF EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program EUMAP Open Society Institute OSI pp 253 338 ISBN 978 1 891385 35 3 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link a b Croatian Parliament 19 February 2003 Zakon o Hrvatskoj radioteleviziji The Croatian Radio Television Act in Croatian Narodne novine NN 2003 25 Retrieved 13 June 2010 Open Society Institute EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program Network Media Program 2005 Television across Europe regulation policy and independence Croatia PDF EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program EUMAP Open Society Institute OSI pp 425 481 ISBN 978 1 891385 35 3 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Statut Hrvatske Radiotelevizije in Croatian Croatian Radiotelevision 26 June 2008 Archived from the original on 9 July 2014 Retrieved 14 June 2010 Der neue Rundfunkbeitrag Burgerinnen und Burger Rund um das neue Modell rundfunkbeitrag de Archived from the original on 17 March 2013 Retrieved 17 March 2013 Der neue Rundfunkbeitrag Unternehmen und Institutionen Rund um das neue Modell rundfunkbeitrag de Archived from the original on 17 March 2013 Retrieved 17 March 2013 Costello Patrick 17 December 2016 Germans risk fines and jail to protest public TV tax USA Today Retrieved 27 April 2018 The licence fee Rundfunkbeitrag For citizens PDF rundfunkbeitrag de Archived from the original PDF on 27 April 2018 Retrieved 27 April 2018 Jahresbericht 2016 Annual Report 2016 PDF rundfunkbeitrag de in German Archived from the original PDF on 14 February 2018 Retrieved 27 April 2018 ERT kai DEH Pws mporeite na mhn plhrwnete anagkastika ERT and PPC How can you not necessarily pay AWMN Forum 16 May 2006 Archived from the original on 21 September 2007 Retrieved 13 January 2011 Dabilis Andy ERT To Close Re Open With Smaller Force Greek Reporter Retrieved 11 June 2013 TV Licence Anpost ie Retrieved 13 January 2011 Television Licences Citizensinformation ie 20 July 2010 Archived from the original on 10 May 2010 Retrieved 13 January 2011 Comptroller and Auditor General PDF Audgen gov ie Archived PDF from the original on 11 August 2007 Retrieved 13 January 2011 About RTE Raidio Teilifis Eireann 30 January 2007 Retrieved 13 January 2011 Information on subscription to the Italian Television Abbonamenti rai it Retrieved 12 July 2015 RAI Radiotelevisione italiana Abbonamenti Abbonamenti rai it Retrieved 27 January 2018 Information on subscription to the Italian Television Abbonamenti rai it Retrieved 12 July 2015 Canone Rai in bolletta 2019 Fisco e Tasse Reports and Financials as at 31 December 2014 PDF Rai it Archived PDF from the original on 24 September 2015 Retrieved 15 January 2016 Abonament RTV RTV poczta polska pl Presenters Peter Gentle 5 January 2012 Dateline Warsaw Poland s public media funding crisis Dateline Warsaw Warsaw Polskie Radio Polish Radio External Service Archived from the original on 9 January 2012 Retrieved 8 January 2012 Poland Growing hate speech Reporters without borders Reporters without Borders Retrieved 20 March 2020 Tilles Daniel 15 February 2020 Polish ruling party grants more funds to state media described as propaganda mouthpieces Notes From Poland Retrieved 20 March 2020 Versao pdf 22 August 2003 Lei 30 2003 2003 08 22 DRE Dre pt Retrieved 15 March 2021 PCP vai propor que a RTP volte a receber indemnizacao anual do Estado 19 February 2019 Ainda nao e desta que a RTP tera aumento da contribuicao para o audiovisual 16 December 2019 Serbia s public broadcaster to be financed from budget B92 3 April 2013 Archived from the original on 2 May 2013 Retrieved 23 August 2013 RTV Slovenija Mesecna visina RTV prispevka dolocena v Zakonu o spremembah in dopolnitvah zakona o izvrsevanju proracunov Republike Slovenije za leti 2013 in 2014 Ur l RS st 46 2013 in Slovenian Retrieved 28 August 2013 RTV Slovenija Annual Report 2007 PDF Retrieved 13 November 2008 Fee Overview SERAFE AG Retrieved 14 January 2022 Households with no means of receiving radio or television serafe ch Retrieved 20 March 2020 Homepage serafe ch Retrieved 20 March 2020 OFCOM Federal Office of Communications Fee for businesses bakom admin ch Retrieved 20 March 2020 ChF Chancellerie federale Initiative populaire federale Oui a la suppression des redevances radio et television suppression des redevances Billag bk admin ch in French Retrieved 28 January 2018 a b OUI a la suppression des redevances Billag No billag nobillag ch in French Archived from the original on 16 January 2018 Retrieved 28 January 2018 a b Non a no Billag votations non nobillag ch in French Archived from the original on 11 July 2018 Retrieved 28 January 2018 Parliament rejects No Billag licence fee initiative SWI swissinfo ch Retrieved 28 January 2018 a b UPDATED Swiss vote against plan to scrap compulsory TV licence fee 4 March 2018 Retrieved 7 March 2018 How will the BBC detect people watching iPlayer without a licence The Guardian 8 August 2016 Retrieved 16 May 2017 TV Licence types and costs TV Licensing tvlicensing co uk Further Issues for BBC Charter Review PDF House of Lords Session Report The Stationery Office Limited 3 March 2006 Archived from the original PDF on 20 March 2009 Retrieved 15 August 2008 Nowell Andrew 31 July 2015 TV licence fines branded unfair Wigan Evening Post Archived from the original on 30 September 2015 Retrieved 31 December 2015 Darbyshire Adrian 2 September 2015 Record number prosecuted for TV licence evasion Isle of Man Courier Archived from the original on 6 September 2015 Retrieved 31 December 2015 2008 BBC Annual Report Archived 27 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine BBC Retrieved 17 November 2008 BBC World Service A licence fee funded service PDF Downloads bbc co uk June 2013 Archived PDF from the original on 8 August 2013 Retrieved 27 January 2018 House of Commons The future of the BBC World Service Foreign Affairs Committee Parliament of the United Kingdom Archived from the original on 21 June 2015 Retrieved 12 July 2015 Channel 4 FAQ Channel 4 Television Corporation Retrieved 5 April 2020 Channel Four Television Corporation was set up by an Act of Parliament It is a publicly owned not for profit corporation and does not have any shareholders Weekly viewing summary Barb co uk Retrieved 26 June 2016 Graphic com gh GBC to re introduce payment of TV Licence fee a b August 2003 The Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation A Report Archived 3 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine Sir Victor Glover Prime Minister s Office Republic of Mauritius Retrieved 21 November 2006 Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation Archived from the original on 10 October 2006 Retrieved 22 August 2006 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Have you paid your TV licence yet Namibia Economist 2 November 2001 Archived from the original on 6 October 2006 Retrieved 21 November 2006 Tyson Robin 2 June 2006 The Future of the NBC The Namibian Archived from the original on 19 April 2014 Retrieved 19 April 2014 Pay Yours Tvlic co za Archived from the original on 10 January 2011 Retrieved 13 January 2011 Receiving Fee System Nhk or jp Retrieved 22 December 2016 Julian Ryall Japan Cracking Down On NHK License Fee Nonpayment The Hollywood Reporter 15 November 2006 Retrieved 22 December 2016 Respect BBC the role model as NHK tries to beat scandal The Times 4 February 2005 After stunning election win anti NHK party sets higher goal The Asahi Shimbun Archived from the original on 25 July 2019 Retrieved 30 July 2019 AsiaMedia PAKISTAN PTV to earn Rs4bn through licence fee New collection system Asiamedia ucla edu 15 June 2004 Archived from the original on 17 September 2011 Retrieved 13 January 2011 TV수신료와 수신서비스 Kbs co kr Archived from the original on 14 April 2005 Retrieved 13 January 2011 Kbs Global English kbs co kr Archived from the original on 29 June 2008 Retrieved 13 January 2011 1974 75 Budget speech by the Hon Frank Crean APH Hansard 17 September 1974 p1290 introduced through the Broadcasting and Television Act 1974 Cth Autoradio Television Tout Savoir Sur la Redevance PDF in French Archived from the original on 9 May 2006 Retrieved 19 July 2006 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Laws and Regulations Canada The Year Book of Wireless Telegraphy amp Telephony 1914 edition pages 131 132 Regulations 18 Amateur Experimental Licenses The Canadian Gazette 27 June 1914 page 4546 Mary Vipond Listening In The First Decade of Canadian Broadcasting 1922 1932 McGill Queen s University Press 1992 pages 22 23 Radiotelegraph Regulations License to Operate a Radio Receiving Equipment The Canada Gazette 23 September 1922 page 7 Budget Speech Delivered by Hon D C Abbott Minister of Finance in the House of Commons Thursday February 19 1953 page 21 gc ca Published by Julia Stoll 3 February 2020 Denmark TV and radio license fees 2010 2020 Statista Retrieved 15 March 2021 Bekendtgorelse om licens Retsinformation dk 29 June 2013 Retrieved 25 September 2013 Forside dr dk OmDR Dr dk Retrieved 13 January 2011 Denmark scraps public TV licence fee Broadband TV News 18 March 2018 Sa meget af din licens far staten Medier amp reklamer Business dk Retrieved 13 January 2011 Tama domain on varattu asiakkaallemme Tv maksu fi Retrieved 26 June 2016 Tama domain on varattu asiakkaallemme Tv maksu fi Retrieved 26 June 2016 Article in Finnish Public Broadcasting Tax for individual taxpayers Archived from the original on 6 July 2018 Retrieved 6 July 2018 DDM 20 January 2005 A quoi sert la redevance audiovisuelle Ddm gouv fr Archived from the original on 31 October 2010 Retrieved 13 January 2011 Emmanuel Macron promises to scrap TV licence fee if re elected the Guardian 8 March 2022 Retrieved 8 March 2022 Chief Minister s Budget Speech Archived 7 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine Government of Gibraltar Information Services 28 June 2006 Retrieved 21 November 2006 Commonwealth Secretariat Gibraltar Commonwealth live poptech coop Archived from the original on 28 September 2007 Retrieved 26 June 2016 Open Society Institute EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program Network Media Program 2005 Television across Europe regulation policy and independence Hungary PDF EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program EUMAP Open Society Institute OSI pp 789 864 ISBN 978 1 891385 35 3 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Gusztav Kosztolanyi 31 July 1999 Screen Test TV broadcasting in Hungary Central Europe Review Archived from the original on 24 March 2010 Retrieved 14 June 2010 Gusztav Kosztolanyi 6 August 1999 No one s jamming their transmission TV broadcasting in Hungary Episode Two Privatisation and scandal Central Europe Review Archived from the original on 7 June 2011 Retrieved 14 June 2010 Hungary s media landscape Wieninternational 29 January 2009 Archived from the original on 14 August 2010 Retrieved 14 June 2010 EBU urges rethink of cuts to Hungary s public broadcaster European Broadcasting Union 11 November 2009 Archived from the original on 7 June 2011 Retrieved 14 June 2010 Afnotadeild RUV Archived from the original on 5 October 2012 Retrieved 19 October 2012 Undang undang UU No 12 Tahun 1947 Menetapkan Pajak Radio atas Semua Pesawat Penerimaan Radio Financial Audit Board of Indonesia Retrieved 27 June 2020 Kitley P 2000 Television Nation and Culture in Indonesia Ohio University Center for International Studies Djulianto Susantio 22 August 2016 Pajak Radio dan Pajak Televisi Hilang Ditelan Modernisasi Kompasiana com Retrieved 27 June 2020 Iuran TVRI Iuran Penyiaran Televisi Republik Indonesia Stasiun Surabaya Archived from the original on 24 December 2001 Retrieved 26 August 2021 State broadcast journalists condemn ban on expressing political opinions The Times of Israel Retrieved 26 June 2016 gov gov il a b c Govt to scrap radio licence next year The Straits Times 17 August 1990 Retrieved 15 December 2023 a b Colour TV fees up The Straits Times 26 September 1985 Retrieved 17 December 2023 a b TV LICENCE FEE MAY GO UP The Straits Times 2 April 1998 Retrieved 17 December 2023 KL to scrap radio licence fees The Straits Times 27 February 1989 Retrieved 17 December 2023 Home radios may not need licences by year end The Straits Times 10 September 1985 Retrieved 12 December 2023 REVENUE LOSS The Straits Times 11 June 1995 Retrieved 17 December 2023 Ministry proposes prepayment of licence fee for new TV sets The Straits Times 8 August 1995 Retrieved 17 December 2023 TV FEES MAY GO UP The Straits Times 13 July 1996 Retrieved 17 December 2023 KL govt to refund RM67m in TV fees The Straits Times 1 November 1999 Retrieved 17 December 2023 Govt to refund 9 2 million to TV licence holders The Straits Times 15 January 2000 Retrieved 17 December 2023 Lee Chun Wah Goonasekera Anura Venkatraman S eds 2003 Asian Communication Handbook Asian Mass Communication Research and Information Centre p 171 ISBN 9971 905 97 3 Retrieved 23 January 2020 May 2002 European Benchmarking Public Service Broadcasters in the Digital Era Archived 9 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine Circom Regional European Association of Regional Television Retrieved 21 November 2006 a b May 2006 Analysis of Responses on Fees for Broadcasting and Fees for Non Commercial and Passive Services Archived 15 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine Electronic Communications Committee ECC within the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations CEPT Investing in the Next Generation Archived 16 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine Economic and Fiscal Forecast Summary New Zealand Treasury 1999 Borce Manevski MA in Communications and Media 2005 Television across Europe regulation policy and independence Republic of North Macedonia PDF EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program EUMAP Open Society Institute OSI pp 1165 1230 ISBN 978 1 891385 35 3 MRT Archived from the original on 11 August 2018 Retrieved 10 August 2018 5 Who has to pay TV licence fee Lisens NRK Archived from the original on 18 June 2012 Retrieved 24 January 2013 Fakta om kringkastingsavgiften Lisens NRK Archived from the original on 31 December 2009 Retrieved 14 January 2010 Ny finansiering av NRK sporsmal og svar NRK in Norwegian 2 September 2019 Archived from the original on 18 April 2021 Retrieved 12 April 2021 Rumaniens Parlament kippt Rundfunkgebuhr eurotopics net 4 November 2016 S pore TV starts next month The Straits Times 3 January 1963 Retrieved 8 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November 2018 Nyheter SVT 16 October 2017 Sa ska public service finansieras i framtiden SVT Nyheter in Swedish Retrieved 15 November 2018 廣播收音機執照 TV and Radio Licensing in Taiwan Taiwan Historica Archived from the original on 18 November 2019 Retrieved 9 November 2019 phrarachbyytiwithyukracayesiyngaelawithyuothrthsn ph s 2498 Radio Broadcasting and Television Act B E 2498 PDF Royal Thai Government Gazette in Thai No 72 Section 11 237 248 8 February 1955 Retrieved 2 November 2023 phrarachbyytiwithyukracayesiyngaelawithyuothrthsn chbbthi 2 ph s 2502 Radio Broadcasting and Television Act No 2 B E 2502 PDF Royal Thai Government Gazette in Thai No 76 Section 43 special edition pages 1 6 7 April 1959 Retrieved 2 November 2023 Empresa Brasil de Comunicacao tera diferentes formas de financiamento Agencia Brasil EBC Archived from the original on 21 August 2008 Retrieved 2 July 2018 Lei nº 9 904 de 30 de dezembro de 1997 Legislative Assembly of State of Sao Paulo in Brazilian Portuguese 30 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Broadcasting Revenue Fiscal Year 2005 PDF Archived from the original PDF on 15 May 2011 Retrieved 10 March 2011 Getler Michael 24 March 2006 Pledging Allegiance or March Madness PBS Ombudsman Retrieved 22 May 2006 TV FM Broadcast Service City of Aspen and Pitkin County Colorado Aspenpitkin com Archived from the original on 13 December 2010 Retrieved 13 January 2011 Chapter 3 32 TELEVISION TRANSLATOR SERVICE CHARGE Monocounty ca gov Archived from the original on 15 November 2010 Retrieved 13 January 2011 Ley N 19 307 Centro de Informacion Oficial in Spanish Retrieved 20 October 2022 a b Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on 7 April 2014 Retrieved 25 March 2014 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link Ally Tibbitt 29 September 2021 BBC criticised for lack of transparency over licence fee evasion The Ferret Retrieved 1 October 2021 North America watches the most TV averaging four hours 28 minutes viewing per day Europeans average three hours 35 minutes BBC News 12 April 2005 Retrieved 13 January 2011 BBC Review should consider licence fee concessions Press release IPPR 27 December 2003 Archived from the original on 29 June 2008 Retrieved 21 November 2006 Review of the BBC s Royal Charter What you said about the BBC PDF July 2004 Archived from the original PDF on 19 December 2005 Retrieved 13 January 2011 March 2005 Review of the BBC s Royal Charter A strong BBC independent of government BBC Green Paper Department for Culture Media and Sport Licence fee needs more scrutiny BBC News 12 June 2006 Retrieved 21 November 2006 ChF Chancellerie federale Initiative populaire federale Oui a la suppression des redevances radio et television suppression des redevances Billag bk admin ch in French Retrieved 28 January 2018 Dather Kerstin Alexander Scheuer 2000 The Financing of Public Service Broadcasting in Selected Central and Eastern European States IRIS Legal Observations of the European Audiovisual Observatory European Audiovisual Observatory 14 20 Archived from the original on 29 June 2001 Retrieved 21 November 2006 Open Society Institute EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program Network Media Program 2005 Television across Europe regulation policy and independence Serbia PDF EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program EUMAP Open Society Institute OSI pp 1315 1383 ISBN 978 1 891385 35 3 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Open Society Institute EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program Network Media Program 2005 Television across Europe regulation policy and independence Lithuania PDF EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program EUMAP Open Society Institute OSI pp 1019 1075 ISBN 978 1 891385 35 3 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Open Society Institute EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program Network Media Program 2005 Television across Europe regulation policy and independence Latvia PDF EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program EUMAP Open Society Institute OSI pp 955 1017 ISBN 978 1 891385 35 3 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link May 2006 Ceska Televize 2006 Archived 29 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine Czech Television External Relations External links editTV licensing authorities edit Broadcasting Fee Association international organisation for television licence fee collecting organisations A list of TV licence authorities by the European Audiovisual Observatory Billag Switzerland Serafe Switzerland Licenskontoret Denmark PEMRA Pakistan Beitragsservice Germany ORF GIS Austria Radiotjanst Sweden TV Licences South Africa TV Licensing United Kingdom TV maksuhallinto Finland Archived 17 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Television licence amp oldid 1222675025, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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