Too many TV's in the UK?

[Bobvfr]

I think the UK is suffering a glut of TV's as prices seem to be tumbling down at the moment.

I am off to a shop tomorrow to get a 50inch HD TV for ?299 (Includes sales tax), OK it's a basic TV but it's having my Xbox One plugged in to be the "Smart" bit.

But this isn't the only good deal, I have seen 42inch 4K TV's for ?699, last year this would have been ?2,000 or more.

No point in buying 4K this year as there are so few ways to get it's benefit, not into 3D, so I am after just a basic, large TV so the above at ?299 is a good way of sorting that out and the wife gets the current 42inch one for the bedroom.

Any one else suffering from too many tellies?

 

[EBUK]

Televisions are dirt cheap. Trouble is, there's nothing worth watching. I gave up my TV license 6 months ago and haven't missed it at all.

I now have a useless black rectangular screen in the corner of the room. We don't have games consoles, so it just sits there, doing nothing more than gather dust.

 

[palandri]

Televisions are dirt cheap. Trouble is, there's nothing worth watching. I gave up my TV license 6 months ago and haven't missed it at all.

I now have a useless black rectangular screen in the corner of the room. We don't have games consoles, so it just sits there, doing nothing more than gather dust.

How much does a TV license cost in the UK?

 

[jmshub]

TV prices have fallen everywhere. My brother-in-law got a 50" screen from Amazon for $300 USD, I think during the Christmas season. We pay far too much each month for service from DirecTV. When our contract is up, my suggestion to my wife will be to drop our service. Most of the TV we actually watch is Netflix on our Roku.

How does your TV license work in the UK?

 

[Bobvfr]

The TV license is ?145 per year and I believe that pretty much supports the BBC (All services so TV, Radio and web).

I have to say the BBC still put out some pretty good programming even though the Saturday night line up is dumbed down for the mass audience.

I reckon 50% of what we watch is BBC, I personally like BBC 4 for the documentary style programming (History, arts, music, science) and BBC 3 for Family Guy :smile:, I am afraid I am still a "Watch it when it's on" person, we have Netflix and catchup services on all our devices, but mainly put the telly on and watch it when broadcast.

Being a bit older than a lot of you and having a good memory, I can put some historical spin on this.

Up until I was in my 20's only the rich would actually buy a TV, the vast majority rented, even what we would call middle class, buying a TV would have been relative to a few months wages.

This has fallen steadily over the years, a couple of years ago with the switch to LED, a mid sized (Say 40inch) would have been nearer a months wages, but now a 50inch (And it's not a one off special deal, the shop in question has plenty of stock) are selling this 50 inch at almost a weekly wage, if I didn't have any other outgoings me and the wife could buy several of them in a month with our take home pay.

I would guess if we had another looting riot in London the TV's would get left in the shop as every one already has enough, whereas Butchers shops would be in the front line for looting.......

 

[Bobvfr]

Just thought this through, I would guess the cost of the TV license back in the 70's was about the same as one months TV rental or less, now you can buy a 32inch flat screen HD TV for one years license cost......

And you can probably get a cheap TV for less than the price of a Turkey and a good large joint of Beef, watch out you butcher's shops, the looters are coming :smile:

 

[palandri]

TV prices have fallen everywhere. My brother-in-law got a 50" screen from Amazon for $300 USD, I think during the Christmas season. We pay far too much each month for service from DirecTV. When our contract is up, my suggestion to my wife will be to drop our service. Most of the TV we actually watch is Netflix on our Roku.

How does your TV license work in the UK?

Since you have DirecTV, what do you use for internet access?

 

[Lee Power]

Speaking of BBC Three, most of the output is repeats, Its about time Family Guy Blue Harvest followed by American Dad Stan of Arabia was shown again, its been a couple of months. The last tv I had was 25 years old & still working fine when I replaced it & the only reason it was replaced was because I was sick of trying to watch 16:9 output on a 4:3 screen & having the picture edges cut of, really annoying watching sport. I doubt the smart led tv that's replaced it will last 25 years.

 

[EBUK]

How does your TV license work in the UK?

It's about ?145 a year. But you need it if you use any device to watch or record television programmes as they are broadcast from anywhere in the world.

So, if I record an advert from Tonga on my smart-fridge, even if I never watch that advert, I need to pay the license fee.

 

[Muessig]

I've got a 42" Sony TV here where I live in the UK and I'm a bit of a mixture. I tend to watch some programs live but others are through Netflix or Amazon Prime - I think the rate is at about 50%.

Last time I bought a TV I had to pay about ?350 for it - I have no idea how much TV's have dropped in value, but from what you say in the OP they're really free-falling!

 

[eusty]

So, if I record an advert from Tonga on my smart-fridge, even if I never watch that advert, I need to pay the license fee.

I don't think that's correct as the licence is only needed for live broadcasts. If you watch recorded or time shifted material, then a licence isn't required.

 

[Bobvfr]

Popped down to "Richer sounds" today and gave the man "?289 and came out of the shop with my new Blaupunkt 50 inch HD LED TV, OK I admit it isn't very smart, but it's now partnered up with the Xbox One it's as smart as most if not a darn sight smarter :smile:

Picture quality is superb, far better than the Panasonic it replaced, don't know what it sounds like as the sound is handled by my receiver and large speakers.

 

[gMaesterUK]

I don't think that's correct as the licence is only needed for live broadcasts. If you watch recorded or time shifted material, then a licence isn't required.

You need a licence if you record or watch live TV via whatever medium (TV, DVR, laptop, mobile etc), I believe the BBC was recently trying to ask the Govt for a change of rules, which would have meant if you wanted to watch Netflix or Amazon Instant (or any other streamed show) you needed a licence. Don't think that request was successful.

G.

 

[gMaesterUK]

Back to the OP, you can't have too many TV's nor cheap prices... Got a LG 3D LED TV the other year (late 2013), and will probably change it for a 4k TV later this year if prices continue there trajectory.

Nowadays, it's a waste of time going for below 40", even for a bedroom TV, except if you don't have the space...

G.

 

[Bobvfr]

In my opening post I mentioned a 4K TV for ?699 but have seen them as low as ?499 for 42 inch.

I think 4k will come into it's own in about 2 years, don't know when UK companies plan to do 4K broadcasting.

 

[gMaesterUK]

Only Netflix have confirmed 4k on some of their newer shows.

The BBC recorded the Olympics in 8k, but I don't even think they're looking at 4k for a couple years...

G.