The Fox Report
Barry Fox’s technology column
Paying the price for not buying a TV licence
E
veryone (in the UK) has their own view of
the BBC Licence Fee – who should pay and how
much, if anything (see box below). My personal
view of the Beeb’s budgeting is coloured by years of
doing freelance work at pittance pay for unfortunate
programme producers who were starved of the budget
they needed to do a good job – while broadcast stars and
corporation managers were overtly overpaid. One early
January I was in a lift at Broadcasting House when one
‘suit’ commiserated with another: ‘I expect you’ve come
back to a pile of problems’. ‘No problem,’ said the senior
suit. ‘I’ll just sort through it and delegate’.
But the law is the law – until it changes – and in theory,
anyone of any age or gender not destitute and not buying
a licence and watching TV content on any device can
end up locked up. So, are people actually going to jail
for watching but not paying?
I was recently inside a women’s prison, HMP Bronzefield in Ashford, Middlesex. I go there for live theatre and
musical events staged for charity inside prisons by the
enterprising Grange Park Pimlico Opera group. Previous
productions have included Our House and Sweet Charity.
This time it was Betty Blue Eyes, the musical comedy
derived from Alan Bennett’s film A Private Function. A
core cast of professional actors and musicians perform
with a group of prisoners, auditioned and rehearsed by
Funding the BBC
The BBC is funded via a non-optional, paid-for licence
for anyone watching any TV programme – not just one
from the BBC. It is a form of ‘quasi-taxation’. For further
details, see the Wiki page: https://bit.ly/pe-feb23-beeb
1551W IP68 miniature enclosures
the professional producers. Set design, sound and lighting design is top notch. It’s an all-round good enterprise.
After the performance, the deputy director, gave a
speech in which she referred to the disproportionately
high numbers of women in prison for not having TV licences. Is it really the case that many more women than
men are in prison for not buying a TV licence, I asked
her after her speech? Yes, she assured. So, I did some
independent digging.
To be accurate, people can go to jail for not paying
fines imposed for not having a licence, but not for not
having a licence per se. And more women are prosecuted
because they are more likely to be at home and open the
door to an inspector during the day. Even if they are at
home, men are less obliging.
Most important, the government’s Department for
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) released an
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Practical Electronics | February | 2023
official statement in January 2021
which clearly says: ‘As of 30 June
2020, there were zero people in prison
for failing to pay the fine in respect
of the non-payment of a TV licence
in England and Wales.’
Does this mean that over the last
couple of years, largely during Covid lockdown, women have been
imprisoned for TV licence evasion?
I asked both the prison director and
her deputy director, who made the
claim, to clarify. After a month and
reminders neither has responded. But
I shall try asking them both again,
especially as the DCMS has now
confirmed, unequivocally: ‘There is
no one currently in prison as a result
of not paying fines for not having a
TV licence.
‘The penalty for TV licence evasion
is a fine. Imprisonment is pursued
rarely and only as a matter of last
resort for those wilfully refusing to
pay the fine or culpably neglecting
to pay. The courts will do everything
within their powers to trace those
who do not pay and use a variety
of means to ensure the recovery of
criminal fines and financial penalties. In 2020 and 2021, there were
no admissions into prison associated
with failing to pay a fine in respect
of the non-payment of a TV licence
in England and Wales.’
The DCMS spokesman added: ‘The
BBC’s funding model is facing challenges and it is right that we examine
the future of the licence fee. The way
people consume media has changed
radically since the licence fee was
introduced. The DCMS Secretary of
State has been clear she will decide
policy based on the evidence and the
government, as we have committed to,
will carry out a review of the licence
fee funding model ahead of the next
Charter period.’
Horrific?
A fun footnote: The obviously peeved
Grange Park producers of the show I
saw had been forced to cancel a longplanned production of The Little Shop
of Horrors (a comedy about a maneating plant) because – to quote the
producers – ‘the Ministry of Justice
/ Prison Service suddenly decided
at a very late stage that the title was
too sensitive, despite having known
about our plans for the production
for months.’
Theatre, movie and book buffs will
of course know that the short-notice
replacement, Betty Blue Eyes, has fun
with a criminal scheme to break the
strict rationing laws in force in Britain after WW2, centring on plans to
brutally kill a pet pig with a hammer.
But this is not ‘sensitive’, it seems.
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tekkiepix pic of the month – Compusonics digital recording
The Compusonics Studio DSP-2000
Series was billed as, ‘The world’s first
super-micro, multi-processor computer
configured as a single-user workstation
for audio mixing and recording of live
music in a variety of digital formats.’
E
ver heard of Compusonics,
the company that offered floppy
disc recording long anyone
dreamt of MP3?
In June 1984, US company Compusonics announced a digital audio
recorder which stored 45 minutes of
stereo on a 5.25-inch computer floppy
Practical Electronics | February | 2023
disc. But for two years Compusonics
booths at electronics shows were always
not quite ready for demonstration that
day. Compusonics also promised a
digital video version.
The first working model was shown
at the National Association of Broadcasters Convention in Dallas in 1986.
The computer player cost US$3,000
and played four minutes of stereo or
eight minutes of mono.
Sound quality was poor and the
player stuck and skipped. The video
version could only manage a couple
of coarse pictures per second.
President David Schwartz hired
investment bankers Blinder, Robinson
and Co of Colorado, who provided
potential investors with a prospectus
complete with some 40 press clippings.
BBC TV’s Tomorrow’s World ran
the story, and British company Ferrograph planned to badge a Compusonics
professional recorder for £4,000 in
September 1986.
However, it was not to be, and Compusonics is now forgotten, but recording
sound and pictures on computer is now
commonplace and dirt cheap. Others
reaped the rewards from a great idea
that was ahead of its time.
Practical Electronics is delighted to be
able to help promote Barry Fox’s project
to preserve the visual history of preInternet electronics.
Visit www.tekkiepix.com for fascinating
stories and a chance to support this
unique online collection.
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