View source for Engineering:Television licence

{{Short description|Payment for receiving audiovisual broadcasts}}

A '''television licence''' or '''broadcast receiving licence''' is a payment required in many countries for the reception of [[Engineering:Television broadcasting|television broadcasts]] or the possession of a [[Engineering:Television set|television set]]. In some countries, a licence is also required to own a radio or receive [[Engineering:Radio broadcasting|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==
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.<ref name="babel.hathitrust.org">[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c2605161&view=1up&seq=1512 "Regulations: 97. Amateur Experimental Certificate"],''The Canadian Gazette'', 27 June 1914, page 4550.</ref>

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|date=June 2019}} 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.<ref name="ectt-cets-132">{{cite web
| url = http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/Commun/QueVoulezVous.asp?NT=132&CM=1&CL=ENG
| title = European Convention on Transfrontier Television – CETS No.: 132
| publisher = Council of Europe
| date = 5 May 1989
| access-date =14 June 2010
}}</ref>

==Television licensing by country==

Usage and costs of television licences vary greatly between countries. The Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago<ref name="Encyclopedia of Television">{{cite encyclopedia
| title = License Fee
| encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of Television (1st Edition)
| publisher = Museum of Broadcast Communications
| location = Chicago
| year = 1997
| url = http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/L/htmlL/licensefee/licensefee.htm
| access-date = 21 November 2006
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130904131244/http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/L/htmlL/licensefee/licensefee.htm
| archive-date = 4 September 2013
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> 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==
{| class="sortable wikitable" style="text-align:left"
|+
|- 
! Country
! TV licence required?
! class="unsortable" |Prices and notes
|-
| {{flag|Albania}}
|{{Yes|yes}}
| 800 L
|-
| {{flag|Austria}}
|{{Yes|yes}}
| €251.16–€320.76 per year (TV), €70.80–€90.00 per year (radio)<ref name="Übersicht">{{cite web|title=Übersicht|url=https://www.gis.at/gebuehren/uebersicht/|website=GIS|access-date=24 February 2018|language=de}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Belarus}}
|{{No|no}}
| None exists
|-
| {{flag|Belgium}}
|{{No|no}}
| Abolished: {{cslist|Flemish region and Brussels in 2001|Walloon region on 1 January 2018<ref name = Belgium2018>{{cite web|title=Redevance TV : questions suite à sa suppression en 2018|url=http://www.wallonie.be/fr/actualites/redevance-tv-questions-suite-sa-suppression-en-2018|website=Portail de la Wallonie|access-date=24 February 2018|language=fr}}</ref>}}
|-
| {{flag|Bosnia and Herzegovina}}
|{{Yes|yes}}
| 7.5 KM per month<ref>{{cite web | url=https://china-cee.eu/2022/04/25/bosnia-herzegovina-political-briefing-bhrt-pressured-by-debts-faces-hard-times/ | title=BHRT pressured by debts faces hard times| date=25 April 2022 }}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Bulgaria}}
|{{No|no}}
| Abolished
|-
| {{flag|Croatia}}
|{{Yes|yes}}
| Up to €137<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/39797-croatian|title=Croatian Radio Television (HRT) Monthly Fee: Everything You Need to Know|website=total-croatia-news.com|date=2 March 2023|access-date=2 March 2023|archive-date=1 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401222528/https://www.total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/39797-croatian|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Cyprus}}
|{{No|no}}
| Abolished
|-
| {{flag|Czech Republic}}
|{{Yes|yes}}
| 135 Kč per month (TV),<ref name="CzechTV">[https://poplatky.ceskatelevize.cz/domacnost Czech Television - license fees (in Czech)]</ref> 45 Kč per month (radio)<ref name="CzechRadio">[https://poplatek.rozhlas.cz/domacnosti Czech Radio - license fees (in Czech)]</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Denmark}}
|{{No|no}}
| Abolished<ref name="statista.com">"[https://www.statista.com/statistics/545850/annual-tv-and-radio-licence-fees-in-denmark/]." statista.com. Retrieved on January 2, 2023. "Annual TV and radio license fees in Denmark from 2010 to 2021."</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Estonia}}
|{{No|no}}
| None exists
|-
| {{flag|Finland}}
|{{No|no}}
| Abolished<ref name="End of the road for TV license fees">{{cite web|url=http://yle.fi/uutiset/end_of_the_road_for_tv_license_fees/6392392|title=End of the road for TV license fees|work=Yle Uutiset|date=27 November 2012|access-date=12 July 2015}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|France}}
|{{No|no}}
| Abolished<ref name="walesonline.co.uk">{{cite web | url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/cost-of-living/france-axes-tv-licence-fee-24666231 | title=France's TV licence scrapped to help with cost of living crisis | date=4 August 2022 }}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Georgia}}
|{{No|no}}
| None exists
|-
| {{flag|Germany}}
|{{Yes|yes}}
| €18.36 per month<ref>{{cite web | url=https://allaboutberlin.com/guides/gez-rundfunkbeitrag | title=What is the German TV tax (Rundfunkbeitrag)? | date=2 March 2023 }}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Greece}}
|{{Yes|yes}}
| €3 fee on monthly electricity bills<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dei.gr/en/oikiakoi-pelates/xrisimes-plirofories-gia-to-logariasmo-sas/logariasmos-kai-xrewseis/ti-aforoun-oi-xrewseis-uper-tritwn-efk-eidtelos-5/elliniki-radiofwnia-tileorasi-anwnumi-etaireia-ert|title= ERT (Greek Radio and Television) fee (Law 4324/29.04.15)|work=Public Power Corporation|access-date=18 May 2021}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Hungary}}
|{{No|no}}
| Abolished<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nepszava.hu/articles/article.php?id=324817|title=Újra eltörlik az üzembentartási díjat|work=NÉPSZAVA online|access-date=12 July 2015|archive-date=17 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017214320/http://nepszava.hu/articles/article.php?id=324817|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Iceland}}
|{{No|no}}
| Abolished<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ruv.is/um-ruv/afnotadeild|title=About licensing fees in Iceland in icelandic|website=Ruv.is|access-date=27 January 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009190121/http://ruv.is/um-ruv/afnotadeild|archive-date=9 October 2014}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Ireland}}
|{{Yes|yes}}
| €160.00 per year<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer/phone_internet_tv_and_postal_services/tv_licences.html | title=TV licences | date=2 March 2023 }}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Israel}}
|{{No|no}}
| Car owners pay €41 radio fee
|-
| {{flag|Italy}}
|{{Yes|yes}}
| €90 fee on electricity bills
|-
| {{flag|Latvia}}
|{{No|no}}
| None exists
|-
| {{flag|Liechtenstein}}
|{{No|no}}
| Abolished
|-
| {{flag|Lithuania}}
|{{No|no}}
| None exists
|-
| {{flag|Luxembourg}}
|{{No|no}}
| None exists
|-
| {{flag|Malta}}
|{{No|no}}
| Abolished
|-
| {{flag|Monaco}}
|{{No|no}}
| None exists
|-
| {{flag|Montenegro}}
|{{Yes|yes}}
| €3.50 per month
|-
| {{flag|Netherlands}}
|{{No|no}}
| Abolished
|-
| {{flag|North Macedonia}}
|{{No|no}}
| Abolished
|-
| {{flag|Norway}}
|{{Yes|yes}}
| Compulsory income-related tax up to Kr1700 per person
|-
| {{flag|Poland}}
|{{Yes|yes}}
| 272.40 [[Finance:Polish złoty|zł]] per year
|-
| {{flag|Portugal}}
|{{Yes|yes}}
| €36.24 fee on electricity bills
|-
| {{flag|Romania}}
|{{No|no}}
| Abolished
|-
| {{flag|Russia}}
|{{No|no}}
| None exists
|-
| {{flag|Serbia}}
|{{Yes|yes}}
| Fee on electricity bills
|-
| {{flag|Slovakia}}
|{{no|no}}
| Abolished<ref name="tvnoviny.sk">{{Cite web|url=https://tvnoviny.sk/ekonomika/clanok/645486-za-rtvs-uz-nebudete-platit-ani-cent-koncesionarske-poplatky-sa-definitivne-rusia|title=Za RTVS už nebudete platiť ani cent. Koncesionárske poplatky sa definitívne rušia|website=tvnoviny.sk|date=22 February 2023 }}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Slovenia}}
|{{Yes|yes}}
| €153; radio €45.24
|-
| {{flag|Spain}}
|{{No|no}}
| None exists
|-
| {{flag|Sweden}}
| {{No|no}}
| Abolished<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.radiotjanst.se/en/Radio-and-TV-fee/the-radio-and-tv-fee-is-being-replaced/|title=The radio and TV fee is being replaced|website=Radiotjänst|access-date=1 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116001235/https://www.radiotjanst.se/en/Radio-and-TV-fee/the-radio-and-tv-fee-is-being-replaced/|archive-date=16 November 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Switzerland}}
|{{Yes|yes}}
| CHF 335.00<ref>{{cite web |title=Fee Overview |url=https://www.serafe.ch/en/the-fee/fee-overview/ |website=SERAFE AG |access-date=27 June 2022}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Turkey}}
|{{Yes|yes}}
| 2% of electricity bill and indirect charge on appliance at purchase
|-
| {{flag|Ukraine}}
|{{No|no}}
| None exists
|-
| {{flag|United Kingdom}}
|{{Yes|yes}}
| {{cslist|colour TV: £159.00|monochrome TV: £53.50|blind people: 50% discount}}
|}

===Albania===
The Albanian licence fee is 100 lekë per month, paid as part of the electricity bill.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.qbz.gov.al/botime/fletore_zyrtare/2014/PDF-2014/196-2014.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=31 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501111613/http://www.qbz.gov.al/botime/fletore_zyrtare/2014/PDF-2014/196-2014.pdf |archive-date=1 May 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 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===
Under Austria's TV and Radio Licence Law (''Fernseh- und Hörfunklizenzrecht''), all operational broadcast reception equipment must be registered. Since 1998, the {{ill|Gebühren Info Service|de}} (GIS) is 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's aim is 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:<ref name="Übersicht"/>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!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
|-
|[[Place:Vienna|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 [[Engineering:Antenna (radio)|antenna]] or [[Engineering:Tuner (radio)|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,<ref>https://www.parlament.gv.at/dokument/XXIV/III/63/imfname_159777.pdf</ref> and confirmed as such by the Supreme Administrative Court of Austria in 2015,<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20150723110038/https://www.vwgh.gv.at/medien/ro_2015150015.pdf?4zdiv7</ref> hence creating a market for selling regular and [[Engineering:Smart TV|smart TV]]s without built-in antennas or tuners<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.heute.at/s/kagis-nogis-poptech-orf-warum-die-gis-freien-tvs-jetzt-noch-besser-werden-50116608 | title=Warum die GIS-freien TVS jetzt noch besser werden | date=13 September 2021 }}</ref>) will be closed under the new system.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tv-media.at/wissen/orf-haushaltsabgabe#orf-gesetz-zittern-um-orf-sport-und-das-radio-symphonieorchester-rso | title=Haushaltsabgabe: Alle Infos über den ORF-Beitrag, der ab 2024 die GIS-Gebühr ersetzt! | date=12 July 2023 }}</ref>

=== Bosnia and Herzegovina ===
The licence fee in Bosnia and Herzegovina is approximately €46 per year.<ref>
{{cite book
| title = Television across Europe: regulation, policy and independence: Bosnia and Herzegovina
| publisher = EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP)/ Open Society Institute (OSI)
|year=2005
| isbn = 978-1-891385-35-3
| url = http://www.eumap.org/topics/media/television_europe/national/bosnia/media_bos1.pdf
| pages = 253–338| author = Open Society Institute, EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program; Network Media Program.}}
</ref> 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===
The licence fee in Croatia is regulated by the Croatian Radiotelevision Act, 2003.<ref name="croatia-law">
{{cite web
| url = http://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/304950.html
| title = Zakon o Hrvatskoj radioteleviziji (The Croatian Radio-Television Act)
| language = hr
| date = 19 February 2003
| author = Croatian Parliament
| publisher = Narodne novine NN 2003/25
| access-date =13 June 2010
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
| title = Television across Europe: regulation, policy and independence: Croatia
| publisher = EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP)/ Open Society Institute (OSI)
|year=2005
| isbn = 978-1-891385-35-3
| url = http://www.eumap.org/topics/media/television_europe/national/croatia/media_cro1.pdf
| pages = 425–481| author = Open Society Institute, EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program; Network Media Program.}}
</ref> This law was written to ensure compliance with the European Convention on Transfrontier Television, which Croatia joined between 1999 and 2002.<ref name="ectt-cets-132"/> 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,<ref name="croatia-law"/> which is{{when|date=March 2023}} €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.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.hrt.hr/uploads/media/Statut_HRT-a.doc
| language = hr
| title = Statut Hrvatske Radiotelevizije
| publisher = Croatian Radiotelevision
| date = 26 June 2008
| access-date = 14 June 2010
| archive-date = 9 July 2014
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140709101256/http://www.hrt.hr/uploads/media/Statut_HRT-a.doc
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>

===Czech Republic===
The licence fee in the [[Place:Czech Republic|Czech Republic]] is 135 Kč per month for television and 45 Kč per month for radio, amounting to 2160 Kč per year.<ref name="CzechTV" /><ref name="CzechRadio" /> 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===
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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rundfunkbeitrag.de/buergerinnen-und-buerger/rund-um-das-neue-modell.shtml|title=Der neue Rundfunkbeitrag – Bürgerinnen und Bürger: Rund um das neue Modell|publisher=rundfunkbeitrag.de|access-date=17 March 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317102029/http://www.rundfunkbeitrag.de/buergerinnen-und-buerger/rund-um-das-neue-modell.shtml|archive-date=17 March 2013}}</ref> Businesses and institutions must pay, based on factors including numbers of employees, vehicles and, for hotels, beds.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rundfunkbeitrag.de/unternehmen-und-institutionen/rund-um-das-neue-modell.shtml|title=Der neue Rundfunkbeitrag – Unternehmen und Institutionen: Rund um das neue Modell|publisher=rundfunkbeitrag.de|access-date=17 March 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317092949/http://www.rundfunkbeitrag.de/unternehmen-und-institutionen/rund-um-das-neue-modell.shtml|archive-date=17 March 2013}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |last=Costello |first=Patrick |date=17 December 2016 |title=Germans risk fines and jail to protest public TV tax |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/12/17/germans-risk-fines-jail-protest-public-tv-tax/95338958/|work=[[Software:USA Today|USA Today]] |access-date=27 April 2018}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=The licence fee (Rundfunkbeitrag) – For citizens |url=https://www.rundfunkbeitrag.de/e175/e5283/Informationsflyer_Buergerinnen_und_Buerger_Englisch.pdf |website=rundfunkbeitrag.de |access-date=27 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180427184439/https://www.rundfunkbeitrag.de/e175/e5283/Informationsflyer_Buergerinnen_und_Buerger_Englisch.pdf |archive-date=27 April 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Since the fee is billed to a person and not to a dwelling, empty dwellings are exempt.

[[File:ARD Karte.svg|190px|thumb|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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rundfunkbeitrag.de/e175/e5042/Jahresbericht_2016.pdf |title=Jahresbericht 2016 |trans-title=Annual Report 2016 |website=rundfunkbeitrag.de |language=de |access-date=27 April 2018 |archive-date=14 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180214092527/https://www.rundfunkbeitrag.de/e175/e5042/Jahresbericht_2016.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

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===
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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.awmn.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21302&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070921003902/http://www.awmn.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21302&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight= |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 September 2007 |work=AWMN Forum |title=ΕΡΤ και ΔΕΗ. Πως μπορείτε να μην πληρώνετε αναγκαστικά. |trans-title=ERT and PPC. How can you not necessarily pay. |date=16 May 2006 |access-date=13 January 2011}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news|last=Dabilis|first=Andy|title=ERT To Close, Re-Open With Smaller Force|url=http://greece.greekreporter.com/2013/06/11/ert-to-close-re-open-with-smaller-force/|access-date=11 June 2013|newspaper=Greek Reporter}}</ref>
In June 2015, ERT reopened and the licence fee resumed at a rate of €36 per year.

===Ireland===
As of 2020, the cost of a television licence in Ireland is €160 per year.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=http://www.anpost.ie/AnPost/MainContent/Personal+Customers/More+from+An+Post/TV+Licence/ |title=TV Licence |publisher=Anpost.ie |access-date=13 January 2011}}</ref> The licence applies to premises so a separate licence is required for holiday homes or motor vehicles which contain a television.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/consumer-affairs/media/tv_licences |title=Television Licences |publisher=Citizensinformation.ie |date=20 July 2010 |access-date=13 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100510141122/http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/consumer-affairs/media/tv_licences |archive-date=10 May 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.audgen.gov.ie/documents/vfmreports/47_TVLicence.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070811023519/http://www.audgen.gov.ie/documents/vfmreports/47_TVLicence.pdf |archive-date=2007-08-11 |url-status=live |title=Comptroller and Auditor General |website=Audgen.gov.ie |access-date=13 January 2011}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/about/licence.html |title=About RTÉ |publisher=Raidió Teilifís Éireann |date=30 January 2007 |access-date=13 January 2011}}</ref> 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===
The licence fee in Italy is charged to each household with a television set, regardless of use,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abbonamenti.rai.it/Ordinari/Inglese.aspx|title=Information on subscription to the Italian Television|website=Abbonamenti.rai.it|access-date=12 July 2015}}</ref> 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,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abbonamenti.rai.it/Speciali/Categorie.aspx|title=RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana – Abbonamenti|website=Abbonamenti.rai.it|access-date=27 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abbonamenti.rai.it/Speciali/Inglese.aspx|title=Information on subscription to the Italian Television|website=Abbonamenti.rai.it|access-date=12 July 2015}}</ref> and as of 2018, the fee was €90.00.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fiscoetasse.com/canone-rai|title=Canone Rai in bolletta 2019|website=Fisco e Tasse}}</ref>

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,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rai.it/dl/docs/Report_31_12_2014_check.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924111135/http://www.rai.it/dl/docs/Report_31_12_2014_check.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-24 |url-status=live|title=Reports and Financials as at 31 December 2014|website=Rai.it|access-date=15 January 2016}}</ref> which is aired pretty regularly every 20 minutes or so, with very few exceptions (football matches, special events, Eurovision Song Contest)

===Montenegro===
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 ===
As of 2023, the licence fee in {{wipe|Poland}} for a television set is 27.30 zł per month, or for radio only is 8.70 zł per month. One licence is required per household, irrespective of the number of sets. The fee is waived for people over 75.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://rtv.poczta-polska.pl/?action=Wysokosc_oplat_2023 | title=Abonament RTV &#124; RTV.poczta-polska.pl }}</ref> 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 [[Social:European Union|European Union]]),<ref>{{cite episode
 |title        = Dateline Warsaw – Poland's public media funding crisis
 |url          = http://thenews.pl/1/6/Artykul/81643,Dateline-Warsaw-%E2%80%93-Polands-public-media-funding-crisis
 |series       = Dateline Warsaw
 |credits      = Presenters: Peter Gentle
 |network      = Polskie Radio
 |station      = Polish Radio External Service
 |location     = [[Place:Warsaw|Warsaw]]
 |airdate      = 5 January 2012
 |access-date  = 8 January 2012
 |archive-date = 9 January 2012
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20120109090512/http://www.thenews.pl/1/6/Artykul/81643,Dateline-Warsaw-%E2%80%93-Polands-public-media-funding-crisis
 |url-status   = dead
}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rsf.org/en/poland|title=Poland: Growing hate speech {{!}} Reporters without borders|website=Reporters without Borders|access-date=20 March 2020}}</ref> Due to widespread non-payment of the licence fee, in 2020 the government gave a 2&nbsp;billion złoty grant for public media.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://notesfrompoland.com/2020/02/15/polish-ruling-party-grants-more-funds-to-state-media-described-as-propaganda-mouthpieces/|title=Polish ruling party grants more funds to state media described as 'propaganda mouthpieces'|last=Tilles|first=Daniel|date=15 February 2020|website=Notes From Poland|access-date=20 March 2020}}</ref>

===Portugal===

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.<ref>{{cite web|author=Versão pdf |url=https://dre.pt/pesquisa/-/search/656106/details/maximized |title=Lei 30/2003, 2003-08-22 - DRE |publisher=Dre.pt |date=2003-08-22 |accessdate=2021-03-15}}</ref>
Following the [[Finance:2010–2014 Portuguese financial crisis|2010–2014 Portuguese financial crisis]], government grants ended and RTP was financed only through the "Taxa de Contribuição Audiovisual" and advertising.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.publico.pt/2019/02/19/politica/noticia/pcp-vai-propor-rtp-volte-receber-indemnizacao-anual-estado-1862561|title=PCP vai propor que a RTP volte a receber indemnização anual do Estado|date=19 February 2019 }}</ref> Since July 2016, the fee is €2.85 + [[Finance:European Union value added tax|VAT]] per month.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.publico.pt/2019/12/16/politica/noticia/nao-rtp-tera-aumento-contribuicao-audiovisual-1897568|title = Ainda não é desta que a RTP terá aumento da contribuição para o audiovisual| date=16 December 2019 }}</ref>

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===
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.<ref name="RTS">{{cite web|url=http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2013&mm=04&dd=03&nav_id=85503|title=Serbia's public broadcaster to be financed from budget|publisher=B92|date=3 April 2013|access-date=23 August 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502145144/http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2013|archive-date=2 May 2013}}</ref> However, as of 28 August 2013 this has yet to be realized.

===Slovenia===
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.<ref>
{{cite web
| url         = http://www.rtvslo.si/strani/mesecna-visina-rtv-prispevka-v-skladu-z-21-clenom-zakona-o-spremembah-in-dopolnitvah-zakona-o-izvrsevanju-proracunov-republike-slovenije-za-leti-2008-in-2009-ur-l-rs-st-26-09/231
| title       = Mesečna višina RTV prispevka določena v Zakonu o spremembah in dopolnitvah zakona o izvrševanju proračunov Republike Slovenije za leti 2013 in 2014 (Ur.l. RS št. 46/2013)
| access-date  =28 August 2013
| author      = RTV Slovenija
| language    = sl
}}
</ref>

The licence fee is used to fund the national broadcaster RTV Slovenija. In 2007, the licence fee raised €78.1&nbsp;million, approximately 68 per cent of the broadcaster's operating revenue. RTV Slovenija's advertising income in 2007 was €21.6&nbsp;million.<ref>
{{cite web
| url         = http://www.rtvslo.si/files/letno_porocilo/rtvslo_ar_07_eng_web.pdf
| title       = Annual Report 2007
| access-date  =13 November 2008
| author      = RTV Slovenija
}}
</ref>

===Switzerland===
Any household that receives radio or television programs from the {{wipe|Switzerland}} 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fee Overview|url=https://www.serafe.ch/en/the-fee/fee-overview/|website=SERAFE AG|access-date=14 January 2022}}</ref> Households unable to receive broadcast transmissions are exempt from the fees until 2023 if residents apply to opt out.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.serafe.ch/en/exemption-from-the-fee/households-with-no-means-of-receiving-radio-or-television/|title=Households with no means of receiving radio or television|website=serafe.ch|access-date=20 March 2020}}</ref> Residential licence fees are collected by Serafe AG, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the insurance collections agency Secon.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.serafe.ch/|title=Homepage|website=serafe.ch|access-date=20 March 2020}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bakom.admin.ch/bakom/en/home/elektronische-medien/abgabe-fur-radio-und-fernsehen/unternehmen.html|title=Fee for businesses|last=OFCOM|first=Federal Office of Communications|website=bakom.admin.ch|access-date=20 March 2020}}</ref>
The majority of the fee, CHF 1.2&nbsp;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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bk.admin.ch/ch/f/pore/vi/vis454.html|title=Initiative populaire fédérale 'Oui à la suppression des redevances radio et télévision (suppression des redevances Billag)'|last=ChF|first=Chancellerie fédérale|website=bk.admin.ch|language=fr|access-date=28 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="nobillag.ch">{{cite web|url=https://nobillag.ch/fr/|title=OUI à la suppression des redevances Billag. – No billag|website=nobillag.ch|language=fr-FR|access-date=28 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180116170826/https://nobillag.ch/fr/|archive-date=16 January 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Non à no Billag – votations">{{cite web|url=https://non-nobillag.ch/|title=Non à no Billag – votations|website=non-nobillag.ch|language=fr-FR|access-date=28 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711093848/https://non-nobillag.ch/|archive-date=11 July 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> Parliament have advocated a no vote.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/public-broadcasting_parliament-rejects--no-billag--licence-fee-initiative/43548128|title=Parliament rejects 'No Billag' licence fee initiative|work=SWI swissinfo.ch|access-date=28 January 2018}}</ref> Voters overwhelmingly rejected the proposal by 71.6 to 28.4 per cent and in all cantons.<ref name="thelocal.ch">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thelocal.ch/20180304/swiss-voters-poised-to-keep-media-license-fee|title=UPDATED: Swiss vote against plan to scrap compulsory TV licence fee|date=4 March 2018|access-date=7 March 2018}}</ref> Following the vote, the fee was significantly reduced.

===Turkey===
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===
{{Main|Engineering: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 [[Software:BBC iPlayer|BBC iPlayer]] must also have a television licence to watch on-demand television content from the service.<ref name="guardian-iplayerlicence">{{cite web|title=How will the BBC detect people watching iPlayer without a licence?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/shortcuts/2016/aug/08/how-will-the-bbc-detect-people-watching-iplayer-without-a-licence|website=The Guardian|date=8 August 2016|access-date=16 May 2017}}</ref> 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<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/tv-licence-types-and-costs-top2|title=TV Licence types and costs – TV Licensing ™|website=tvlicensing.co.uk}}</ref> As it is classified in law as a tax, evasion of licence fees is a criminal offence.<ref name="Select Committee 20060303">{{cite web |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200506/ldselect/ldbbc/128/128i.pdf |title=Further Issues for BBC Charter Review |access-date=15 August 2008 |work=House of Lords Session Report |publisher=The Stationery Office Limited |date=3 March 2006 |archive-date=20 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090320052437/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200506/ldselect/ldbbc/128/128i.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wigantoday.net/news/local/tv-licence-fines-branded-unfair-1-7386890|title=TV licence fines branded unfair|access-date=31 December 2015|date=31 July 2015|publisher=Wigan Evening Post|first1=Andrew|last1=Nowell|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930141548/http://www.wigantoday.net/news/local/tv-licence-fines-branded-unfair-1-7386890|archive-date=30 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="iomtoday.co.im">{{cite web|url=http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/record-number-prosecuted-for-tv-licence-evasion-1-7437885|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906182430/http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/record-number-prosecuted-for-tv-licence-evasion-1-7437885|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 September 2015|access-date=31 December 2015|title=Record number prosecuted for TV licence evasion|date=2 September 2015|first1=Adrian|last1=Darbyshire|publisher=Isle of Man Courier}}</ref>

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.<ref>(2008) [http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/annualreport/pdf/bbc_ara_2008_exec.pdf ''BBC Annual Report''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090127230024/http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/annualreport/pdf/bbc_ara_2008_exec.pdf |date=27 January 2009}}, BBC. Retrieved 17 November 2008.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/consult/wsol/wsol_positioning.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130808222043/http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/consult/wsol/wsol_positioning.pdf |archive-date=2013-08-08 |url-status=live|title=BBC World Service: A licence fee-funded service|date=June 2013|website=Downloads.bbc.co.uk|access-date=27 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmfaff/1045/104504.htm|title=House of Commons – The future of the BBC World Service – Foreign Affairs Committee|publisher=Parliament of the United Kingdom|access-date=12 July 2015|archive-date=21 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150621014416/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmfaff/1045/104504.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Channel 4 is also a public television service but it is funded through advertising.<ref name="Channel 4 FAQ">{{cite web |url=https://www.channel4.com/corporate/about-4/operating-responsibly/freedom-information/frequently-asked-questions |title=Channel 4 FAQ |publisher=Channel 4 Television Corporation |access-date=5 April 2020 |quote=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.}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.barb.co.uk/whats-new/weekly-viewing-summary?_s=4|title=Weekly viewing summary |website=Barb.co.uk|access-date=26 June 2016}}</ref> A similar licence existed for radio but was abolished in 1971.

==Television licences in Africa==
=== Ghana ===
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.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/gbc-to-re-introduce-payment-of-tv-licence-fee.html| title = Graphic.com.gh: GBC to re-introduce payment of TV Licence fee}}</ref>

=== Mauritius ===
The licence fee in [[Earth:Mauritius|Mauritius]] is [[Finance:Mauritian rupee|Rs]] 1,800 per year (around €29),<ref name="Mauritius">(August 2003) [http://www.gov.mu/portal/goc/pmo/file/mbc.doc ''The Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation: A Report''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060903233839/http://www.gov.mu/portal/goc/pmo/file/mbc.doc |date=3 September 2006}}, Sir Victor Glover, Prime Minister's Office, Republic of Mauritius. Retrieved 21 November 2006</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mbc.intnet.mu/corporate_info.htm|title=Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061010212408/http://mbc.intnet.mu/corporate_info.htm|archive-date=10 October 2006|url-status=bot: unknown|access-date=22 August 2006}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Mauritius" />

=== Namibia ===
The licence fee in Namibia was [[Finance:Namibian dollar|N$]]204 (about €23) in 2001.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com.na/2001/021101/story12.htm|title=Have you paid your TV licence yet?|date=2 November 2001|access-date=21 November 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061006145039/http://www.economist.com.na/2001/021101/story12.htm|archive-date=6 October 2006|work=Namibia Economist}}</ref> The fee is used to fund the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.namibian.com.na/indexx.php?archive_id=23815&page_type=archive_story_detail&page=1|title=The Future of the NBC|last=Tyson|first=Robin|date=2 June 2006|access-date=19 April 2014|work=The Namibian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419030125/http://www.namibian.com.na/indexx.php?archive_id=23815&page_type=archive_story_detail&page=1|archive-date=19 April 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== South Africa ===
The licence fee in South Africa is R265 (about €23) per annum (R312 per year if paid on a monthly basis) for television.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvlic.co.za/portal/site/tvlicence/menuitem.f5545350fe4a55f5e16a84b45401aeb9/|title=Pay Yours|publisher=Tvlic.co.za|access-date=13 January 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110110025347/http://www.tvlic.co.za/portal/site/tvlicence/menuitem.f5545350fe4a55f5e16a84b45401aeb9|archive-date=10 January 2011}}</ref> 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 [[Company:South African Broadcasting Corporation|South African Broadcasting Corporation]] (SABC), providing R972&nbsp;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==
=== Japan ===
In Japan, the annual licence fee ({{lang-ja|受信料}}, ''jushin-ryo'') for terrestrial television broadcasts is [[Finance:Japanese yen|¥]]14,205, and ¥24,740 for those receiving [[Astronomy:Satellite|satellite]] broadcasts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pid.nhk.or.jp/jushinryo/multilingual/english/|title=Receiving Fee System|publisher=Nhk.or.jp|access-date=22 December 2016}}</ref> The fee is slightly less if paid by [[Finance:Direct debit|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.<ref name="ryall">Julian Ryall, [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/japan-cracking-down-nhk-license-143223 "Japan Cracking Down On NHK License Fee Nonpayment"], ''The Hollywood Reporter'', 15 November 2006. Retrieved 22 December 2016.</ref> In 2005, it was reported that, "there is no fine or any other form of sanction for non-payment".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110611204732/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article510291.ece "Respect! BBC the role model as NHK tries to beat scandal"], ''The Times'', 4 February 2005</ref> The NHK Party, often called the Anti-NHK Party, was founded in 2013 as a [[Social:Single-issue politics|single-issue political party]] to oppose the license fee, with its only policy being to [[Engineering:Television encryption|encrypt]] NHK's broadcast signal, meaning [[Social:Conditional access|only those who watch NHK pay for it]].<ref name=":0a">{{Cite web|url=http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201907250055.html|title=After stunning election win, anti-NHK party sets higher goal|newspaper=The Asahi Shimbun|language=en|access-date=2019-07-30|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190725162045/http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201907250055.html|archive-date=2019-07-25}}</ref>

=== Pakistan ===
The television licence in {{wipe|Pakistan}} is [[Finance:Pakistani rupee|Rs]] 420 per year, collected as monthly charge on all electricity bills.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=12056|title=AsiaMedia:: PAKISTAN: PTV to earn Rs4bn through licence fee: New collection system|date=15 June 2004|publisher=Asiamedia.ucla.edu|access-date=13 January 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110917234340/http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=12056|archive-date=17 September 2011}}</ref> The fee plus advertising revenue fund the Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV).

=== South Korea ===
In {{wipe|South Korea}}, the television licence fee ({{lang-ko|수신료 징수제}}) is collected for the Korean Broadcasting System and the Educational Broadcasting System. The fee is ₩30,000 per year<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kbs.co.kr/susin/license/license_02.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050414013740/http://www.kbs.co.kr/susin/license/license_02.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 April 2005|title=TV수신료와 수신서비스|publisher=Kbs.co.kr|access-date=13 January 2011}}</ref> (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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.kbs.co.kr/news/newsview_sub.php?menu=5&key=1004121101|title=Kbs Global|publisher=English.kbs.co.kr|access-date=13 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080629022346/http://english.kbs.co.kr/news/newsview_sub.php?menu=5&key=1004121101|archive-date=29 June 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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 ==
The following countries have had television licences, but subsequently abolished them:

===Australia===
[[File:Make sure you have a current broadcast listener's licence.jpg|thumb|right|1950s Postmaster-General's Department advertisement regarding broadcast licences]]
Radio licence fees were introduced in {{wipe|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 [[Engineering:Punched card|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.<ref>1974–75 Budget speech by the Hon Frank Crean, APH Hansard, 17 September 1974, p1290, introduced through the ''Broadcasting and Television Act 1974'' (Cth)</ref> Since then, the ABC has been funded by government grants, now totalling around [[Finance:Australian dollar|A$]]1.13&nbsp;billion per year, plus its own commercial activities (merchandising, overseas sale of programmes, etc.).

===Belgium===
====Flemish region and Brussels====
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 ====
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.<ref name="Belgium2018" />

The licence fee in Belgium's Walloon region was €100.00 for a television and €0.00 for a radio in a vehicle.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wallonie.be/cmsmedia/fr/autoradio_television_tout_savoir_sur_la_redevance_pdf.pdf?uri=8a838083007a58500100bd7b7b5a0eee |title=Autoradio Television Tout Savoir Sur la Redevance |access-date=19 July 2006 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060509202223/http://www.wallonie.be/cmsmedia/fr/autoradio_television_tout_savoir_sur_la_redevance_pdf.pdf?uri=8a838083007a58500100bd7b7b5a0eee |archive-date=9 May 2006 |language=fr }}</ref> 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 ===
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===
[[File:Special Private Receiving Station License 1948-49.jpg|thumb|right|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,<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015064554697&view=1up&seq=211 "Laws and Regulations—Canada"], ''The Year-Book of Wireless Telegraphy & Telephony'' (1914 edition), pages 131–132.</ref><ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c2605161&view=1up&seq=1508 "Regulations: 18. Amateur Experimental Licenses"],''The Canadian Gazette'', 27 June 1914, page 4546.</ref> and pass an "Amateur Experimental Certificate of Proficiency", demonstrating the ability to send and receive Morse code at five words per minute.<ref name="babel.hathitrust.org"/> In January 1922 the government introduced a Private Receiving Station licence for people who only intended to receive radio, rather than transmit.<ref>Mary Vipond, ''Listening In: The First Decade of Canadian Broadcasting 1922–1932'', McGill-Queen's University Press, 1992, pages 22–23.</ref><ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc1.cu06812988&view=1up&seq=1371 Radiotelegraph Regulations: License to Operate a Radio Receiving Equipment"], ''The Canada Gazette'', 23 September 1922, page 7.</ref> 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.<ref name="eliminated">[http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2016/fin/F1-23-1-1953-eng.pdf#page=21 "Budget Speech Delivered by Hon. D. C. Abbott, Minister of Finance, in the House of Commons, Thursday, February 19, 1953"], page 21 (gc.ca)</ref>

=== Cyprus ===
[[Place:Cyprus|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===
Until 2022 a {{wipe|Denmark}} media licence fee of 1353 [[Finance:Danish krone|kr]] (€182) per year was charged for any devices that could receive broadcast television.<ref>{{cite web|author=Published by Julia Stoll |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/545850/annual-tv-and-radio-licence-fees-in-denmark/ |title=• Denmark: TV and radio license fees 2010-2020 |publisher=Statista |date=2020-02-03 |accessdate=2021-03-15}}</ref><ref name="retsinformation.dk">{{cite web|url=https://www.retsinformation.dk/FormsR0710.aspx?id=152540 |title=Bekendtgørelse om licens |publisher=Retsinformation.dk |date=29 June 2013 |access-date=25 September 2013}}</ref> The majority of the licence fee funded the national radio and television broadcaster DR, with a smaller proportion funding TV 2's regional services.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dr.dk/omdr/index.asp?aid=35 |title=Forside – dr.dk/OmDR |publisher=Dr.dk |access-date=13 January 2011}}</ref> The media licence was abolished in 2022.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2018/03/18/denmark-scraps-public-tv-licence-fee/|title=Denmark scraps public TV licence fee|date=18 March 2018|website=Broadband TV News}}</ref> Funding for DR is now provided through general taxation.<ref name="statista.com"/> TV 2 is now funded through advertising revenue,<ref name="business.dk">{{cite web|url=http://www.business.dk/medier-reklame/saa-meget-af-din-licens-faar-staten |title=Så meget af din licens får staten – Medier & reklamer |publisher=Business.dk |access-date=13 January 2011}}</ref> and it receives indirect subsidies through favourable loans from the Danish state.

=== Finland ===
[[File:Televisiolupa 1961.jpg|thumb|Stamped in Loviisa. The price for half a year was 3,000 Mk in 1960s]]
The television fee in {{wipe|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 ({{lang-fi|yleisradiovero}}, {{lang-sv|rundradioskatt}}), a progressive income tax up to €163 per person.<ref name="End of the road for TV license fees" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tv-maksu.fi/en/index/tietoa/uutiset/2012/P_63.html|title=Tämä domain on varattu asiakkaallemme |website=Tv-maksu.fi|access-date=26 June 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tv-maksu.fi/en/index.html|title=Tämä domain on varattu asiakkaallemme |website=Tv-maksu.fi|access-date=26 June 2016}}</ref> People with low incomes, under the age of eighteen years, or resident in Åland are exempt from the tax.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vero.fi/en/About-us/information_and_material_on_taxatio/public_broadcasting_tax/ |title=Article in ''Finnish Public Broadcasting Tax for individual taxpayers'' |access-date=6 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180706191205/https://www.vero.fi/en/About-us/information_and_material_on_taxatio/public_broadcasting_tax/ |archive-date=6 July 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===France===
Until 2022 a broadcasting licence fee ({{Lang|fr|contribution à l'audiovisuel public}}) funded Radio France and France Télévisions.<ref>{{cite web |author=DDM |url=http://www.ddm.gouv.fr/article.php3?id_article=796 |title=A quoi sert la redevance audiovisuelle ? |publisher=Ddm.gouv.fr |date=20 January 2005 |access-date=13 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101031073940/http://www.ddm.gouv.fr/article.php3?id_article=796 |archive-date=31 October 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-08 |title=Emmanuel Macron promises to scrap TV licence fee if re-elected |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/08/emmanuel-macron-promises-to-scrap-tv-licence-fee-if-re-elected |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref><ref name="walesonline.co.uk"/>

===Gibraltar===
Until 2006 television licence fees provided funds to the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation (GBC).<ref>[http://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/latest_news/press_releases/2006/CM_Speech.pdf Chief Minister's Budget Speech] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061007054329/http://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/latest_news/press_releases/2006/CM_Speech.pdf |date=7 October 2006}}, Government of Gibraltar Information Services, 28 June 2006. Retrieved 21 November 2006.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://commonwealth.live.poptech.coop/Templates/YearbookInternal.asp?NodeID=140426|title=Commonwealth Secretariat – Gibraltar|website=Commonwealth.live.poptech.coop|access-date=26 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928010642/http://commonwealth.live.poptech.coop/Templates/YearbookInternal.asp?NodeID=140426|archive-date=28 September 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> Even before the abolition of the licence fee, the majority of GBC's funding came as a grant from the government.

===Hungary===
In Hungary, licence fees nominally exist, but since 2002 residential fees have been paid from the state budget.<ref>{{cite book
| title = Television across Europe: regulation, policy and independence: Hungary
| publisher = EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP)/ Open Society Institute (OSI)
|year=2005
| isbn = 978-1-891385-35-3
| url = http://www.eumap.org/topics/media/television_europe/national/hungary/media_hun1.pdf  | pages = 789–864| author = Open Society Institute, EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program; Network Media Program.}}
</ref> 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,<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.ce-review.org/99/6/tv_csardas6.html
| title = Screen Test: TV broadcasting in Hungary
| author = Gusztav Kosztolanyi
| publisher = Central Europe Review
| date = 31 July 1999
| access-date = 14 June 2010
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100324115044/http://www.ce-review.org/99/6/tv_csardas6.html
| archive-date = 24 March 2010
| url-status = dead
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.ce-review.org/99/7/csardas7.html
| title = "No one's jamming their transmission...": TV broadcasting in Hungary – Episode Two: Privatisation and scandal
| author = Gusztav Kosztolanyi
| publisher = Central Europe Review
| date = 6 August 1999
| access-date = 14 June 2010
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110607002808/http://www.ce-review.org/99/7/csardas7.html
| archive-date = 7 June 2011
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> the public broadcaster MTV has had persistent financial difficulties.<ref>{{cite web
 |url          = http://www.wieninternational.at/en/node/12327
 |title        = Hungary's media landscape
 |publisher    = Wieninternational
 |date         = 29 January 2009
 |access-date   = 14 June 2010
|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20100814191008/http://www.wieninternational.at/en/node/12327
 |archive-date = 14 August 2010
|url-status     = dead
 |df           = dmy-all
}}</ref> During the 2009 financial crisis, parliament cut their funding by more than 30 per cent, a move that was publicly condemned by the EBU.<ref>{{cite web
 |url          = http://www.ebu.ch/en/union/news/2009/tcm_6-66649.php
 |publisher    = European Broadcasting Union
 |title        = EBU urges rethink of cuts to Hungary's public broadcaster
 |date         = 11 November 2009
 |access-date   = 14 June 2010
|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110607055222/http://www.ebu.ch/en/union/news/2009/tcm_6-66649.php
 |archive-date = 7 June 2011
|url-status     = dead
 |df           = dmy-all
}}</ref>

===Hong Kong===
Hong Kong previously had a radio and television licence fee for Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) and Rediffusion Television, costing 36 [[Finance:Hong Kong dollar|Hong Kong dollar]]s per year. RTHK is now funded by the Hong Kong Government.

===Iceland===
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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ruv.is/um-ruv/afnotadeild |title=Afnotadeild &#124; RÚV |access-date=19 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005203314/http://ruv.is/um-ruv/afnotadeild |archive-date=5 October 2012}}</ref>

===India===
{{wipe|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===
A radio tax for RRI funding was introduced in 1947,<ref>{{cite web| url = https://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Home/Details/25253/uu-no-12-tahun-1947| title = Undang-undang (UU) No. 12 Tahun 1947 Menetapkan "Pajak Radio" atas Semua Pesawat Penerimaan Radio| website = Financial Audit Board of Indonesia| access-date = 27 June 2020}}</ref> 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|date=June 2020}} 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,<ref>Kitley, P. (2000). ''Television, Nation, and Culture in Indonesia''. [[Organization:Ohio University|Ohio University]] Center for International Studies.</ref> but areas such as Bandung and Surabaya continued to have a television fee throughout the 1990s.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.kompasiana.com/djuliantosusantio/57ba4715b67a61190b16fe36/pajak-radio-dan-pajak-televisi-hilang-ditelan-modernisasi| title = Pajak Radio dan Pajak Televisi Hilang Ditelan Modernisasi| author = Djulianto Susantio| website = Kompasiana.com| date = 22 August 2016| access-date = 27 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Iuran TVRI - Iuran Penyiaran |url=http://www.tvrisby.com/iuran_tvri.html |website=Televisi Republik Indonesia Stasiun Surabaya |access-date=26 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011224065859/http://www.tvrisby.com/iuran_tvri.html |archive-date=24 December 2001}}</ref> A "broadcasting fee" ({{lang-id|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===
Licence fees were the primary source of revenue for the Israel Broadcasting Authority when it was the state broadcaster. Every household was charged [[Finance:Israeli new shekel|₪]] 345 (€73) for a television licence and car owners were charged [[Finance:Israeli new shekel|₪]] 136 (€29) for a radio licence. The television licence was abolished in 2015,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/iba-workers-cry-foul-over-ban-on-expressing-political-opinions/|title=State broadcast journalists condemn ban on expressing political opinions|website=The Times of Israel|access-date=26 June 2016}}</ref> but a radio licence is still required of car owners.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.il/he/Departments/Guides/vehicles_licences?chapterIndex=5|title=gov|website=gov.il}}</ref> 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 ===
An annual licence was required between 1978 and 1998 for households with broadcast receiving equipment. The income was divided between [[Company:Swisscom|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===
The annual television licence fee for television in 1990 was at RM 24,<ref name="scrap"></ref> previously RM 36 in 1986 and RM 12 in 1985, <ref name="fees">{{cite news |title=Colour TV fees up |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19850926-1.2.22.6 |access-date=17 December 2023 |work=The Straits Times |date=26 September 1985}}</ref> while the radio licence fee in 1990 was at RM 12;<ref name="scrap"></ref> unchanged since the 1960s. <ref name="MAY"></ref> The licence fee for the former was also the lowest in the world as of 1989. <ref>{{cite news |title=KL to scrap radio licence fees |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19890227-1.2.22.6 |access-date=17 December 2023 |work=The Straits Times |date=27 February 1989}}</ref> The licence fee for monochrome televisions in 1985 was at RM 24.<ref name="fees"></ref>

Licences for home-use radios were abolished by late 1985 with the amendments to the Telecommunications Act 1960, <ref>{{cite news |title=Home radios may not need licences by year-end |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19850910-1.2.19.3 |access-date=12 December 2023 |work=The Straits Times |date=10 September 1985}}</ref> while radio licences were abolished on 1 January 1991, due to Malaysia's improved economic performance. <ref name="scrap">{{cite news |title=Govt to scrap radio licence next year |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19900817-1.2.31.1 |access-date=15 December 2023 |work=The Straits Times |date=17 August 1990}}</ref> 

46.5% of television owners did not pay for the television licence in 1995. <ref>{{cite news |title=REVENUE LOSS |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19950611-1.2.28.3.3 |access-date=17 December 2023 |work=The Straits Times |date=11 June 1995}}</ref>

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. <ref>{{cite news |title=Ministry proposes prepayment of licence fee for new TV sets |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19950808-1.2.33.8 |access-date=17 December 2023 |work=The Straits Times |date=8 August 1995}}</ref>

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; <ref>{{cite news |title=TV FEES MAY GO UP |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19960713-1.2.34.5.5 |access-date=17 December 2023 |work=The Straits Times |date=13 July 1996}}</ref> it also had planned to increase the television licence fee to RM 36 in 1998. <ref name="MAY">{{cite news |title=TV LICENCE FEE MAY GO UP |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19980402-1.2.34.6.1 |access-date=17 December 2023 |work=The Straits Times |date=2 April 1998}}</ref>

The television licence fees were abolished in April 1999; however people still pay for the fees. The government decided to refund the fees that amounted to RM 67 million, <ref>{{cite news |title=KL govt to refund RM67m in TV fees |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19991101-1.2.50.2 |access-date=17 December 2023 |work=The Straits Times |date=1 November 1999}}</ref> becoming just RM 21 million in 2000. <ref>{{cite news |title=Govt to refund $9.2 million to TV licence holders |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes20000115-1.2.77.6 |access-date=17 December 2023 |work=The Straits Times |date=15 January 2000}}</ref>

Until April 2000,<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Lee|editor1-first=Chun Wah|editor2-last=Goonasekera|editor2-first=Anura|editor3-last=Venkatraman|editor3-first=S.|title=Asian Communication Handbook|date=2003|publisher=Asian Mass Communication Research and Information Centre|isbn=9971-905-97-3|page=171|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ua4AAAAIAAJ|access-date=23 January 2020}}</ref> 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===
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.<ref>(May 2002) [http://www.circom-regional.org/crdocs/european-benchmarking2002.pdf European Benchmarking: Public Service Broadcasters in the Digital Era] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091009131525/http://www.circom-regional.org/crdocs/european-benchmarking2002.pdf |date=9 October 2009}}, Circom Regional (European Association of Regional Television). Retrieved 21 November 2006.</ref> Malta's television licence was abolished in 2011 when the [[Engineering:Free-to-air|free-to-air]] system was discontinued.

=== Netherlands ===
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.<ref name="ero">(May 2006) [http://www.ero.dk/documentation/docs/doc98/official/pdf/ECCREP084.PDF Analysis of Responses on Fees for Broadcasting and Fees for Non-Commercial and Passive Services] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070615191909/http://www.ero.dk/documentation/docs/doc98/official/pdf/ECCREP084.PDF |date=15 June 2007}}, Electronic Communications Committee (ECC)
within the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT).</ref> Income tax was increased and the maximum duration  of commercial breaks was extended to 5 and 7&nbsp;minutes.<ref name="ero" /> 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===
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.<ref>[http://www.treasury.govt.nz/budget/1999/pdfs/exec-sum99.pdf Investing in the Next Generation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216134431/http://www.treasury.govt.nz/budget/1999/pdfs/exec-sum99.pdf |date=16 February 2016 }}, Economic and Fiscal Forecast Summary, New Zealand Treasury, 1999</ref> NZ On Air was then funded by a direct appropriation from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

=== North Macedonia ===
The licence fee in the Republic of North Macedonia was around €26 per year.<ref>
{{cite book
| title = Television across Europe: regulation, policy and independence: Republic of North Macedonia
| publisher = EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP)/ Open Society Institute (OSI)
|year=2005
| isbn = 978-1-891385-35-3
| url = http://www.eumap.org/topics/media/television_europe/national/macedonia/media_mac1.pdf
| pages = 1165–1230
| author = Borce Manevski, MA in Communications and Media.}}
</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mrt.com.mk/node/43078 |title=МРТ |access-date=10 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811032301/http://www.mrt.com.mk/node/43078 |archive-date=11 August 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Norway===

The licence fee in {{wipe|Norway}} was abolished in January 2020. Before that, every household with a television needed to pay a fee of {{circa}} 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nrk.no/informasjon/lisens/1.8037531 |title=5.Who has to pay TV licence fee? - Lisens - NRK |access-date=24 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618123300/http://www.nrk.no/informasjon/lisens/1.8037531 |archive-date=18 June 2012}}</ref> 
The fee was the primary source of income for Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK).<ref name="NRK">{{cite web |url=http://www.nrk.no/informasjon/lisens/1.2843183 |title=Fakta om kringkastingsavgiften - Lisens - NRK |access-date=14 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091231145341/http://www.nrk.no/informasjon/lisens/1.2843183 |archive-date=31 December 2009}}</ref> Since 2020, funding for NRK comes through taxation from each individual liable for income taxes in Norway.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ny finansiering av NRK – spørsmål og svar|url=https://www.nrk.no/informasjon/ny-finansiering-av-nrk-_-sporsmal-og-svar-1.14681657|url-status=live|website=NRK|date=2 September 2019|language=no|access-date=12 April 2021|archive-date=18 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418154142/https://www.nrk.no/informasjon/ny-finansiering-av-nrk-_-sporsmal-og-svar-1.14681657}}</ref>

===Romania===
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.<ref name="eurotopics.net">{{cite web|url=https://www.eurotopics.net/de/168977/rumaeniens-parlament-kippt-rundfunkgebuehr|title=Rumäniens Parlament kippt Rundfunkgebühr|website=eurotopics.net|date=4 November 2016 }}</ref> Since then, TVR's funding mainly comes from government grants and advertising.

===Singapore===
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".<ref>{{cite news |last= |first= |date=3 January 1963 |title=S'pore TV starts next month |newspaper=The Straits Times |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19630103-1.2.15?qt=%22channel%205%22&q=%22Channel%205%22 |access-date=8 August 2023}}</ref> The licence fees are channelled to the Singapore Broadcasting Authority where they would be used to fund minority and public service programmes. <ref>{{cite news |title=TV delivers audiences to advertisers, entertainment and news come second |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19950423-1.2.79.22.1 |access-date=11 December 2023 |work=The Straits Times |date=23 April 1995}}</ref>

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".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1111579/1/.html|title=Channel NewsAsia|publisher=Channel NewsAsia|access-date=12 July 2015|archive-date=30 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630174815/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1111579/1/.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Slovakia===
The TV licence fee in Slovakia was €4.64 per month (€55.68 per year).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.slov-lex.sk/pravne-predpisy/SK/ZZ/2012/340/|title=340/2012 Z.z. – Zákon o úhrade za služby verejnosti... |website=Slov-lex.sk|access-date=27 January 2018}}</ref> In addition to the licence fee, RTVS also received state subsidies and money from advertising. The license fee was abolished from 1 July 2023.<ref name="tvnoviny.sk"/>

=== Soviet Union ===
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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2994959|title=Могут быть использованы вражескими элементами|date=13 June 2016|work=Журнал "Коммерсантъ Власть"|access-date=25 April 2018|publisher=Kommersant|page=45|language=ru}}</ref>

=== Sweden ===
On 1 January 2019, the television licence ({{lang-sv| TV-avgift}}, literally ''TV fee'') in Sweden was scrapped and replaced by a "general public service fee" ({{lang-sv|allmän public service-avgift}}), which is a flat income-based public broadcasting tax of 1 per cent, capped at {{currency|1300|SEK|first=yes}} (approximately {{currency|145|USD}} or {{currency|126|EUR}}) per person per year.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.radiotjanst.se/en/Radio-and-TV-fee/the-radio-and-tv-fee-is-being-replaced/|title=The radio and TV fee is being replaced|work=Radiotjänst|access-date=15 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116001235/https://www.radiotjanst.se/en/Radio-and-TV-fee/the-radio-and-tv-fee-is-being-replaced/|archive-date=16 November 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> The fee is administered by the Swedish Tax Agency ({{lang-sv|Skatteverket}}),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://skatteverket.se/privat/skatter/arbeteochinkomst/skattetabeller/publicserviceavgift.4.22501d9e166a8cb399f31dd.html|title=Public service-avgift {{!}} Skatteverket|last=Skatteverket|website=skatteverket.se|language=sv|access-date=30 December 2018}}</ref> 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" ({{lang-sv|TV-licens}}), but in the 2000s was renamed "television fee". It was last charged in 2018 at {{currency|2400|SEK}} per annum.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.radiotjanst.se/en/Radio-and-TV-fee/|title=Radio and TV fee|work=Radiotjänst|access-date=15 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121192653/https://www.radiotjanst.se/en/Radio-and-TV-fee/|archive-date=21 January 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> It was payable in monthly, bimonthly, quarterly or annual instalments,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.radiotjanst.se/en/Payment/|title=Payment|work=Radiotjänst|access-date=15 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707173316/https://www.radiotjanst.se/en/Payment/|archive-date=7 July 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.radiotjanst.se/en/Radio-and-TV-fee/The-history-behind-the-fee/|title=The history of the Swedish license fee|work=Radiotjänst|access-date=15 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116000955/https://www.radiotjanst.se/en/Radio-and-TV-fee/The-history-behind-the-fee/|archive-date=16 November 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> Television licence evasion was suspected to be around 11 to 15 per cent.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.svt.se/kultur/medier/sa-ska-public-service-finansieras-i-framtiden|title=Så ska public service finansieras i framtiden|last=Nyheter|first=SVT|date=16 October 2017|work=SVT Nyheter|access-date=15 November 2018|language=sv}}</ref>

===Taiwan===
[[File:ROC-MOTC television sets license.jpg|thumb|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.<ref>{{cite web |title=廣播收音機執照 |trans-title=TV and Radio Licensing in Taiwan |url=http://dict.th.gov.tw/term/view/1182 |website=Taiwan Historica |access-date=9 November 2019 |archive-date=18 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191118045151/http://dict.th.gov.tw/term/view/1182 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Thailand ===
The Radio Broadcasting and Television Act, B.E. 2498 (1955) set a lifetime licence fee of 200 [[Physics:Thai baht|baht]] (equivalent to {{Format price|{{Inflation|TH|200|1955}}}} baht in {{Inflation/year|index=TH}}) for ownership of radio and television sets or parts.<ref>[https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/1162326.pdf พระราชบัญญัติวิทยุกระจายเสียงและวิทยุโทรทัศน์ พ.ศ. ๒๔๙๘] [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.</ref> It was abolished in 1959 as television and radio quickly became a vital source of information.<ref>[https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/1186951.pdf พระราชบัญญัติวิทยุกระจายเสียงและวิทยุโทรทัศน์ (ฉบับที่ ๒) พ.ศ. ๒๕๐๒] [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.</ref>

==Countries that have never had a television or broadcasting licence==
===Andorra===
Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra, the public broadcaster, is funded by advertising and government grants with no fee for viewers.

===Brazil===
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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.agenciabrasil.gov.br/noticias/2007/10/11/materia.2007-10-11.2874503544/view |title=Empresa Brasil de Comunicação terá diferentes formas de financiamento — Agência Brasil - EBC |access-date=2 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821131602/http://www.agenciabrasil.gov.br/noticias/2007/10/11/materia.2007-10-11.2874503544/view |archive-date=21 August 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lei nº 9.904, de 30 de dezembro de 1997 |url=http://www.al.sp.gov.br/leis/legislacao-do-estado/ |website=Legislative Assembly of State of São Paulo |access-date=23 September 2021 |language=pt-BR |date=30 December 1997}}</ref> The tax was charged monthly through electricity bills according to consumers' energy consumption.<ref>{{cite news |title=SP cria nova lei para custear TV Cultura |url=https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/brasil/fc070115.htm |website=Folha de S.Paulo |access-date=23 September 2021 |date=7 January 1998 |language=pt-BR}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Nova taxa torna TV Cultura superavitária |url=https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/brasil/fc080115.htm |access-date=23 September 2021 |website=Folha de S.Paulo |date=8 January 1998 |language=pt-BR}}</ref> However, the collection of the fee was declared unconstitutional by the Court of Justice of the State of São Paulo.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dallari |first1=Adilson Abreu |title=Cobrança de taxa para custeio da TV educativa |url=https://www2.senado.leg.br/bdsf/bitstream/handle/id/371/r138-11.pdf?sequence=4&isAllowed=y |website=Federal Senate of Brazil |access-date=23 September 2021 |language=pt-BR}}</ref>

===China===
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 ===
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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eumap.org/topics/media/television_europe/national/estonia/media_est1.pdf|title=Television across Europe: regulation, policy and independence – Estonia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327121308/http://www.eumap.org/topics/media/television_europe/national/estonia/media_est1.pdf|archive-date=27 March 2009|url-status=dead|access-date=8 May 2009}}</ref>

=== Iran ===
[[Religion:Iran|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 ===
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.<ref name=":0b">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2021-01-02|title=Public media exits the advertising market|url=https://eng.lsm.lv/article/features/media-literacy/public-media-exits-the-advertising-market.a387451/|access-date=2021-01-21|website=Public Broadcasting of Latvia|language=en}}</ref> The introduction of a television licence has been previously debated, but this was opposed by the government.

===Luxembourg===
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===
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===
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 ===
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.

===[[Earth:Post-Soviet states|Post-Soviet states]]===
See #Soviet Union.

=== Spain ===
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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rtve.es/noticias/20090716/nueva-ley-financiacion-rtve-permite-patrocinio-limitado-eventos-deportivos/285196.shtml|title=La nueva ley de financiación de RTVE permite el patrocinio "limitado" de eventos deportivos|date=13 July 2009|publisher=RTVE|language=es|trans-title=The new RTVE financing law allows for "limited" sponsorship of sporting events|access-date=31 December 2015}}</ref>

=== United States ===
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 [[Engineering:Educational television|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 [[Engineering:Non-commercial educational|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&nbsp;million in 2014 (including interest revenue).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cpb.org/aboutcpb/financials/budget|title=CPB Operating Budget|date=15 January 2015|website=Cpb.org|access-date=26 June 2016}}</ref> 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 [[Finance:Underwriting spot|underwriting spot]]s paid for by sponsors. Between 53 and 60 percent of public television's revenues come from private membership donations and grants,<ref name="revenue">{{cite web|url=http://www.cpb.org/stations/reports/revenue/2005PublicBroadcastingRevenue.pdf|title=Public Broadcasting Revenue Fiscal Year 2005|access-date=10 March 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515140419/http://www.cpb.org/stations/reports/revenue/2005PublicBroadcastingRevenue.pdf|archive-date=15 May 2011}}</ref> so most stations solicit individual donations by [[Finance:Fundraising|fundraising]], pledge drives or [[Engineering:Telethon|telethon]]s which can disrupt regularly scheduled programming. Normal programming can be replaced with specials aimed at a wider audience to solicit new members and donations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2006/03/pledging_allegiance_or_march_madness.html|title=Pledging Allegiance, or March Madness?|last=Getler|first=Michael|date=24 March 2006|publisher=PBS Ombudsman|access-date=22 May 2006}}</ref>

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,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aspenpitkin.com/Departments/Public-Works/TV-FM-Broadcast-Service|title=TV/FM Broadcast Service &#124; City of Aspen and Pitkin County, Colorado|publisher=Aspenpitkin.com|access-date=13 January 2011|archive-date=13 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213095808/http://aspenpitkin.com/Departments/Public-Works/TV-FM-Broadcast-Service/|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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 [[Social:Lien|lien]] placed on the property and eventual seizure.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.monocounty.ca.gov/online_services/documents/cocode/_DATA/TITLE03/Chapter_3_32_TELEVISION_TRANSL.html|title=Chapter 3.32 TELEVISION TRANSLATOR SERVICE CHARGE|publisher=Monocounty.ca.gov|access-date=13 January 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101115192928/http://www.monocounty.ca.gov/online_services/documents/cocode/_DATA/TITLE03/Chapter_3_32_TELEVISION_TRANSL.html|archive-date=15 November 2010}}</ref> 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.

[[Engineering:Cable television franchise fee|Cable television franchise fee]] agreements are added to cable TV bills to fund [[Engineering:Public, educational, and government access|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 [[Engineering:Public-access television|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 ===
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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ley N° 19.307 |url=https://www.impo.com.uy/bases/leyes/19307-2014 |website=Centro de Información Oficial |access-date=20 October 2022 |language=es-UY}}</ref>

=== Vietnam ===
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 ==

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.<ref name = "foione">{{cite web |url=http://ico.org.uk/~/media/documents/decisionnotices/2008/FS_50154106.PDF |title=Archived copy |access-date=25 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407052621/http://ico.org.uk/~/media/documents/decisionnotices/2008/FS_50154106.PDF |archive-date=7 April 2014}}</ref> 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."<ref name = "foione" />
The BBC resisted further Freedom of Information Act requests seeking data on the estimated evasion rate for each of the nations of the UK.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ally|first=Tibbitt|date=29 September 2021|title=BBC criticised for lack of transparency over licence fee evasion|url=https://theferret.scot/bbc-criticised-lack-transparency-licence-evasion/|access-date=1 October 2021|website=The Ferret}}</ref>

==Opinions of television licensing systems==
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,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4437423.stm |title=North America watches the most TV averaging four hours 28&nbsp;minutes viewing per day. Europeans average three hours 35&nbsp;minutes |work=BBC News |date=12 April 2005 |access-date=13 January 2011}}</ref> 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.<ref>
{{cite press release
 |title       = BBC Review should consider licence fee concessions
 |publisher   = IPPR
 |date        = 27 December 2003
 |url         = http://www.ippr.org.uk/pressreleases/archive.asp?id=762&fID=60
 |access-date  = 21 November 2006
|url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080629022755/http://www.ippr.org.uk/pressreleases/archive.asp?id=762&fID=60
 |archive-date = 29 June 2008
|df          = dmy-all
}}
</ref> 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|date=April 2012}}

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",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbccharterreview.org.uk/pdf_documents/what_you_said_aboutthe_BBC.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051219131644/http://www.bbccharterreview.org.uk/pdf_documents/what_you_said_aboutthe_BBC.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 December 2005 |title=Review of the BBC's Royal Charter What you said about the BBC |date=July 2004 |access-date=13 January 2011 }}</ref> 
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".<ref>
(March 2005). [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/02_03_05_bbcgreen.pdf ''Review of the BBC's Royal Charter: A strong BBC, independent of government''] (BBC Green Paper), Department for Culture, Media and Sport
</ref><ref>
{{cite news
| title = Licence fee 'needs more scrutiny'
| work = BBC News
| date = 12 June 2006
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5071022.stm
| access-date =21 November 2006 }}</ref>

In 2018 there was a referendum in Switzerland on whether TV licensing should be scrapped,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bk.admin.ch/ch/f/pore/vi/vis454.html|title=Initiative populaire fédérale 'Oui à la suppression des redevances radio et télévision (suppression des redevances Billag)'|last=ChF|first=Chancellerie fédérale|website=bk.admin.ch|language=fr|access-date=28 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="nobillag.ch"/><ref name="Non à no Billag – votations"/> in which voters rejected abolition by 71.6 per cent to 28.4 per cent.<ref name="thelocal.ch"/> Legislators in Bulgaria<ref>
{{cite journal
 |last=Däther 
 |first=Kerstin 
 |author2=Alexander Scheuer 
 |title=The Financing of Public Service Broadcasting in Selected Central and Eastern European States 
 |journal=IRIS Legal Observations of the European Audiovisual Observatory 
 |pages=14–20 
 |publisher=European Audiovisual Observatory 
 |year=2000 
 |url=http://www.obs.coe.int/oea_publ/iris/iris_plus/focus6_2000.pdf.en 
 |access-date=21 November 2006 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010629010159/http://www.obs.coe.int/oea_publ/iris/iris_plus/focus6_2000.pdf.en 
 |archive-date=29 June 2001 }}
</ref> and Serbia<ref>{{cite book
| title = Television across Europe: regulation, policy and independence: Serbia
| publisher = EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP)/ Open Society Institute (OSI)
|year=2005
| isbn = 978-1-891385-35-3
| url = http://www.eumap.org/topics/media/television_europe/national/serbia/media_ser1.pdf
| pages = 1315–1383| author = Open Society Institute, EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program; Network Media Program.}}
</ref> have attempted to introduce a television licence. In Bulgaria, a fee is specified in the broadcasting law but has never been implemented. Lithuania<ref>{{cite book
| title = Television across Europe: regulation, policy and independence: Lithuania
| publisher = EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP)/ Open Society Institute (OSI)
|year=2005
| isbn = 978-1-891385-35-3
| url = http://www.eumap.org/topics/media/television_europe/national/lithuania/media_lit1.pdf
| pages = 1019–1075| author = Open Society Institute, EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program; Network Media Program.}}
</ref> 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|date=April 2012}}<ref>{{cite book
| title = Television across Europe: regulation, policy and independence: Latvia
| publisher = EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP)/ Open Society Institute (OSI)
|year=2005
| isbn = 978-1-891385-35-3
| url = http://www.eumap.org/topics/media/television_europe/national/latvia/media_lat1.pdf
| pages = 955–1017| author = Open Society Institute, EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program; Network Media Program.}}
</ref>

The Czech Republic<ref name="ceskatelevize">(May 2006) [http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/ct/publikace/pdf/Czech_Television_2006.pdf Česká Televize 2006] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090929131437/http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/ct/publikace/pdf/Czech_Television_2006.pdf |date=29 September 2009 }}, Czech Television External Relations.</ref> 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 ==
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==
* Broadcast licence
* City of license
* Public broadcasting
* Public radio
* Public television

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
=== TV licensing authorities ===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140517015815/http://broadcastingfee.com/ Broadcasting Fee Association] – international organisation for television licence fee collecting organisations
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040109040244/http://www.obs.coe.int/db/gavis/redevance_tv.html.en A list of TV licence authorities by the European Audiovisual Observatory]
* [http://www.billag.ch Billag (Switzerland)]
* [http://www.serafe.ch Serafe (Switzerland)]
* [https://www.dr.dk/om-dr/licens  Licenskontoret  (Denmark)]
* [http://www.pemra.gov.pk/ PEMRA (Pakistan)]
* [https://www.rundfunkbeitrag.de/ Beitragsservice (Germany)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050308102244/http://members.orf.at/ ORF-GIS (Austria)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180118042520/https://www.radiotjanst.se/ Radiotjänst (Sweden)]
* [http://www.tvlic.co.za TV Licences (South Africa)]
* [http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/ TV Licensing (United Kingdom)]
* [http://www.tv-maksu.fi TV-maksuhallinto (Finland)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417081530/http://www.tv-maksu.fi/ |date=17 April 2021 }}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Television Licence}}
[[Category:Television terminology]]

{{Sourceattribution|Television licence}}