A television licence (or broadcast receiving licence) is official permission required in some countries for the reception of television broadcasts, or the possession of a television set. The licence is sometimes also required to own or receive radio broadcasts. A TV licence is generally a hypothecated tax for the purpose of funding public broadcasting, thus allowing public broadcasters to transmit television programmes without, or with only supplemental, funding from radio and television advertisements (however this is not always true, for example TVP receives more funds from advertisements than from its tv tax).
Whilst TV licensing is rare in the Americas, half of the countries of Asia and Africa, and two-thirds of the countries in Europe use television licences to fund public television.
Read more about Television Licence: History, Television Licences Around The World, Detection of Evasion of Television Licences, Opinions of Television Licensing Systems, Internet-based Broadcast Access
Famous quotes containing the word television:
“Laughter on American television has taken the place of the chorus in Greek tragedy.... In other countries, the business of laughing is left to the viewers. Here, their laughter is put on the screen, integrated into the show. It is the screen that is laughing and having a good time. You are simply left alone with your consternation.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)