Jan Leeming will not renew her TV licence this year after "wasting [her] money" on the fee.
The 78-year-old former BBC newsreader – who fronted bulletins from 1980 to 1987 – had to start paying for her licence again after the broadcaster ended free TV licences for most over-75s earlier this month, and after forking out more than £157 this year, the star said she will not be paying up in 2021.
Taking to Twitter, she wrote: "Ouch – just wrote cheque for £157.50 for [my] TV licence.
"In the past it was probably value for money but [I] hardly ever watch terrestrial TV – not interested in soaps, cookery and delving into people’s lives with so many reality programmes – there are so many other outlets nowadays. (sic)"
Jan later asked her social media followers for clarification about what the licence money contributes to.
She added: "The licence has been around so long [I] can’t remember – is [the] licence only for BBC? If it is then I need not have paid it as there’s very little on it that I watch? (sic)"
A fan replied, noting the fee is "only required if you watch live transmissions and/or BBC iPlayer".
She responded: "Then I’ve just wasted my money. How do the police know whether you’ve paid or not? I like some BBC4 repeats but can live without it. Won’t renew next year. (sic)"
The official guidelines confirm people must have a TV licence to watch any live television – even if recorded – on any channel, or to catch up on iPlayer.
However, the rules note you don’t need to subscribe if you’re watching "on demand or catch up programmes on services other than BBC iPlayer (and you also never watch live TV programmes on any channel, including on iPlayer)".
Furthermore, you can also watch S4C TV on demand and listen to the radio on iPlayer without a licence, as well as streaming, renting or buying films from the likes of Sky, BT TV, Netflix, Virgin Media and Amazon.