Unbelievably, 32 homes across Fermanagh are still watching TV in black and white!
More than 50 years after the advent of colour TV transmissions the black and white TV licence is still in force, although numbers are steadily declining.
Despite an increase in the use of smart televisions, as well as tablets and smart-phones to access TV content, 566 households in the North are spurning 21st Century technology in favour of nostalgic monochrome TV sets.
The rise digital technology is one factor influencing the decline in black and white TV licences. Those who still watch the two tone pictures may do so out of nostalgia but if their television set was to break down are they prepared to make the change to colour or are they more likely to seek a repair and preserve their love and preference of a dying black and white tradition?
A spokesman for Shannon TV repairs based on the Sligo Road in Enniskillen remarked on how at one time black and white TV’s would have been popular across the county.
However, he notes that the rise of the colour television has led to a fall in demand for black and white TV repairs in the area, “It must be at least 15 years from I have repaired a black and white TV.
“They’re not too popular now. Sometimes I would fix factory machines with black and white displays but not TV’s.”
The number of black and white licences issued each year has steadily been declining. In 2000 there were 212,000 black and white TV Licences in force across the UK, but by 2015 the number had dipped below 10,000.
Karen Grimason, spokesman for TV Licensing, said, “Over half of the UK’s TVs now connect to the internet, so it’s interesting that more than 7,000 households still choose to watch their favourite shows on a black and white telly.”
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