I knew that the UK licenses TV and radios, I think they may have dropped the fees for radios a few years ago. This pays for the cost of the BBC without commercials, or did. I 've seen pictures of specialty vans with detection gear to find people using Radio and TV's who haven't paid their license.
Here is a link to the BBC with a photo of one.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/d...00/2521357.stm
Correction Radio license fees were abolished in 1971