TV licence costs are set to rise once more in just some weeks, taking the price to £174.50 per 12 months.
The BBC will likely be growing the charge yearly till 2027 in accordance with the current royal constitution. It could impose a major pressure amid a rise within the vitality cap and the price of residing disaster.
Beneath new proposals, households that solely use streaming providers like Netflix may additionally be required to pay the TV licence charge. This comes as ministers are drafting plans to restructure the company’s funding after the BBC’s present royal constitution expires in 2027.
The royal constitution is an settlement between the Authorities and the BBC on its function and governance. However what precisely is altering with the TV licence? Right here’s a breakdown.
What modifications are coming to the TV licence?
The BBC TV licence charge is ready to extend by £5 to £174.50 per 12 months on April 1. The rise is predicated on the annual inflation price.
Sources have instructed Bloomberg that in an effort to make sure the BBC’s survival, the Authorities can also be contemplating forcing Netflix and Disney+ subscribers to pay the TV licence charge.
Different choices embrace permitting the BBC to make use of promoting, creating a selected tax for streaming providers or making BBC Radio listeners pay.
These potential modifications are being thought of as viewing habits have modified as customers gravitate towards on-demand providers.
The talks comply with Tradition Minister Sir Chris Bryant’s statement that he needed the BBC licence charge to proceed to help a “large manufacturing finances” for UK-produced TV reveals and movies.
“I do need the streamers to come back right here. Tom Cruise has made large investments within the UK,” he mentioned.
“However I additionally need us to have a system the place a British manufacturing firm is commissioned by others to make one thing that the place the Mental Property (IP), or a number of the IP, stays with the manufacturing firm. I type of need a little bit of each.”
- The BBC TV licence charge is ready to extend by £5 to £174.50 per 12 months on April 1.
- Viewing habits have modified as customers gravitate towards on-demand providers, due to this fact, the TV licence might be prolonged to cowl Netflix and Disney Plus providers.
- You’ll must be lined by the TV licence if you happen to’re watching LIVE TV on a tv, pc, pill, video games console, smartphone or some other gadget.
- This is applicable to watching ‘dwell TV’ through internet-only providers similar to Amazon Prime Video and Now TV.
- You presently don’t want a TV licence if you happen to’re watching movies on YouTube or catching up in your favorite sequence on Netflix.
- State pensioners who’re aged 75 and older and qualify for pension credit score are eligible for a free TV licence.
In keeping with Jay Hunt, chairperson of the British Movie Institute (BFI), British public service broadcasters (PSBs) can successfully cohabit with streaming behemoths like Netflix and Apple TV Plus.
She mentioned: “There may be an rising thesis that the one tv that speaks to British audiences is made by public service broadcasters.
“I’ve spent most of my profession in public service tv and extraordinary programming is popping out of the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5, the entire time, however it is usually now popping out of inward funding.”
Hunt added that reveals like Sluggish Horses, Rivals and Child Reindeer are a number of examples that “there’s nice British content material being made past the PSBs as nicely”.
There have been additionally rumours circulating that the licence charge can be lined by basic taxation.
Nevertheless, Tradition Secretary Lisa Nandy ruled this one out on BBC Breakfast saying that the license charge is “not solely inadequate, it is elevating inadequate cash to help the BBC, however it is usually deeply regressive”.
Cash raised from the licence charge pays for BBC reveals and providers – together with TV, the BBC web site, podcasts, iPlayer, apps, in addition to radio.
Your family has to pay the charge if you happen to’re watching dwell tv on a tv, pc, pill, video games console, smartphone or some other gadget. This contains watching dwell Premier League matches on Amazon Prime.
Who’s eligible for a free TV licence?
State pensioners who’re aged 75 and older and qualify for pension credit score are eligible for a free TV licence.
In keeping with the TV Licensing website, ”you, because the licence holder, are 75 years or older and also you, or your accomplice residing on the identical handle, obtain Pension Credit score”.
People who’re retired, over 60, disabled, or reside in care services or protected housing can acquire their licence for a reduced worth of £7.50.
And a 50 per cent low cost is accessible for many who are registered blind or who dwell with somebody who’s.
People who find themselves struggling to pay can unfold the price throughout 12 months utilizing the Easy Fee Plan.
