Television licensing in the United Kingdom information
Annual licence to receive live television
For licensing for broadcasting rights, see broadcast license.
This article includes information on TV licensing on the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands which is regulated by the United Kingdom's TV licensing authority.
In the United Kingdom and the British Islands, any household watching or recording television transmissions at the same time they are being broadcast is required by law to hold a television licence. This applies regardless of transmission method, including terrestrial, satellite, cable, or for BBC iPlayer internet streaming. The television licence is the instrument used to raise revenue to fund the BBC and S4C.
Businesses, hospitals, schools and a range of other organisations are also required by law to hold television licences to watch and record live TV broadcasts.[1] The licence, originally a radio licence, was introduced in November 1923 using powers under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1904, and cost 10 shillings per annum. The licence was extended to televisions at a cost of £2 in June 1946. The radio part was abolished in February 1971.[2] A television licence is also required to receive video on demand programme services provided by the BBC via its iPlayer service.
Since 1 April 2024, the annual cost has been £169.50 for a colour licence and £57.00 for a black and white licence. Income from the licence is primarily used to fund the television, radio and online services of the BBC. The total income from licence fees was £3.83 billion in 2017–18,[3] of which £655.3 million or 17.1% was provided by the government through concessions for those over the age of 75 (this subsidy has now been phased out). Thus, the licence fee made up the bulk (75.7%) of the BBC's total income of £5.0627 billion in 2017–2018.[3]
In May 2016, the government's white paper announced that the licence fee would rise with inflation for the first five years of the Charter period, from 1 April 2017.
The number of licences issued peaked at 26.2m in 2018. As of 2022-2023, there were over 24m active TV licences.[4]
^"Businesses and organisations". TV Licensing Authority, a division of BBC. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
^"Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport - First Report. 5 BBC Funding". Publications & records. UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
^ ab"BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2017/18" (PDF). BBC. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
IntheUnitedKingdom and the British Islands, any household watching or recording television transmissions at the same time they are being broadcast is...
Also all other BBC Television channels; for radio, only the BBC stations are public service broadcasters. IntheUnitedKingdom, the term public service...
four major forms of digital television (DTV) broadcast intheUnitedKingdom: a direct-to-home satellite service from the Astra 28.2°E satellites provided...
sounds of a television used in a property without a licence. Television detector vans have been employed by TV LicensingintheUnitedKingdom, with various...
broadcasting intheUnitedKingdom 1939 Temporary shutdown of BBC Television Service DuMont Television Network Seven TV Rede Tupi Televisionlicensinginthe United...
available. 2015 in British music 2015 in British radio 2015 intheUnitedKingdom List of British films of 2015 "Miranda fans get happy ending in finale of...
different types of mass media intheUnitedKingdom: television, radio, newspapers, magazines and websites. TheUnitedKingdom is known for its large music...
intheUnitedKingdom is highly facilitated by road, rail, air and water networks. Transport is a devolved matter with each of the countries of the United...
terrestrial televisionintheUnitedKingdom encompasses over 100 television, radio and interactive services broadcast via theUnitedKingdom's terrestrial...
cable televisionintheUnitedKingdom. The first part of the timeline covers the development of cable across the country, including details of the cable-exclusive...
Events of the year 2023 intheUnitedKingdom. This is the year of the coronation of King Charles III. Monarch – Charles III Prime Minister – Rishi Sunak...
TheUnitedKingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as theUnitedKingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off...
Censorship intheUnitedKingdom was at different times more or less widely applied to various forms of expression such as the press, cinema, entertainment...
The 2019 UnitedKingdom general election was held on Thursday 12 December 2019 with 47,567,752 registered voters entitled to vote to elect members of...
Gambling intheUnitedKingdom is regulated by the Gambling Commission on behalf of the government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)...
supermarket chains currently operating intheUnitedKingdom. The food retail market has been dominated by the 'big four' supermarkets – Tesco, Sainsbury's...
Television is one of the major mass media outlets intheUnited States. In 2011, 96.7% of households owned television sets; about 114,200,000 American...
Energy intheUnitedKingdom came mostly from fossil fuels in 2021. Total energy consumption intheUnitedKingdom was 142.0 million tonnes of oil equivalent...
Acid attacks intheUnitedKingdom are a form of interpersonal violence where acid or other corrosive fluids are used with the intention of causing harm...
Under the law of theUnitedKingdom, a copyright is an intangible property right subsisting in certain qualifying subject matter. Copyright law is governed...
Motion Picture Licensing Corporation ("MPLC") is a global, independent, non-theatrical copyright licensing company authorized by more than 1,000 motion...