Did you know that you don’t need a TV licence if you never, ever watch live TV?
By Sarah Bridge Updated: 06 August 2024
With the continuing rise in popularity of streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime, you might wonder if you need a TV Licence at all.
The cost of a TV Licence is £169.50 a year - which works out at around 46p a day - or just £57 if you still watch on a black and white TV. Around 70 per cent of TV Licence holders pay by direct debit which works out at around £14.12 a month.
The rules covering TV licensing are pretty clear. It doesn't matter if you watch on a TV, smartphone, PC, laptop or tablet or on a terrestrial channel, on social media, on a TV service or an overseas channel - if it's live TV (even if you recorded it to watch later) then you need a TV Licence.
You do need to buy a TV Licence if you watch or record any live TV broadcasts on any channel or platform, including (but not limited to), terrestrial channels such as BBC, ITV, Channel Four and Channel 5, digital channels such as E4 and Dave, streaming services such as YouTube, NOW or Amazon Prime, Sky, Virgin and BT.
You also need a TV Licence if you use BBC iPlayer, but you don’t need a TV Licence to use BBC websites, or listen to BBC radio.
According to TV Licensing, the BBC body which collects and enforces the TV Licence: 'It is an offence to watch or record television programmes as they are being shown on any channel and on any broadcast platform (terrestrial, satellite, cable and the internet) or download or watch BBC programmes on demand, including catch up TV, on BBC iPlayer without a valid TV Licence.'
But you do not need a TV Licence to watch:
So if you only watch the above, non-live, services on whatever devices you use, then you do not need to get a TV Licence.
But be aware: the TV licensing board has said that only a tiny percentage of households currently meet the requirements for exemption, so you need to be absolutely sure that you don’t watch or record any live TV before you decide to stop paying.
Back in 2016, TV Licensing said that only 2 per cent of households never watched live TV. While this percentage is likely to have increased since then, you have to watch absolutely no live TV at all to be exempt. If that is you, you can let TV Licensing know using this declaration.
According to the latest figures from TV Licensing, in March 2023 24,373,130 households had a TV Licence while 246,530 households had more than one licence, such as for houses with multiple but separate occupancy. Around 91.5 per cent of households were licensable - with the majority of the rest being empty properties - and there were still 4,000 black and white TV licences in use.
TV License fee revenues in 2022/23 were £3.74 billion, and the total BBC income in 2022/23 was £5.73 billion, 65 per cent of which came from the licence fee revenues. The remaining 35 per cent or £1.99 billion came from commercial and other activities (such as grants, royalties and rental income).
The £3.74 billion in fee income was slightly down on the previous year's total of £3.8 billion, due to flat licence fee pricing and a decline in paid for licences.
The BBC estimates that the evasion rate rose from 9.38 per cent in 2021/22 to 10.31 per cent in 2022/23, and said the increase was due to a change in viewing habits, slowing of household growth and cost of living pressures.
If you are caught watching live TV without a valid TV Licence, then you could face a £1,000 fine. In the most extreme examples, such as not paying your TV Licence fine, then you could be sent to prison.
If you only watch TV on a black and white TV - and around 4,000 households still do - the TV Licence fee is just £57 a year, compared to £169.50.
If you are registered blind, then you can apply for a 50 per cent reduction in the cost of your TV Licence. If you are partially sighted, then you do not quality for a reduction.
In 2020, the BBC ended automatic free TV Licences for the over-75s, meaning that more than three million households had to start paying the fee. TV Licenses are still free for those aged 75 or over who receive pension credit or who live with someone who does.
You do not have to inform TV Licensing that you don't need a TV Licence, but it's a good idea to avoid any problems if you just stop paying and you might get a refund.
This Guardian article recommends that if you are going licence free, it is a good idea to disconnect your aerial, delete BBC iPlayer apps from all devices and clear any BBC cookies and caches. Make sure you set up any TV platforms so they can no longer receive live TV and don’t install any live TV services.
