New TV licence laws

Will you need a TV licence?

New rules come into force for the TV licence 1st September 2016 but many people are left confused on whether they need a licence or not.

From 1st September viewers will need to be covered by a TV licence if they watch live TV, watch or download BBC programmes on demand – including catch up TV – on the BBC iPlayer.

You must also have a TV licence if you watch TV or catch up TV on desktop computers, laptops, tablets, mobile phones, games consoles and any other device.

This means people people will now have to fork out for a TV licence if they don’t already have one as they have been using the ‘streaming loophole’ for many years.

You will NOT need a TV licence to download or watch programmes on demand from other providers, such as YouTube, Netflix, ITV Hub, All 4 or Demand 5. All unlicensed households are currently being mailed about the law change.

As before, you still need to be covered by a TV licence to watch or record any live TV on any channel no matter what device you use.