The BBC are concerned that the number of people who use the iPlayer will decrease as a result of the new laws.
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In the past, you haven’t had to pay for a licence if you only catch up on shows online, after they were broadcast, using streaming services like BBC iPlayer or 4OD.
From Thursday, September 1, the regulations around TV licences will change – and it’s not just live television which it will impact.
If you have a business that relies on catch-up or on-demand TV then a licence is necessary.
A BBC spokesman said, ‘From tomorrow, a pop-up will appear when you go to play something, asking you to select if you have a TV licence, as you’ll need one to watch live, catch-up and on-demand programmes on iPlayer’.
It is unclear how the new rules will be enforced, as no plans to ask viewers to enter licence fee details on iPlayer have been revealed by the BBC.
Do I need to do anything if I already have a licence?
She added: ‘If there is a grain of truth in the idea that they will be able to monitor our internet activity, the BBC needs to be honest about exactly how they intend to watch us watching them’. You won’t need to buy a second licence for iPlayer or to pay anything extra.
I already have a TV Licence registered at my address, do I need another Licence? Yet the BBC refuse to be defeated by the new rules and instead highlighted that only those without a license will be impacted by the changes and as this represents a small percentage of iPlayer users, the future of the iPlayer looks promising.
You also still don’t need a TV Licence to watch Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Vimeo, Disney Life, Hayu and other online only on demand providers.
TV Licensing claim that only 2% of households will likely be affected by the new rules and while it will affect all of the on-demand services supplied by the BBC, it won’t have any impact on people’s ability to watch Netflix, the ITV Player, My5 or All4 without holding a TV license.
How much is a TV licence and how do I get one? It’s only if you use iPlayer that you’ll have to pay.
A yearly licence now costs £145.50 per year but this can spread via monthly payments.
If you use iPlayer without paying up, you could be prosecuted and hit with a fine of up to £1,000.
TV Licensing Wales spokeswoman Catherine Griffith-Williams said: “Watching catch-up TV is really popular among students and we want to make sure students are aware of the change in law”.
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TV Licensing yesterday insisted that officials “did not access any information as part of our detection technology”.
