iPlayer to be covered by licence fee by this summer, suggests John Whittingdale

Culture Secretary announces plan to rush through laws to plug £150 million budget shortfall, as viewers ditch licence fee in favour of watching online

Viewers are ditching the licence fee in favour of watching online Photo: Alamy

Ministers are to rush through laws to stop viewers avoiding paying for the BBC by only watching catch-up programming, the Culture Secretary has said.

John Whittingdale said that new legislation to close the so-called “iPlayer loophole” could be brought in before the parliamentary summer recess, after the BBC warned that it was facing a £150 million budget shortfall, as viewers ditch the licence fee in favour of watching online.

Under current laws, anyone watching live television – on their television or computer – must pay the £145.50 licence fee. But those who only watch catch-up shows on iPlayer do not have to pay.

"Giving a free ride to those who enjoy Sherlock or Bake Off an hour, a day or a week after they are broadcast was never intended and is wrong"
John Whittingdale

In a speech at the Oxford Media Convention, Mr Whittingdale told a gathering of industry figures: “When the licence fee was invented, video on demand did not exist.

"And while the definition of television in the legislation covers live streaming, it does not require viewers to have a licence if they watch BBC programmes through the iPlayer even if it is just a few minutes after transmission.

“The BBC works on the basis that all who watch it pay for it. Giving a free ride to those who enjoy Sherlock or Bake Off an hour, a day or a week after they are broadcast was never intended and is wrong.”

The government committed last year to close the loophole at some stage during the ongoing discussions over a new BBC Royal Charter.

Culture Secretary John Whittingdale

But Mr Whittingdale said that concerns over the corporation’s funding meant that he now wanted to bring new laws forward “as soon as is practicable”.

He said: “Having discussed this with the BBC and the BBC Trust, I will be bringing forward, as soon as practicable, secondary legislation which will extend the current TV licensing regime not only to cover those watching the BBC live, but also those watching the BBC on catch-up through the iPlayer.”

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