BBC iPlayer now requires a TV Licence to watch your favorite shows online

Whether you watch online, on your Windows 10 Mobile phone or on your Xbox One, from today you need a TV Licence to watch content on the BBC iPlayer.

Until now there has been a loophole in the regulations that kept the online leg of BBCs broadcasting outside the need for a TV Licence, the mandatory payment for watching television that funds the BBC. That loophole said that only live TV delivered through iPlayer was subject to the rules and not on-demand content. This has now been locked down by the Beeb and the Government and if you watch, you pay.

A TV Licence costs £145.50 a year and applies to anyone who watches live TV and BBC content. Other on-demand, online only services from ITV, Channel 4 and the likes of Amazon and Netflix remain unaffected.

Find out more about TV Licensing and the BBC iPlayer

Richard Devine
Managing Editor - Tech, Reviews

Richard Devine is a Managing Editor at Windows Central with over a decade of experience. A former Project Manager and long-term tech addict, he joined Mobile Nations in 2011 and has been found on Android Central and iMore as well as Windows Central. Currently, you'll find him steering the site's coverage of all manner of PC hardware and reviews. Find him on Mastodon at mstdn.social/@richdevine