Millions of households are being warned as the TV licence fee will jump up next year.
The Government has announced an increase in the BBC licence fee and a review into the "sustainability of the payment". The charge was first introduced in June 1946, when television broadcasts resumed following the Second World War.
If you watch or record broadcasted TV programmes, or use the BBC iPlayer on a television, laptop or tablet, you must have a TV licence.
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How much does a TV licence cost?
The licence fee had been frozen at £159 over the last two years and the Government has announced it will now rise by £10.50 to £169.50 from April 2024. This is slightly less than the planned rise of around £15.
Who is exempt from paying for a TV licence?
- People who are aged 75 or over and receive Pension Credit
- People who are blind (severely sight impaired)
- People who live in qualifying residential care and are disabled or over 60 and retired
What does my TV licence fee pay for?
The licence fee pays for TV, radio and online programmes and services including iPlayer, Radio 1, CBeebies and the World Service. It also funds Welsh language TV channel S4C and local TV channels, and is reported to be worth more than £3bn to the BBC.
What will the TV licence review do?
The Government said there are "challenges around the sustainability of the current licence fee funding model" due to fewer people taking up the licence fee and watching broadcasted television. It also thinks that enforcement on people not paying the fee is "increasingly disproportionate in a modern public service broadcasting system".
The review will be led by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which will take evidence from stakeholders and create a panel of experts to help with the findings. The report, which will look at making the BBC more commercial, alternative funding models and how the corporation could transition, will inform the Charter Review and report in Autumn 2024.
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