Wednesday 10 May 2017

Week 34 Story 67-Who is allowed to watch the BBC iPlayer?

The rules on watching iPlayer on mobile devices are complicated – it depends on whether or not you are plugged in.

Who is allowed to watch the BBC iPlayer?

‘’A TV licence is required to watch BBC content online – a result of changing viewing habits and an attempt to stem financial losses. The corporation hopes more people will decide to start paying than stop watching’’

Why was a licence not needed for catch-up in the first place?
  • The current legislation governing TV licences was originally part of the 2003 Communications Act; the iPlayer was not launched until 2007. In recent years more people have shifted to catch-up and online viewing, making rules written more than a decade ago even more outdated.
  • While the average person in the UK still spends about 80% of their viewing time watching live or recorded TV, that figure is falling. Among younger generations the average is less than half that, and increasing numbers are not watching (or recording) live TV at all.


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