What is the TV licence fee – and will UK viewers have to pay it to use Netflix?
What is the TV licence fee – and will UK viewers have to pay it to use Netflix?
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New ideas under discussion could see viewers charged for using non-live streaming services. The government is reportedly exploring new ways to expand the TV licence fee as it looks to secure the future of the BBC. This could include introducing a fee to non-live viewing for the first time, in a move that would affect those who stream on services like Disney+ and Netflix.
![[Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has said she committed to upholding the licence fee until at least 2027]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/17/09/49de1345ac4fa198ae59a531f4419ec3Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM3MTkwNzIz-2.78022224.jpg)
The TV licence fee is currently £169.50, rising in 2024 after being frozen at £159 for two years. In April it will rise again, to £174.50. Other options on the table include allowing the BBC to use advertising, creating a standalone fee for streaming services, or asking BBC Radio listeners to pay, sources told Bloomberg.
![[The BBC has already begun efforts to cut £700 million a year]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/24/11/iStock-1168432415.jpg)
The government has acknowledged the BBC’s funding struggles, with Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy saying in November that streaming giants and changing viewing habits represented real challenges for the public broadcaster. It has also seen a decline in licence fee income of over 30 per cent in recent years, with the two-year freeze on the rate meaning less funds than planned were available.
The issues have led the BBC to make considerable cuts in a drive to save £700 million a year. In October 2024, its news service announced that 155 jobs would be lost, in a drive to save £24 million. Ms Nandy has said she is committed to upholding the licence fee until at least 2027, when a review of the BBC’s Royal Charter is due. The minister says this charter will include a public consultation to have “an honest national conversation about the broadcaster’s long-term future.”.
