BBC considers utilizing iPlayer to catch out licence price dodgers | EUROtoday

The BBC is exploring plans to make use of knowledge from its iPlayer platform to assist establish households which are watching with no TV licence.

Under new proposals in improvement, individuals’s on-line BBC accounts could possibly be linked to their residence addresses for the primary time, giving TV Licensing a brand new instrument to trace potential evasion, Sky News reviews.

Anyone who watches or information stay tv on any channel, or streams programmes on BBC iPlayer, is legally required to carry a TV licence, which at present prices £174.50 a 12 months.

The company is chargeable for accumulating the price and routinely sends focused letters and emails to households it believes ought to be paying however should not.

Concessions exist for individuals aged 75 or over who obtain Pension Credit, blind viewers, residents of qualifying care properties who’re disabled or over 60, and companies providing in a single day lodging.

Failure to pay for a TV Licence can result in a superb of as much as £1,000.

A TV Licensing spokesperson mentioned the organisation “always looks at ways to improve how we collect the licence fee,” including that this consists of analysing out there knowledge to raised perceive how audiences use BBC providers.

The BBC raised £3.8bn from greater than 23 million licences in 2024–25, however an estimated £550m was misplaced to evasion.

The plans to make use of iPlayer knowledge to catch these evading paying the licence price come instantly after Tim Davie, the outgoing director-general of the BBC, warned the company might be in “profound jeopardy” until the present licence price system is overhauled.

“We do want reform of the licence fee,” he mentioned. “However, we’re not just about driving the amount we get from households higher.

“My biggest fears are that we just roll on and think it’s going to be OK. We don’t reform enough. At that point, we don’t get regulatory reform and more flexibility. That’s my biggest worry. And I think, if we don’t do that, we’re in trouble.”

Speaking about his issues in an interview with The GuardianDavie expressed reservations concerning the BBC shifting to an promoting or subscription mannequin, emphasising the significance of it remaining a “universal service”.

“The truth is, the jeopardy is high,” he continued. “The BBC has never really had profound jeopardy. What do I mean by that? It has, of course, had lots of drama and editorial crises in its time. But that’s actually not deathly jeopardy for the BBC.

“What represents deathly jeopardy for the BBC is if it’s not relevant … If we’re going to survive, we need permission to reform… we have got to stand up and fight for it.”