{"id":705036,"date":"2026-07-22T10:09:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T10:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/705036\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T10:09:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T10:09:08","slug":"bbc-considers-locking-iplayer-for-viewers-who-opt-out-of-licence-fee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/705036\/","title":{"rendered":"BBC Considers Locking iPlayer For Viewers Who Opt Out Of Licence Fee"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tEXCLUSIVE: The BBC<\/a> has said it is open-minded about closing off iPlayer<\/a> to British viewers who decline to pay the licence fee.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn an all-staff call on Monday, the BBC\u2019s chief customer officer Kerris Bright said locking down iPlayer could be an \u201copportunity\u201d in the future as the corporation looks to stem the tide of people opting out of the licence fee.<\/p>\n

\n\tBright told colleagues that blocking iPlayer does not currently make sense because it could cause unwelcome friction for viewers who do pay the licence fee, but she said the BBC will keep the idea under review as streaming technology improves.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201ciPlayer is the only service really that\u2019s licensable where you could actually decide to put a gate in front of it, but the data today says that actually [there\u2019s] not really the return on investment for doing that,\u201d Bright told employees, per audio obtained by Deadline.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe vast majority of evasion is not on iPlayer. The vast majority of people that are watching iPlayer are people that are paying their TV licence, and so to put a gate in front of iPlayer, the data today says that you actually would make it a very difficult experience for people that are paying for the licence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tiPlayer viewers do have to sign into the BBC to watch the streamer. The service also occasionally asks users if they have a licence fee, though it does not require proof. \u201cIt\u2019s quite a difficult experience if you have to ask them to find their TV licence to put it into iPlayer,\u201d Bright said.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe continued: \u201cAs we go into the future, more of an IPTV world, audiences changing behavior, new ways of creating experiences that maybe aren\u2019t so full of friction for audiences \u2026 that might absolutely be an opportunity for us, depending on the funding model.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe data says today [that] absolutely [it] is not the silver bullet to generating more revenue. There\u2019s probably more cost in it than revenue, but it is something we should absolutely keep looking at because it might be something that you actually would want to do in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMore than half a million people opted out of the licence fee in the BBC\u2019s most recent financial year, contributing to a funding crisis for the British broadcaster. <\/p>\n

\n\tSome 94% of the UK population use the BBC every month, but fewer than 80% pay the \u00a3180 annual licence fee. The BBC is attempting to bridge this gap and can no longer dip into its cash reserves to fund operations.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn comments earlier this month, BBC director general Matt Brittin said: \u201cWe can and should be doing as much as possible on [enforcing] licence fee collection under the current model, but it\u2019s yesterday\u2019s model, it\u2019s a busted flush, it\u2019s no longer fit for purpose, and that\u2019s why we need to make the case for the BBC and a shift of the licence fee model.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe BBC is in talks with the government about a new charter, which will likely lead to funding model changes. The BBC is not being prescriptive about what could replace the licence fee, but thinks the government should reconsider a compulsory household levy, which it previously ruled out.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnother idea under consideration is extending the licence fee to include subscribers to streamers like Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video. The plan has already drawn the ire of the Motion Picture Association, representing U.S. streamers and studios.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: The BBC has said it is open-minded about closing off iPlayer to British viewers who decline to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388518,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[243,96,11900,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-705036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-bbc","tag-entertainment","tag-iplayer","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=705036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=705036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=705036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=705036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}