Remember the song ‘the best things in life are free’? Well, they were lying.
Up until now, viewers have been able to watch TV online for free but as of next year this could all change.
The current TV license is £145, but by watching ‘catch up tv’ online people are avoiding this fee and the government are now worried that they will eventually stop watching live tv all together and stick to online viewing.
The BBC iPlayer is one of the most popular online players and the BBC’s technology chief said that he feels people are getting a ‘free ride’ by watching all of their programmes for no cost online. A survey conducted has shown that around 40% of students now use the online player as their main source of viewing.
So, what are they proposing?
There are numerous ideas being thrown about inlcuding PC licensing fee, iPlayer fee or an extra ‘online viewing’ cost on your TV license. We are of course just playing a guessing game at the moment as nothing will be discussed until next year.
However, one thing seems certain. Viewers may not be able to get away without paying to watch their favourite programmes for much longer.
