Speaking in Parliament, the Culture Secretary said
Responding to a question about the so-called "iPlayer loophole", which allows viewers to watch TV programmes without a licence, he said that Government had agreed that catch-up TV would in the future be treated the same way as viewing live TV in legislation. Full details about how this would be implemented remain to be seen.
BBC iPlayer fee: Viewers of catch-up service could be charged to offset £650m of cuts
he broadcaster will be allowed to make up some of the lost revenue by charging people to use iPlayer – which could return at least £150million to its coffers.
The move would enable the BBC to start charging the estimated 2% of households – 500,000 – in the UK which only consume on-demand TV content, rather than watching programmes live.
Hall said the BBC's latest research showed that the public was prepared to spend an average of between £15 and £20 for its services, beyond the £12 a month (or £145.50 a year) households currently pay.
Responding to a question about the so-called "iPlayer loophole", which allows viewers to watch TV programmes without a licence, he said that Government had agreed that catch-up TV would in the future be treated the same way as viewing live TV in legislation. Full details about how this would be implemented remain to be seen.
BBC iPlayer fee: Viewers of catch-up service could be charged to offset £650m of cuts
he broadcaster will be allowed to make up some of the lost revenue by charging people to use iPlayer – which could return at least £150million to its coffers.
The move would enable the BBC to start charging the estimated 2% of households – 500,000 – in the UK which only consume on-demand TV content, rather than watching programmes live.
Hall said the BBC's latest research showed that the public was prepared to spend an average of between £15 and £20 for its services, beyond the £12 a month (or £145.50 a year) households currently pay.