UK licence fee to be expanded to streamers?
May 12, 2026
Streaming subscribers in the UK could soon be required to pay the TV licence fee under plans to safeguard the future of the BBC.
According to a report in The Times, the government is reluctant to move towards a model funded by advertising or subscriptions and is instead said to be considering an expansive approach, retaining the licence fee while extending it to cover streaming platforms such as Netflix and Prime Video.
The BBC warned that it was facing “managed decline” in its response to a green paper about its future in March, which highlighted that only 80 per cent of the population now paid the licence fee, despite 94 per cent using its services every month.
The corporation has argued, according to The Times, that by encouraging more people to pay through expanding the scope of the licence fee, beyond live television and iPlayer, it would be able to reduce its cost – which rose to £180 in April.
The BBC has faced a 25 per cent fall in its income over the past decade and been forced to implement a £500 million savings plan, which is expected to result in the loss of around 2,000 roles – some 10 per cent of its workforce – over the next two years.
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