The head of the BBC has said he wants to make people who watch programmes via iPlayer, which is currently free to view, pay a licence fee, too.
The £145.50 fee is currently payable by everyone in Britain who watches or records BBC programmes when they are shown, which means those watching via the on-demand iPlayer do not have to pay (Because the BBC choose not to have a login system).
But the corporation’s director general, Tony Hall, said the fee should apply to all BBC TV broadcasts, regardless of how they are watched.
He told the Oxford Media Convention today: ‘One of the advantages of the licence fee is that it’s flexible and has adapted over the years. It started as a radio licence, then TV, then colour TV
‘And then the relatively simple change to the regulations in 2004 to cover the consumption of live TV on new devices such as computers.
‘When it’s adapted itself so well over the decades, why would you suddenly give it up?’
He added: ‘When and how best to take the next step is, of course, a matter for the Government.
‘Our view is that there is room for modernisation so that the fee applies to the consumption of BBC TV programmes, whether live on BBC One or on-demand via the iPlayer.’
Bosses at the BBC have been wanting to charge for iPlayer use for years. In 2009 its then-technology chief Erik Huggers said: ‘I don’t believe in a free ride. If you are consuming BBC services then you have to be a licence-holder.’
In 2012, the BBC was accused of trying to bring in a ‘two-tier’ licence fee after it was revealed that the corporation was looking into a pay-per-view scheme for its vast archive.
Under the controversial plan, viewers would have paid a small charge to watch a BBC programme from its huge back catalogue.
At the time, a spokesman for the Taxpayers’ Alliance said: ‘The idea of creating a paid-for BBC archive is worrying as it could create a two-tier licence fee.
‘TV and radio audiences already pay for BBC content through their TV licence and while it is unreasonable to expect the Beeb to make all programmes available forever on the iPlayer, it doesn’t seem fair to charge for content twice.
Today, Mr Hall also said the corporation had become more efficient, saying: ‘For example, in 2006 we employed 635 people in the BBC’s core finance team. By 2016 we plan to employ around 280.’
He told his audience that moving BBC Sport from London to Salford saved more than £2million per year on football coverage and said the corporation was ‘in the final stages of a budget process to find an extra £100 million of savings’ that would be announced next month.
Meanwhile, it emerged today that the crime drama Ripper Street had been resurrected and a third series will be shown on the BBC as part of a deal with internet giant Amazon that will see it premiere online before being shown on TV.
But licence-payers wanting to watch the new series of the show, axed last year after the BBC said it ‘didn’t bring the audience we hoped’, will have to pay £79 a year to join Amazon’s on-demand Prime Instant service, if they want to watch it first. Ripper Street will then be shown on the BBC later.
Obviously the real reason behind this is the BBC have been pushing for sometime for an Internet Licence to replace the TV one now