Television licence law change will impact Milton Keynes students

A change in the law means as of September 1 2016, a licence will be needed to download or watch BBC programmes on demand, including catch up TV, on BBC iPlayer.

Research by TV Licensing has revealed iPlayer is the most popular catch up platform used by students, ahead of sites such as YouTube and services including Netflix2.

The survey confirms two in three students view catch up TV, with many watching on-demand programmes. With less than a quarter (22%) of students taking a TV with them to university, online viewing on mobile devices has become by far the favoured way of consuming catch up TV content.

Watching TV remains an integral part of university life with 84 per cent of students finding it gives them the chance to relax on their own and more than half (60 per cent) citing TV viewing as a great opportunity to unwind with friends.

“Watching catch up TV is really popular among students and we want to make sure students are aware of the change in law,” said said Ben Craig, spokesperson for TV Licensing in London and the South East.

“Everyone will need to be covered by a TV Licence to watch BBC TV programmes on demand – including catch up – on iPlayer. Students can check at our dedicated TV Licence for students page whether they are correctly licensed before the big move. And, of course, you still need to be covered by a licence for all live viewing and recording, no matter which channel you are watching or what device you are watching on.”

Students who already have a licence will be covered automatically.

A licence will not be needed to watch other on-demand services, such as ITV Player or Netflix. This applies to all devices, including a smart TV, desktop computer or laptop, mobile phone, tablet, digital box or games console.

If you are at university, visit the dedicated TV Licence for students (tvlicensing.co.uk\studentinfo) FAQ section, or contact an adviser over the phone on 0300 790 6113.