Plans to make half a million BBC iPlayer ‘free riders’ pay the licence fee – but experts say it will be too difficult to enforce
- Loophole allowing people to watch iPlayer online for free to be closed
- Password system may be used to ensure users pay their £145 licence fee
- BBC also likely be asked to bring in pay-per-view for classic hit shows
- Fans in foreign countries could be allowed to pay to subscribe to services
- See more on how BBC iPlayer ‘free riders’ will now pay the licence fee
The 500,000 ‘free riders’ who watch the BBC for free on iPlayer will be forced to pay the licence fee – but experts say it will be easy to get round it.
The Government is closing the loophole allowing people to avoid paying £145.50-a-year by watching TV on their computer, tablet or phone.
The corporation is also being encouraged to charge viewers extra if they want to watch repeats of hit shows like Bake Off, Strictly and Sherlock if they are more than 30 days old.
In a series of BBC reforms the Culture Secretary John Whittingdale paved the way for the introduction of a separate subscription for the streaming device.