UK viewers that claim to watch catch-up TV on the BBC iPlayer will be required to pay the Licence Fee from September 1.
The closure of the loophole is expected to affect just 2% of households. There will be no change for those already paying the annual £146.50 fee.
The new law only covers the viewing of BBC programmes; similar services including ITV Hub, All4, My5 and Netflix can still be viewed without payment of the fee. ITV chief executive Adam Crozier had previously written to ministers expressing his concern at any move to bring the commercial PSBs that receive no Licence Fee money under the new remit.
It applies to any device on which the content might be viewed.
In a very British move a spokesman for TV Licensing told Broadband TV News that there would be no requirement for users to enter their Licence Fee details, though this was kept under review, meaning like linear TV viewing payment was being taken on trust.
All unlicensed households are currently being mailed and a publicity and advertising campaign will take place before 1 September.
The BBC has long argued that viewing to the catch up element of the iPlayer should require a licence – at present a licence is only required for live viewing.
