Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
TV licence tops £150
£3.50 hike from April 1 after millions of viewers opt out
TV licences are to break the £150 barrier, it was announced yesterday.
They currently cost £147 but will go up to £150.50 from April 1, the Government said.
The £3.50 hike comes as many viewers have decided to opt out of paying the fee for BBC shows and instead watch streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon. Almost 3.5 million have cancelled their licence over the past four years.
But anyone - using any equipment - who watches or records BBC programmes in real time, or views shows after downloading them from the iplayer, must have a licence.
The cost of it increased last year for the first time since 2010 after the Government ruled it would rise in line with inflation over the course of five years.
The BBC provides nine national TV channels plus regional programming, 10 national radio stations and 40 local ones plus its news and sport websites. Top Beeb TV shows in the past 12 months included Strictly, Blue Planet II, Three Girls and Doctor Foster.
A dossier of attacks on TV licensing inspectors released by the BBC reveals they now run at around two a week – with staff being punched, kicked, spat at and having dogs set on them. TALK about going ape... this gorilla showed his apparent displeasure at having his picture taken by making what looks like a rude sign at a photographer.
Mike Rodenburg, who was visiting Amsterdam zoo, said: “I caught him with his finger up his nose but the second I took my camera out he pulled it out and held it straight up to me. I just had to laugh.”