The great BBC switch off! Number of Scots buying TV licences is lowest in 10yrs

THE number of TV licences held in Scotland has dropped to its lowest level in more than a decade, with a fall of 80,000 in the past year alone as viewers switch to streaming giants such as Netflix.

There are an estimated 2,045,000 ‘Licences in Force’ in Scotland, with the number having been at around 2.2 million for several years beforehand. It is claimed the licence fee is now in terminal decline with growing numbers refusing to pay as habits change.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries last month described the current funding model as ‘completely outdated’ and said Ministers would be looking ‘very seriously about how we fund the BBC’ in the coming months.

Last week, the corporation announced it was moving some ‘minor’ channels online and merging news operations to save hundreds of millions of pounds.

The colour licence costs £159 and is used to fund the corporation,

‘The switch from linear viewing will continue’

paying for services including TV, radio, BBC online and the iPlayer catch-up service.

However, a licence is not required to watch only non-BBC streaming services which do not show live TV, such as Netflix, or if the TV is used to view home media such as DVDs or Blu-Ray discs.

In January, Ms Dorries confirmed the licence fee would be frozen for two years, before increasing by roughly 10 per cent over the following four years.

The existence of the licence fee is guaranteed until the end of the BBC Charter period in 2027 but it is widely anticipated reform will follow that.

The system could be replaced by a Netflix-style subscription ‘top-up’ for entertainment and sport. The BBC is responsible for issuing TV licences but it outsources the administration to companies which use the trademarked name TV Licensing.

The number of licences held across the UK has shrunk by one million in two years, with about 24.8 million now in force, compared with 25.8 million pre-pandemic.

The fee increased from £157.50 last year, while three million over-75s lost their free entitlement.

Media Minister John Whittingdale said last year: ‘I think it inevitable that certain trends which are now clearly visible will continue. One is the switch away from linear viewing. The second is, in the longer term, the decline in willingness to pay the BBC’s licence fee.’

Under the Communications Act 2003, it is not a criminal offence to own a television without a licence, but it is against the law to use it to watch live or catch-up programmes without a licence.

In some circumstances, viewers have to pay the licence fee despite not owning a TV. To watch live programmes or BBC programmes on demand, or via the iPlayer streaming service, on a PC or tablet, a valid licence is still needed.

The BBC is responsible for collecting the licence fee and enforcing it. The corporation has the authority to get a search warrant to determine whether a TV receiver is being used illegally and says ‘as a last resort’ it will pass cases of evasion in Scotland to the procurator fiscal for possible prosecution. Penalties include a maximum fine of £1,000.

A BBC spokesman said: ‘The BBC is the most used media brand in the UK, with 90 per cent of adults coming to us on average per week.

‘When it comes to the future, we look forward to the national debate on the next charter and, of course, all options should be considered.

‘The BBC is owned by the public and their voice must always be heard as part of that debate.’