TV Licence: do you need one?
Lesson 8 of 12 in our free Bills & Subscriptions guide: a 5-minute money game with the key points below.
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Questions you'll answer
A £180 TV Licence spread over 12 months. How much a month?
Mo's in halls with his own room and watches live TV there. Does his parents' licence at home cover him?
Quick facts
- Watching a live football match on a laptop → Needed. Live TV on any device needs a licence.
- Watching BBC iPlayer catch-up → Needed. iPlayer needs a licence, live or not.
- Only bingeing non-BBC on-demand streaming series → Not needed. On-demand only, not BBC — usually no licence needed.
- Watching a live stream of a TV channel on your phone → Needed. Live is live, whatever the screen.
- Watching user-uploaded videos on a video site → Not needed. Not live TV — no licence needed.