The cost of a TV Licence, needed to watch any BBC content within iPlayer and live content from any broadcaster or streaming service, will rise to £180 from April 1st.
A licence is not needed to listen to radio channels, access BBC Sounds, watch catch-up content on non-BBC apps such as ITVX and Channel 4, or to stream non-live content on paid apps such as Netflix, Apple TV, Paramount+ or Disney+.
Additionally, using iPlayer to watch content from S4C is also possible without a TV Licence.
The inflation-linked increase of £5.50 is in line with the BBC’s 2022 Licence Fee Settlement and was confirmed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on Friday.
The TV Licence is the BBC’s primary source of funding, generating more than £3.8bn per year for the broadcaster.
However it also makes substantial profits from its commercial arm, BBC Studios, which produces shows for other broadcasters, sells content and formats around the world, and operates a global network of broadcast and streamed channels including here in the UK where the BBC owns UKTV, home of channels such as U&Dave.
A government consultation on the future of the BBC and its funding is currently underway.